Ed-Discussion Netiquette

UC Berkeley, Stat 133, Spring 2024

Important Note

Unfortunately, we just don’t have enough human resources to have a dedicated Ed-Discussion moderator. We will do our best to monitor this tool once per day from Monday to Friday. Please note that we may not be able to monitor Ed during the evening nor weekend. That’s why we strongly encourage student participation on Ed-Discussion rather than answering right away (i.e. we want other students step up and answer questions).

In the past, some students have decided to use external discussion forums. When used responsibly and appropriately, we think that’s a great idea. But we have never endorsed their use, nor we have monitored, moderated or managed them, and we won’t do that this time.

In order to make Ed-Discussion a better resource for everyone, we’ve outlined some guidelines for you to follow when posting on this tool. Questions which follow these guidelines tend to have a higher chance of being answered!

  • Please adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life
  • We want to make sure that you are helping each other out, and having instructors give away the answers isn’t the most beneficial for your education either.

Keep in mind common rules of netiquette

  • Don’t post irrelevant links, comments, thoughts or pictures.

  • Don’t type in ALL CAPS! If you do it will look like you are screaming.

  • Don’t write anything that sounds angry or sarcastic even as a joke, because without hearing your tone of voice, your peers might not realize you’re joking.

  • Always remember to say “please” and “thank you” when soliciting help from your classmates.

  • Respect the opinion of your classmates. If you feel the need to disagree, do so respectfully and acknowledge the valid points in your classmate’s argument.

  • Refrain from personal abuse. Don’t badmouth others or call them offensive words. You may express robust disagreement with what someone says, but don’t call them names.

  • Be forgiving. If your classmate makes a mistake, don’t badger him or her for it. Just let it go.

  • If you reply to a question from a classmate, make sure your answer is accurate.

  • Be brief. If you write a long dissertation in response to a simple question, it’s unlikely that anyone will spend the time to read through it all.

  • Remember that your public posts are not anonymous. They can be read by your classmates.

  • Don’t expect other people to do your homework for you. If you’re looking for technical help, for example, don’t ask questions you could easily answer yourself by reading the manual or help documentation provided with the software tools used in this course.

Ask Lab and HW questions only in the designated Lab and HW posts

We’ve created individual posts for each type of assignment. Please ask questions, discuss problems, or help out in those posts only. Before asking a question, read through (or search) the whole thread to see if your question has been answered. Likewise, stay on topic.

Do NOT post answers in discussion forums

Please don’t give away the answer on any discussion forum. You can explain things in a way that still lets other students figure out the essence of the problem on their own, but don’t spoil the problem. For example, don’t point to a useful stackoverflow or YouTube link that works out essentially what the problem is asking about.

That is not cool.

Post such spoilers after the HW is due. That is totally fine. If you are not sure, post privately to instructors and then we’ll let you know.

Ask questions about assignments only

If you have questions, comments, or other concerns that are not related to assignments, please email your GSI or the instructor. We want to keep the focus of bCourses tools for assignments in Stat 133.

Try to make posts public

While not violating the preceding rules, try to make your questions public, because others might have the same question and we don’t need to answer them multiple times.

3 minute-test

If you think your questions may take more than 3 or 5 minutes to answer, please come to office hours, or try to schedule a zoom meeting with the teaching staff.

We are not pre-grading

Please do not post questions of the form:

  • “Is this the correct solution to HW X problem Y?”
  • “Would this receive full credit on HW X problem Y?”
  • “Is this the right level of detail for HW X problem Y?”

Please do not ask instructors to check your homework in advance. We simply cannot check every student’s homework.

Feel free to ask questions of clarification about a certain HW problem, or ask questions about the course content to achieve a deeper understanding, but at a certain point, you must apply your knowledge, give it your best shot, and submit your answers with confidence.

Post a screenshot of any resource referenced

Your question should be self-contained. The GSIs (and other responders) should not have to scan through PDFs or scripts to even figure out what the question is. Ask yourself: am I referring to some lecture /HW solution/discussion solution/etc?

If the answer is yes, post a screenshot of the relevant part. This can include your handwritten notes from the relevant lecture.

Post all your work

Don’t post one line saying:

“At step n, I get XYZ, and I’m now confused.”

This forces the GSIs to guess:

What happened in steps 1, 2, …, n - 1?

Most likely, the GSIs will guess wrong, and we run into a mess of followup questions trying to figure out what steps 1, 2, …, n - 1 were.

Instead, post:

Starting out, we have: ….

Then, I do …, and I get …

Next, I do …, and I get …

Next, I do …, and I get …

Now, I get $&%&#(, and this makes no sense.

Then, the GSI can respond:

The mistake is at step 3, you’re not allowed to apply ABC to XYZ because …

In summary, when you do ask for help, include details of what attempts you’ve made to solve the problem. It will save time and also show people that you are making an effort to help yourself.

We reserve the right to delete any posts

We reserve the right to delete, move, or edit any posts, and even to make Ed-Discussion inactive, at any time, without previous notice.

Discussion resources can be a great tools if used appropriately, respectfully, and wisely. Take advantage of Ed, and make the most out of it.