More teaching, less telling?

PLCDontUQuitOnMe said:

2. If user joined a year or less = student or fresh grad -> try to lead them in the correct direction without directly giving answer

Click to expand...

Except when a person that has been here since 2001 has a partner file bankruptcy and the business is closed and he has to open another business with a new account here since he can't have any connection to the closed business anymore. (except for sneaking in once in a while for an old thread that pops up)

I don't care about how long they have been a member of this forum. That is irrelevant. Generally you can tell by the question they are asking and the information they are providing to solve the problem.


There are noob questions.
There are noobs that ask questions as if they are the first to have a problem that has been solved for decades.
There are noobs that don't know enough to provide the required data as if we are supposed to read minds or know the details of their system.
There are noobs that ask how to solve the problem the wrong way. This is why I like to know the application. Usually it has been done before and i/we can tell the noob how to do it the right way.


You don't know how much time I have wasted answering the noobs questions when I later find he is trying to do the application wrong.



I will confess. I don't know everything. I hate going to stack overflow. I hate watching most YouTube videos that want me to watch something for 10 to 20 minutes that could be just written in a line.
I am very aware of this. I make YouTube videos too. I try to keep the information density high.


I really hate websites that have information or a topic but it is just a copy of other people's information and none have data that answers my question.

Wow
Just something to think about
This or any forum like this is really not designed as a teaching environment. You would definitely need more details and direction to do that. This is a place where people can express their opinions and share information and knowledge. Right or wrong, whether you agree or not it’s all valuable information and we all can learn from it. That not to say you can’t learn from this forum in fact you can learn from this or any forum if you want to learn but you have to want to learn. I know that most just want somebody to give them the answer but if that all you want then you will never learn or understand and you will repeat the same questions.
I was told as a child that you can learn from everybody you meet, everything you do even from your own mistakes. There are many good learning courses available some free and some you have to pay for and if you are serious about learning I would encourage first timers or other that need it to take a few of those classes. In particularly any classes your employer offers to you. Their paying you to learn why not take advantage of it. Knowledge is something that once you have it it’s yours forever and nobody can take it away from you, what you do with it is up to you.
You should strive to learn something new every day.
I myself have sat through many safety courses (Required for onsite access) it just part of the job
I see all the time people complain that their employer wants them to take a training class they really don’t want take they think they should just be given the job with earning it without training. After you complete the training and get out in the real world is when the real learning begins and it will take you years to be good at it. And you will never ever learn it all there is always something to learn. To be good at programming a PLC you must understand how the equipment you are working with actually works as well. I have run into guy that were very good programmers but did not understand the basics of how a motor works, how a gear reducer works. I have seen post on here that it was clear they didn’t understand the basics because if they did they would have answered their own question. While questions are how we learn and I do encourage people to ask questions. I blame your employer for not making sure that you at least have a good basic understanding. When I was running crews I always encouraged everybody to ask questions if you don’t know ask is was my job to help you understand and if I didn’t know the answer I would find the answer and we would learn together. The only dumb question you can ask me is the one you don’t ask and you or somebody else gets hurt because you didn’t know or understand. I make safety the number 1 priority on all my projects.
I offer this just a something to think about

Peter Nachtwey said:

I will confess. I don't know everything. ...

Click to expand...

WTH (What The Heck, politicly correct) now I know we are going down hill and yes winter is coming for sure

GaryS said:

This or any forum like this is really not designed as a teaching environment. You would definitely need more details and direction to do that.

Click to expand...

I think a few times in this thread people keep going back to the way the question is being asked, if someone puts forth the effort spending the time to ask the question I am more likely to spend time expressing my thoughts (right or wrong) but if they dont neither will I and I sure will not try and teach them.

I_Automation said:

Except when a person that has been here since 2001 has a partner file bankruptcy and the business is closed and he has to open another business with a new account here since he can't have any connection to the closed business anymore. (except for sneaking in once in a while for an old thread that pops up)

Click to expand...

Of course there are exceptions

I think the point has gotten away from people who think this forum isn't a teaching environment....

If they come here with the expectation of getting a dissertation on how PLCs and logic controlling them works, they are going to be disappointed. I feel like the forum is basically designed as a place for people to come in, ask a question, and see if they can't find someone who can help them find the answer. I don't see anything wrong with that, especially since this forum is such a wealth of knowledge that it pops up on almost any search PLC related. Not to mention on newer forums like Reddit, where people will refer to either this forum or forum contributors by name.

In addition to this, it's also the water-cooler at work where the guys go and tell stories and talk about crazy things they've seen or dealt with.


TL : DR, If someone wants to learn using the forum, it's there, but I wouldn't expect someone not to give an answer if they have it considering 99% of the questions asked aren't classroom assignments and it's a guy who needs a hand changing a tire on a cold dark night.