The Do's & Don'ts Of Help With Assignments!

[Mrs.Clooney]

I thought it would be a positive move to start a thread on how to guide geeky requests for help with college assignments/case studies etc..... Hey, I am the first to admit that the willing and knowledgeable on this site, gave me amazing and useful tips to get through my beauty diploma, nails and all! But I had to, and did do the hard work first.

Whilst not wishing to offend genuine requests for guidance or pointers in the right direction, I think it is important to recognize the difference between a request for 'do my homework for me, really appreciate it', or a helping hand and guidance towards useful material which may kick start an assignment..... be it a book or website etc...... And no, Salon Geek is not the place to be 'given the answers!'

Personally speaking, I think directions to websites/books are helpful, although I have seen along the lines of, " I have searched the internet and have 3 books and found very little to help me." Then I find a quick search reveals several answers in 30 seconds.

C'mon geeks, how can we help peeps regards this? We are a professional site. We wish to lend a helping hand, but we won't do your work for you.
What do you suggest?

Oh Mods, I didn't know where to post this so please move if in the wrong forum and sorry in advance.

 

[hippy-chick]

good points Mrs C.

 

[Annie23]

I second this, I think students should research assignments themselves. I've worked as a teacher in schools and the amount of times a pupil asks me for the answer is astonishing. Sometimes though everyone needs a little guidance, but i would never advocate giving the answer.

 

[bombini]

Totally agree Mrs C.

Did you also find when you were at college the assignment questions you were set more than likely required a different set of answers to what you would get on here ?

I am always reluctant to help with college work, unless like you say its advsing them on text books (which you would think the college had reccommended but usually don't!). My views and knowledge has changed so much since college I doubt I would pass any of there theory courses as I woud pretty much disagree with everything based on what I have learned in the years since !!

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

Gilly T made a suggestion that it may be helpful to have a section on Salon Geek where we can direct newbies in need of assignment help to eg. websites, helpful reading material etc.....

I don't know how something like this could be organized or if it would even work here on Geek? Something like a referral library? I don't know. Do the mods have any suggestions?

I fully appreciate, that when given an assignment, it can be difficult to see the wood for the trees and you just don't know where to start.

 

[sknight]

Gilly T made a suggestion that it may be helpful to have a section on Salon Geek where we can direct newbies in need of assignment help to eg. websites, helpful reading material etc.....

I don't know how something like this could be organized or if it would even work here on Geek? Something like a referral library? I don't know. Do the mods have any suggestions?

I fully appreciate, that when given an assignment, it can be difficult to see the wood for the trees and you just don't know where to start.

I agree with ya hun (even though I asked some silly Q's) I found the search more than enough help its so hard sometimes eh? but a point in the right direction is more than enough I think. All of you pre-geek.com guys managed to find the info so nowadays we should be able to find the info we want on this site. I started out asking all q's here in the beginning then learned that others were asking the very same thing and decided to look for myself and found most of the info I needed on my own. not that i am saying people should shy away from asking, just think first "is this a question that others over the years will have asked"?

 

[kylieb]

Life is simply too short to worry about it hun. At the end of the day those asking for people to do their homework are going to be the ones not going very far in life. Let them get on with it i say!
Personally i wouldnt ask for answers on homework as people have different opinions and could get it wrong. The beauty books from college have most of the answers in and if not id ask my tutor.
I really dont mind helping people with the odd question they are struggling on as i know what it's like to spend 3 hours serching for info that you just cant find.
xxx

 

[sharon h]

I think alot of the time learners do not understand the questions being asked of them, but once you give them alittle insight into what is expected they go from there and understand what it is they should be doing.

 

[min11]

I also think its spelling. The number of times I have searched on info that has been asked for in a topic here and found it in Geek topics and search engines instantly. The only explanation besides that some one didn't really look that hard is that they also didn't spell it correctly so no matter how hard they looked they wouldn't find what they wanted.

 

[choc choc]

I am so glad this has been brought up. At the moment I am doing 1 full time course and 2 part time course's and the usual work family etc and i see these threads and get so annoyed that i have just spent 3/4 hours looking and searching and doing my homework of a night, but like other geeks have said thats how you learn my looking and researching yourself.
The questions i dont mind are ones like not sure on the answer is it this or that so they have a idea , they have done there work, but are just not 100% sure, but you can always tell the genuine ones .

 

[beautyseeker]

If I did'nt understand a question I would ask my tutor to explain it to me and to clarify what she was looking for in the answer (without her actually giving me the answer itself). I would research the internet, go to the library and study my books.

If I can do it I dont see why they cant. I was 40 when I started at college and did'nt know a thing about computers and the internet, all these young girls have the advantage of knowing that already, but maybe they dont know how to use a book?

I know I wont be giving anyone any pointers - how are they going to learn if they dont do the work for themselves, they will come out of college with a qualification but no understanding of their subject, madness.

:|

 

[Tracey Roberts]

Im a part time student, I think people asking for answers aren't going to help them, whats the point of that?? they wont learn and understand in the long run, besides I think its fun to do the research yourself, because you pick up other useful info on the way, but recommendation of books or sites is a good idea, unless you're like me and enjoy trawling the internet etc:lol:

 

[Martin Duffy]

Of course, some of us trained back when we didn't have this new-fangled internet malarky...back then we used books & libraries and still managed!

 

[drew692]

Great point!

I too am still a student, and I, like Im sure many others, spend hours and hours and hours and... doing research for the reams and reams of homework I hand in, and it does irritate me when people ask questions for someone else to just hand an answer to them (just the same as it does when one of my fellow younger students turns up at class and declares they spent last night doing their homework when Ive spent all week doing mine- AAaaargh!) but at the end of the day I know that the work I put in is my own and I actually have devoured the knowledge from my research.

 

[bekky]

Great point!

I too am still a student, and I, like Im sure many others, spend hours and hours and hours and... doing research for the reams and reams of homework I hand in, and it does irritate me when people ask questions for someone else to just hand an answer to them (just the same as it does when one of my fellow younger students turns up at class and declares they spent last night doing their homework when Ive spent all week doing mine- AAaaargh!) but at the end of the day I know that the work I put in is my own and I actually have devoured the knowledge from my research.

I totally agree with your post. I am also still a student and we have 3 younger girls who ask questions like 'whats an illustration' i kid you not, and when given homework do it the night before, its scruffy and incomplete, and I just think to myself, why are you here? its very frustrating when I am wanting to complete the course to better myself and pride myself in the work that I am doing.

 

[rouge]

I don't mind pointing someone in the right direction if, say, they ask 'where can I find some info on xyz'. But if people ask a question like 'can someone explain the hair growth cycle?' then they're taking the mick, obviously haven't done any research (because the answer is IN YOUR TEXTBOOK IF YOU BOTHER TO OPEN IT) and their assignment is probably due in the next day. Those type of threads get ignored by me. If people can't be bothered to put in the work, they don't deserve the qualification.

 

[Gilly T]

I've been a student again since February this year. On both college courses there have been a high percentage of students who frankly just cannot be bothered. They were only on mani/pedi because they 'had to' to be able to do acrylic and then they are only on acrylic because they want to do their own nails. Not only do they not want to put the effort in outside college but they don't understand the relevance that units like VR02 and VR74 (h&s etc.) has to their study.

I think it is important for us (geeks) to refer these students that come on here saying they haven't been given any info, don't understand the info, can't find any info, in the right direction. That being, in college's case, their tutor/assessor. Their awarding body/EV will require the college to ensure that students know WHO/WHERE to go if they do not understand what they are doing, it is an essential part of these types of qualifications and it forms part of the assessment of the college and NOT the student.

There are so many threads on here about the poor standards of teaching in colleges and we hear time and time again that it's the 'norm' for all colleges to be this way. Only the other day a student was asking why we should put up with it.

I feel that referring students to their tutor/assessor first this could help to combat this by highlighting pitfalls in the procedures and processes in some colleges. I know that in some cases it is literally just the student wanting to be given the answers.

Aside from this I think that a resource of useful websites, reference books, industry development, papers etc., is a fantastic thing for us to do not just for students but for ourselves.

I know, I know.... bl**dy norah Gill.. you've gone on there a bit but it is annoying as others have said when you HAVE spent hours on end reading, researching, writing your assignments when others just expect it to be given to them on a plate. If they don't know what the h*ll they are doing then surely they should speak to the people who are meant to be educating them. Maybe I should take my own advice too.... ooops

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

I don't mind pointing someone in the right direction if, say, they ask 'where can I find some info on xyz'. But if people ask a question like 'can someone explain the hair growth cycle?' then they're taking the mick, obviously haven't done any research (because the answer is IN YOUR TEXTBOOK IF YOU BOTHER TO OPEN IT) and their assignment is probably due in the next day. Those type of threads get ignored by me. If people can't be bothered to put in the work, they don't deserve the qualification.

I think it is important for us (geeks) to refer these students that come on here saying they haven't been given any info, don't understand the info, can't find any info, in the right direction. That being, in college's case, their tutor/assessor. Their awarding body/EV will require the college to ensure that students know WHO/WHERE to go if they do not understand what they are doing, it is an essential part of these types of qualifications and it forms part of the assessment of the college and NOT the student.

There are so many threads on here about the poor standards of teaching in colleges and we hear time and time again that it's the 'norm' for all colleges to be this way. Only the other day a student was asking why we should put up with it.

I feel that referring students to their tutor/assessor first this could help to combat this by highlighting pitfalls in the procedures and processes in some colleges. I know that in some cases it is literally just the student wanting to be given the answers.

Aside from this I think that a resource of useful websites, reference books, industry development, papers etc., is a fantastic thing for us to do not just for students but for ourselves.

I couldn't agree with you more! I know there are peeps who genuinely have made an effort and just need a nudge in the right direction, but I do get irked :irked: when help is requested because studies and research have been left to the last minute and the assignment is due tomorrow , or the student just prefers the easy option of been given the answer.

Perhaps this subject is important to me because, personally I have always struggled with learning. Be it dyslexia (never been assessed) or whatever, I struggled at school and through my nursing to retain information. I simply think it was because I did not know how to learn. I even turned down an offer to be put through an Intensive Care Nursing Diploma because I viewed it as a mountain I could not climb because I was certain that I would fail.

Then I learnt how to learn and there is a part of me now that wishes that I could be in my daughter's shoes (she is doing first year GCSE) and put my heart and soul into my school work. I proved to myself that I could do it by doing so well at college and I loved it! The sense of achievement is so rewarding that I don't understand how some people just can't be ar*ed!

 

[Gilly T]

I couldn't agree with you more! I know there are peeps who genuinely have made an effort and just need a nudge in the right direction, but I do get irked :irked: when help is requested because studies and research have been left to the last minute and the assignment is due tomorrow , or the student just prefers the easy option of been given the answer.

Perhaps this subject is important to me because, personally I have always struggled with learning. Be it dyslexia (never been assessed) or whatever, I struggled at school and through my nursing to retain information. I simply think it was because I did not know how to learn. I even turned down an offer to be put through an Intensive Care Nursing Diploma because I viewed it as a mountain I could not climb because I was certain that I would fail.

Then I learnt how to learn and there is a part of me now that wishes that I could be in my daughter's shoes (she is doing first year GCSE) and put my heart and soul into my school work. I proved to myself that I could do it by doing so well at college and I loved it! The sense of achievement is so rewarding that I don't understand how some people just can't be ar*ed!

Well what a success story! Perhaps it's just a case of lack of life skills and experience for these people Mrs C. When they are a bit wiser perhaps they will understand (was going to say older too but don't want to be ageist )

I can't get this point across to my daughter (who is also doing her GCSE's) often enough.

Well done to you though for getting through it :hug:

 

[Ditzy]

Well here's my thinking on this.

I have learned over my time between my make up artist college course in 2003-4 (in which we covered nail treatments), then joining salon geek (then nail geek), and now doing hairdressing nvq and also beauty therapy nvq;

The tutor who taught me the nail treatments in 2003 taught very differently to the tutor who is currently teaching me (at the SAME college). This tells me you are better to find out what your tutor wants from you, advice on salon geek (or anywhere else for that matter) may not be what they are asking for, people may have been trained differently, at different colleges, or by different manufacturers, etc.

In college, it seems to me they sometimes use methods that are somewhat antiquated compared to those used in salons nowadays (eg hoofstick, cuticle knife, compared with the better quality tools used by Creative, EzFlow, NSI, etc). Again, if you did an essay, and mentioned the manufacturer's methods instead of the college ones, you would not get the full marks, as you are not using the tools the course requires. I tell you, I am soooo tempted to take my EzFlow Pro Pusher to college and show them the difference but I know the tutor would probably have a hissy fit!

That's my piece said!