In <9401281832.AA05718 at net.bio.net>
pfoster at bu.edu (Patricia Foster) writes:
>Dr. Terry A. Viancour (BIOL) (viancour at umbc.edu) wrote:
>>: A better solution might be to establish tutorial newsgroups, e.g.
>: bionet.tutorial.general, bionet.tutorial.neuroscience, etc. Tutorial
>: newsgroups might also encourage peer-to-peer interactions, since the
>: students would know that they are posting to a group dedicated to
>: teaching.
>> What a terrific idea. Not just to solve a problem but to create
>a resource for the students. Maybe a way to encourage better science
>education in this country. Let's do it.
So how many of "us" would subscribe to such a group so as to provide
answers for these students? I.e., would this just be a "ghetto" where
one *might* get an answer *if* a scientist with the aprropriate background
was dedicated enough to subscribe? As is, the questions are diluted over
all the biologists on the net, so no one (presumably) is over-burdened with
a need to respond. I prefer the idea of the header STUDENT POST/(subject)
so that they can be deleated straight out by those who can't be bothered.
It seems to me that, once in a while, one of these "naive" questions might
serve as the core of someone's research project, and as such it might
be worth going through all the chaff for the occaisional kernal.
I raise these questions because I'm really not sure of the answers. Maybe
a .tutorial. group would be best. But what if a student can't get an
answer there? Will the general group be moderated to keep them out?
Paul
schlosser at beta.ciit.org
