Article on Slate that talks about research that Student Evaluations show gender bias - and are therefore illegal in US.

slate.com/human-interest/2018/03/…

I think that generally, in US society, the same behavior by a man and by a woman are judged differently. Assertiveness, for example.

@quid, welcome to our chatroom. I see you are a mod on mathEducators. I wonder whether you think some of our questions here (and answers) would be useful to math educators. And vise versa.

I'd be interested in finding a way to point the respective users to the other site, at least on occasion.

@Buffy hello! I think there is certainly some overlap.

Perhaps if frequent visitors (or mods) at the two sites could mention likely common ideas using the chatrooms it might help a bit.

I don't teach math anymore, so seldom visit math educators, but I think a lot of our users teach both.

Meta might be another vehicle to cross pollinate.

You currently have at least two questions high up on your active questions list that would be of interest to cs folk.

@quid, I looked again, and it is quite a few of them, actually. Stuff on logic, discrete math, general pedagogy, ...

I also suppose that people like me who answer a lot of questions can point to related questions on the other site in answers. We could possibly have a recommendation on that here.

In the early days and even at some point latter there even was the idea to have one site for both.

Posting on a case by case basis questions that seem of interest to the chat of the other site might be a way to proceed. Some care is needd not to be annoyong but as traffic is still low it should be managable.

You are certainly welcome to post links to questions on your site to our chat. (I should likely add that our chat is not all that active I am afraid)

@quid, I think I will also add comments to some of our questions pointing to interesting things at ME. That might be another general way to link the sites informally and aid our readers. I should probably try to earn a bit of rep on ME also, I guess.

Yes, comments could also be useful for this. I agree.

@quid @thesecretmaster, do we have some secret syntax for pointing to a tag on MathEducators, similar to our bracket colon syntax?

No. Only the site's own tags and the tags of the meta can be linked easily. But one can always use the full url.

Yes, TY

Maybe a feature request for cross site tags is useful.

@Buffy What @quid said :)

Hi @disposedtolearn, Maybe you are also interested in the above discussion on the intersection of CSEducators and MathEducators.

And welcome to this site.

Thanks :)

Do you teach?

nope, just lurk :-D

We have some self-learners who participate here. Some are quite valuable to this site.

Some are involved in teaching their friends and classmates.

And running clubs, and such.

cool

@quid and @thesecretmaster, I'll try to spend some time today decorating a few questions with comments pointing to ME. I have to go teach Tai Chi (just ahead of the storm), but should have time later.

Snow storm?

Our fourth in about 3 weeks. Should be hitting NYC already.

Wow, passed the first day of spring also?

Right. The robins have been very unhappy.

Be careful on the ice.

TY. Should be fine. Unless there is a dramatic change.

@Buffy To aid in the cross-site pollination, at least here, and if they agree in the ME chatroom, maybe @thesecretmaster can create a feed that monitors specific tags for questions on one site and post that question to the other's chatroom.

Yep, that's a thing I can do.

Just have to figure out which tags there have potential here, and if they like the idea, what tags here have potential there.

@Buffy thanks for the initiative. See you!

Gave tag wiki to discrete-math and note that math educators has such a tag also.

Finding our tags that would be of interest to ME shouldn't be that hard. Finding tags on ME that are most likely to have questions of interest on CSE might be a bit rougher.

@quid and @thesecretmaster. I just linked our tag wiki on discrete-math to the same one on MathEducators. It seems like a good idea to me. If you disagree, fix it up. If you think it is fine, in might be a good thing to do generally where we overlap.

@thesecretmaster, it might be a good idea to keep an eye on comments on both the portfolio question and the bells and whistles one. There may be some danger of overheating. Not quite there yet, I think.

@Buffy Thanks, I'll try to keep an eye on it.

@thesecretmaster Do you know how reliable the gravatar images are for seeing if accounts are the same "person"?

@GypsySpellweaver They're pretty reliable, but not 100%

three of the recent unregistered users have the same gravatar, near as I can tell without color anyway.

@GypsySpellweaver The way to be sure is to check their user id

Well, it's now 4 users, each with a different UID (4721, 4724, 4730, & 4743). @ with questions, 2 with answers.

That's one :) Bells & Whistles is the other Q

lol, Java 10 apparently just came out

Moving right along.

I'm going to have to update my "should I switch to Java 9" answer...

I still have my Java 2 books

huh, and variable type inference is apparently a thing now

amazing -- I never thought they'd actually implement it

must have been enough pressure to get it working that the did it.

@thesecretmaster, is the city getting wiped out in the storm? Anyone else?

@Buffy I wouldn't call what Louisville got a "storm" as others have been getting. It was the best snowfall of the season. Even if it's no longer the "season."

@Hark!Aquestion! Anyone think this is a dupe of the bells and whistles question?

@thesecretmaster Part of the reason I was asking about gravatars. Looks like the same OP for both, just unregistered, so they aren't connected by the system.

Ah. Well, even if it is the same user, it could still be a duplicate. To me it sounds like a different (better?) phrasing of the first one.

@thesecretmaster Superficially they look alike, but the focus is quite different. I'd say it is worth leaving them.

The "focus" might be different, but the "problem" is the same.

Keeping it, even marked as a dupe, allows the answers of both to be found by future visitors and they can decide which "answer" works in their environment.

Of course. Closing the second as a dupe wouldn't cause it to be deleted.

But, they could be merged.

Wait a minute. Let me look again.

Leaving them as separate increases the odds of others finding what they're searching for.

@GypsySpellweaver Merging questions is possible, but typically unless they're the exact same question it doesn't need to be done.

I think they are different. The first was focused on ephemera. The second on trying to find a way to get students to go beyond the bare minimum. Those aren't the same problem.

I keep wanting users to be registered to ask (especially) and answer. I keep getting push-back on that.

In the second the problem is that they don't do the bare minimum. Instead they get lost in the bells & whistles and never make the minimum work

The push-back is probably based on tradition. Though I think the carrot is better than the stick. Convince them to register for the benefits rather than require them to register

@Buffy try a straight comparison of the question in each one:

> Bells: Is there some way to get students to focus on the point of a lesson,...

> Utility: Is there a way to encourage the students to get something working first,...

Maybe the longer versions are better:

> Bells:Is there some way to get students to focus on the point of a lesson, which is to understand programming concepts, and not just stare in fascination at the colors and shapes on the screen?

> Utility: Is there a way to encourage the students to get something working first, then enhance it?

There is a new one to close, certainly.

PLZ

@Buffy Signed, sealed, and delivered.

@Buffy I just wanted to post the deleted comments here for the sake of transparency:

I guess I wasted my fingers, again. Not registered, so won't get my comment.

^^ Please tell me if anyone here thinks I deleted comments that I shouldn't have deleted.

Don't see anything that should have been preserved. Do see plenty that could be wiped. Not that it needs to be, but could be.

I tend to err on the side of not deleting comments when they're at least a little bit useful to avoid disputes and because they're not really doing any harm.

I see some that are "answers in comments" and others that are about the concept, none about the question's content or clarity.

Yeah, we get a ton of answers in comments, but I don't really know what the correct course of action would be. I could delete it and post my own answer, but that feels like plagiarism, I could just leave a note asking all the commenters to write answers then delete the answers in comments, but then we lose some value. So, I end up often just leaving them.

Maybe that's worth a meta question: "What should we do with answers in comments?"

Typically, flag. Generally a comment is added that it's an answer, plz post it. If it's that good, and they don't post it, someone else will, building on it of course.

eventually that comment should be deleted. It "looks" like it's adding value, but it really isn't

unless it's well up-voted, or early in the trail of comments, it's hidden "below the fold" anyway

As a small site, we can afford to allow them to sit around, but that won't last as we scale up.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'll have to be more aggressive about them when we grow, but for now they're not doing any harm.

Of course, I'm hoping that we do scale up.

The problem with being lax now is that some users might get in the habit, then have a hard time changing later.

I know that I'm often guilty of half-answers in comments myself.

I think I'll ask a meta so that we can have a policy that I can then act on.

@thesecretmaster That's why Meta exists. :D

Because as a mod, I should be acting on policy, not unilaterally creating it :)

Might be worth looking at other sites, and Mother Meta, to see what roads have been traveled already. Link to relevant ones in the meta question.

@thesecretmaster As a mod you also have to stay within the policy of SE. Yes, as a site we have some room, but not free reign.

The ephemeral nature of comments, and the lack of user quality control is part of the equation on dealing with comments.

And so speaks experience. :D

@Mithrandir Sites have quite a bit of flexibility -- I've never heard of a site being closed for not adhering to SE policies.

On the other hand, those policies exist because they're generally good.

I personally dislike answers in the comments, but I don't want to delete them quietly in the background without consent from the community.

Heck, it says it right in the placeholder text when you go to post a comment.

@thesecretmaster Just don't do it quietly. Add a comment that it is an answer in comments and is subject to deletion. Give them time to convert, and if they don't Bye-Bye-Birdy.

See also post, what is it, 1644 I think, on IPS meta

It would help, of course, if we users would flag more as well. Then you're applying the community's standards, not just SE's

I'm not disagreeing with either of you -- but I just don't want to do it unilaterally when I've received feedback that I often am on the harsher side when I moderate, so I really try to not do things that the community would object to.

@Mithrandir Yipee Skippy.

@Hark!Aquestion! Pretty slow there, Mr. Hark. Already at -2 and 3 CV before it gets here. ;P

4 CV now, and closed :)

It'll get roomba'd if it doesn't get deleted.

I like roomba

@Mithrandir Just what is the proper comment flag for "answer in comment"? I only see two options other than "Mod attention."

No longer needed is best, the idea being that it was never needed in the first place

:D)

It's the same reason you can flag chatty comments as no longer needed :)

Looking in Mother Meta, I see the request to add that as a site flag reason because they were using custom mod as the reason.

If there are enough, matching, flags on a comment, then it's deleted by the system, correct?

I believe that only applies for rude/abusive flags, but I'm not sure.

Hey folks, I'm a daddy :D

I had a little girl this week.

That's why I've been largely absent for a few days. I have been checking in every day and reading site content, but I haven't kept up withe the Classroom.

Congratulations and welcome back.

I'm not really back yet, but I'll keep checking in and increase activity as I can.

First time, yes?

Yes. I'm pleased as punch :)

Congratulations!

That explains the "other room" nonsense. :)

Thanks! Yeah, I was in the waiting room. (Not for the labor or birth, I was there for all of that. They just made me stay out of the room while they were getting her set up in her bed for some reason)

Not to mention the "project"

Now, in keeping with the "digital-age" you need to make her her own website.

I was nervous.

Been there done that.

The first is the worst. And the best.

For her sake I do hope it wasn't as bad as my first.

First night at home was crazy. There was none of this "every three hours" nonsense. There was only "pick me up or I will scream, all night long."

108 hours in labor :(

@GypsySpellweaver I always thought you were a guy for some reason.

@BenI. Getting Daddy trained well already. :D

@BenI. Some "guys" do have wives.

Oh, I misread. I thought you were saying that you were in labor for 108 hours.

That sounds insane, btw.

Like, literally insane.

It was

I would say, "I can imagine", but I can't.

Technology has improved that over the past decades

Took no time at all once she finally decided it was time to deliver, however.

Went from 5cm to 10cm in 2 min 45 sec. Doctor ran into the room and literally caught the baby coming out. No assistance needed.

Gloves and gowns came after the birth.

Needed Jorge Posada as an assistant.

But didn't need the throw to second, anyway.

Used pitocin and blue cohosh, along with lots and lots of stairs.

So now, if you have insomnia, you have someone to sit up with in the night.

Hope you get to take some time off work.

You also have someone, other than the cat, to take credit for mis-clicks and typos.

Hopefully you won't encourage her to sleep on the keyboard, tho.

@Buffy She won't, he will.

Yes, of course.

That's when she will do the typing and clicking for him

@Buffy I have a nice leave, yeah. I'm basically out for 3 weeks

I hope it's obvious to everyone that I had a baby in order to give Buffy a fighting chance. ;-)

That's your story, and you're sticking to it.

Mrs. Ben I., however, might tell a different one.