I've been having difficulty lately with how complicated some of the answers have been. I tried doing a few answers in the homework section, thinking, these are students, they should be satsified with simple answers. Then there is the belief (not mine) that students should be given the tiniest minutia and most esoteric exceptions because they might learn something wrong and carry that wrong knowlege throughout their academic experience.
I am reminded of several jokes that start out with, "Where do babies come from". The parent goes through extensive emotional distress, paints their self into a corner with every grisley detail, and then the child reveals that she was asking about where Beenie Babies come from.
I try to keep it simple. I try to address the question that was asked. I try to respond on the intellectual level of the OP. I'm thinking students in the Homework forum want Beenie Baby electronics. If they want to polish their knowlege of a fine point, they can ask in the next post. If they can't even phrase the question, they probably aren't ready for the answer.
Then, other helpers chime in with exceptions that could happen if the conditions are not what the OP asked about, etc. etc. One person even stated that "electricity is not flow of electrons" when answering a question about how to determine the voltage of a stack of batteries if one of the cells is reversed. We have a student in the homework section asking about Kirkoffs Law and somebody starts telling him about ion movement and density gradients. I had to check my blood pressure!
When I get this concerned, it is a sign that I need to take a break. How do you feel about this subject?
I am reminded of several jokes that start out with, "Where do babies come from". The parent goes through extensive emotional distress, paints their self into a corner with every grisley detail, and then the child reveals that she was asking about where Beenie Babies come from.
I try to keep it simple. I try to address the question that was asked. I try to respond on the intellectual level of the OP. I'm thinking students in the Homework forum want Beenie Baby electronics. If they want to polish their knowlege of a fine point, they can ask in the next post. If they can't even phrase the question, they probably aren't ready for the answer.
Then, other helpers chime in with exceptions that could happen if the conditions are not what the OP asked about, etc. etc. One person even stated that "electricity is not flow of electrons" when answering a question about how to determine the voltage of a stack of batteries if one of the cells is reversed. We have a student in the homework section asking about Kirkoffs Law and somebody starts telling him about ion movement and density gradients. I had to check my blood pressure!
When I get this concerned, it is a sign that I need to take a break. How do you feel about this subject?