[Tutor] Re: Listing web contents

Doug Stanfield DOUGS@oceanic.com
Sun, 28 Mar 1999 22:56:55 -1000


Guido,

I believe there is a need for the public tutor list.  I still consider
myself a novice, and probably will be for the rest of my programming days.
I'm on record in c.l.py advocating a different forum for those of us without
the concentration of effort or otherwise the wherewithal required to
progress to guru-dom.  My lack of progress is because my work keeps me from
being a programmer.  Yet I have problems that need to be solved
programmatically.  Python has taken me further with less effort than any
other 'way'.  I'm one of those that will be filling in the third or fourth
level down on the pyramid as Python spreads further through the computing
community.

There is a difference between documenting something and explaining it.  Also
between clarifying using the jargon of programming theory or language
comparisons, and teaching the fundamental or elementary use of Python.
There's definately a difference between a reference 'bot and an educator.  I
see this as the difference between c.l.py and the tutor list.  And because
the tutor list is public instead of hidden it is generating that atmosphere
of trusting collegial discussion that leads to the 'ah ha' reaction.

Someone once told me that an educator was someone who could correctly answer
a question at least three uniquely different ways.  The other necessary
ingredient is the empathy to know which answer most resonates with the
students current understanding.  Personally I feel the empathy on the tutor
list, but lacking that, it's most helpful to hear all the answers and all
the perspectives.  For me that most often leads to a higher level of
comprehension.

The nature of your question implied merging the tutor-list into the
anonymous private answer help system.  Perhaps you meant the opposite.  If
there could only be one I'd choose the tutor-list, but this email should be
plenty of evidence that I don't feel the need for anonymity.  Others must so
I'd say both forums have their place.

-Doug-

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Ascher [mailto:da@ski.org]
> Sent: Sunday, March 28, 1999 8:03 PM
> To: Guido van Rossum
> Cc: tutor@python.org
> Subject: Re: [Tutor] Re: Listing web contents
> 
> 
> On Sat, 27 Mar 1999, Guido van Rossum wrote:
> 
> > PS.  To the tutors.  I see no significant difference 
> between the tutor
> > list and the help list.  Perhaps tutor should be merged back into
> > help?
> 
> Well, I think there's a difference, but perhaps it's too soon 
> to tell. The
> biggest difference IMHO is that the tutor list is public and 
> subscribed to
> by both tutors and novices -- and my hope is that some of the novices
> listening on the exchanges can learn from them, which doesn't 
> happen w/
> the help-list because of its relatively private nature (which 
> I think is
> useful for some).
> 
> Is that happening?  I can't tell -- maybe some of the novices 
> on the list
> can let us know.
> 
> --david ascher
> 
> 
> 
> 
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