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Proposal: Mathematics Learning, Studying, and Education

So, what should be the policy on "do my homework for me" type questions? Will this forum reject all math-content questions, to concentrate on math-teaching and math-learning questions?

See What about homeworks?

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    Don't all other SE sites have a mechanism for migrating questions? Why should this be any different here? Any question that obviously belongs on Math.SE should just be tagged for migration. Feb 13, 2014 at 0:08
  • "Do my homework" type questions are completely off-topic here, AFAICS...
    – vonbrand
    Mar 3, 2014 at 14:18
  • We now have MathCh.SE, take it or leave it. Sep 8, 2018 at 19:31

3 Answers 3

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Questions about mathematics are already handled by the Mathematics and MathOverflow Stack Exchange sites. I believe that "do my homework for me" questions do not belong to this proposed mathematics education site.

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    Oops, I just learned that you lose reputation if your questions are downvoted. If you're concerned with your reputation, then it's probably not a good idea to post intentionally bad questions.
    – JRN
    Jan 24, 2014 at 15:29
  • As long as you don't dip below 150 (ability to vote to close, ability to downvote) there shouldn't be a problem. I don't think the higher tiers are profoundly useful.
    – mme
    Jan 24, 2014 at 15:38
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    The two comments above refer to an earlier version of the answer which had the text "I've already used my quota of five questions. Could someone please post a question that is obviously homework so that the community can vote on whether or not homework questions are on topic for this site?"
    – JRN
    Jan 24, 2014 at 15:48
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    Homework questions are explicitly off-topic at MathOverflow. (I apologize if my answer implied otherwise.)
    – JRN
    Jan 24, 2014 at 16:23
  • @JoelReyesNoche I think that intentionally bad questions can be conducive to discussion. You can just delete them later on when things are settled and get your rep back.
    – user11235
    Feb 1, 2014 at 21:40
  • @Mike Once you gain an ability you cannot lose it. Once you are able to vote to close then you can always vote to close.
    – user1729
    Feb 20, 2014 at 9:47
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I don't think this SE should cover the material being learned, but rather the process of learning itself. In that light, I don't think homework questions should be on-topic - rather, (precise, well-posed) questions about the value of homework in teaching might be, or whether homework should be individual or group based in a proof-based undergraduate class.

Math.SE will remain the best place to ask such questions on the SE network.

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    Very nicely put. Requests for answers to homework questions are off-topic; questions about homework are on-topic.
    – JRN
    Jan 24, 2014 at 16:16
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There are mathematics education courses (and programs and degrees...), so it is conceivable that this site could get on-topic questions which are homework questions in that field.

My guess though is that the phenomenon that exists on math.SE -- namely "This question is not identified as a homework question, but a qualified observer would believe that it is overwhelmingly likely that the OP is asking it in the context of homework [not necessarily graded or done for a course; a better term might be "exercise"], and treating the question as deserving an answer rather than an explanation, hint or teaching request is probably ruining its value to the OP" -- may not be as prevalent for math education questions. In other words, something could be someone's homework question but also be a "real question", i.e., something of interest to practitioners in the field.

But it seems reasonable to reject questions that have only math content and no math education content: there are already two other popular sites for math content questions. Right? Presumably questions with both math content and math education content should be on-topic at either site. Which site would be preferable sounds like an issue that is best addressed organically once/if the site actually exists...

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