[Tutor] Need Help

[Danny Yoo]

> By posting the entire homework problem, John Shappell did give the 
> impression that he wanted us to do the problem for him, but as John 
> Montgomery notes he is just looking for a hint in an area where he is 
> stuck. That is fine for the tutor list. Since we know it is homework we 
> can use a light touch and avoid giving the entire solution.


The idea is to try attacking the core of the problem the questioner has. 
In that sense, I try not to look at the details of the homework problem.


As a concrete example, if someone comes up and says:

     I don't know how to get my name-asking program to stop when the user
     enters "quit".  Help!


I'll translate this to:

     1.  I might not know how to use boolean conditionals.

     2.  I might not know how to use loops.

     3.  I might not know how to use these two things together.

     4.  I don't understand the question I'm being asked, or why
         this is useful.


That is, I'd ignore the surface details about asking about string 
comparison, but concentrate on figuring out which of these things the 
questioner is confused with.  Or there may be something that hasn't been 
accounted for... The questions we ask from then on are meant to probe.

It would be very cruel to not address the core reason why the student's 
struggling.  That's why we don't "answer" homework questions: it doesn't 
address what's often a much bigger problem with the student's concepts of 
programming.