My socratic homework

[KrisBlueNZ]

Edit: this has been moved from a question in the homework help section. Kris's post seemed to be a good place to start this new thread, even if what he says at first seems a little odd as the opening post in the off-topic area.

This is the homework forum Laplace. I was asking those questions of the original poster, to try to help him think about his problem.

Please don't answer questions directly in the homework forum. Please see post #15 in this thread.

 

[Laplace]

"No answers will be given, only guidance." I don't believe that I provided an answer to the assignment. What I provided was an illustration of a method that would begin to provide the answer. There was still much work that needed doing in order to get the answer.

Or has this homework forum transformed into a Socratic forum?

"The oldest, and still the most powerful, teaching tactic for fostering critical thinking is Socratic teaching. In Socratic teaching we focus on giving students questions, not answers. We model an inquiring, probing mind by continually probing into the subject with questions."

"Socrates believed that the highest benefit of his art was to help people do their own thinking in a way that lead to the birth of their own new ideas. The subjects of Socrates' conversations often revolved around defining ideas such as, justice, virtue, beauty, courage, temperance, and friendship. The search for a definition focused on the true nature of the subject under question and not just on how the word is used correctly in a sentence."

Socrates focused on philosophical questions that really have no answers. Are we now limited to answering a question with a question? Can we not describe a method appropriate to solve a problem? Can we not illustrate how a method should be applied? Should we be limited by Socratic irony, professing our own denial of knowledge on the subject?

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

Blimey! I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!

But I have noticed in the past that your posts in the homework forum were quite direct and did not follow the stated guidelines.

I guess if you're not giving the answer directly, a good alternative is to ask questions that are designed to push the user in the right direction.

Can we not describe a method appropriate to solve a problem? Can we not illustrate how a method should be applied?

As a last resort, yes I guess so. As a first response, I don't think that's appropriate.

 

[(*steve*)]

Yes, I agree. I think we should mostly employ the Socratic method for homework. You can provide hints through the question, but the premise should be that the method of solving the problem has been covered in class, through reading, etc. I would prefer if we suggested what was relevant or what should be re-read in their notes.

We should be helping people who are willing to help themselves.

And I disagree that philosophical questions don't have answers. Here are a few that we have recently discovered simple answers to:

Is slavery immoral?
Do women deserve a voice in society?
Are black people human?

 

[Laplace]

Yes, I agree. I think we should mostly employ the Socratic method for homework. You can provide hints through the question, but the premise should be that the method of solving the problem has been covered in class, through reading, etc. I would prefer if we suggested what was relevant or what should be re-read in their notes.

Consider Socrates' dialog with Meno's slave boy (http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/meno.html) about the geometric method for doubling the square. Socrates questions the slave in a very leading manner, essentially providing the answer to every question. Is this the sort of technical questioning that should be applied to electronics? Even so, it might not be appropriate for a remote forum format such as this because the level of personal interaction is very high. Also, it is not easy to know what exactly a student was taught in class or how it was presented in their textbook. As for re-reading notes, my personal case is that I never took notes, not being able to listen and write at the same time. Who knows what notes someone else should have taken?

We should be helping people who are willing to help themselves.

This sounds better in theory than it might work in practice. What you suggest requires more than just people who are willing to help themselves, they must also be able to help themselves. That may not be true for all questions or technical issues.

And I disagree that philosophical questions don't have answers. Here are a few that we have recently discovered simple answers to:

Is slavery immoral?
Do women deserve a voice in society?
Are black people human?

Some philosophical questions do not have accessible answers. The above example questions with the simple answers are more political than philosophical. Consider the following questions instead:

How is morality decided? Is morality intrinsic? Should everyone answer moral questions the same? Why not?

What does it mean to 'have a voice in society'? Should all voices have equal broadcast/impact? If the media amplifies some voices more than others, is that deservedly so?

What differentiates being human? When do humans become inhuman? Is necessary inhumanity excused by personal regret? Can there be a Turing test for being human? Is genetics a determining factor for being human? (Note, I just got a Blu-Ray of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in which I expect to see examples of non-humans being human.)

 

[chopnhack]

This sounds better in theory than it might work in practice. What you suggest requires more than just people who are willing to help themselves, they must also be able to help themselves. That may not be true for all questions or technical issues.

I must say that this is a very valid point being made - I am willing, however, I am still not able to figure out systems with a voltage source and a current source. Certainly not true for technical items, but most definitely more so of theoretical issues.

As for the three philosophical questions, I disagree with calling them political. I view them as more intrinsic rights.