What should we do with no-effort homework dumps?
Close exercise-style problem statements. If it is just the statement of an exercise-style problem, close as 'unclear what you are asking', downvote, and optionally leave a comment explaining our policy.
I propose that it doesn't matter whether the question is actually or homework or not. If the question contains the statement of an exercise-style problem (the statement of a problem, lacking context), with an implicit or explicit demand or expectation that we will solve the problem for them, then vote to close. Don't bother to ask whether it is homework or not; just vote to close. That's not a question; it's just a request/demand for us to do work for them, and it lacks enough detail/context to provide answers that will be useful to others.
If the question shows the text of an exercise-style problem and then asks some specific question about the exercise or about their approach to the exercise, this doesn't apply -- leave open.
If you feel comfortable doing so, leave a comment explaining the closure, e.g.,
We're happy to help you understand the concepts but just solving exercises for you is unlikely to achieve that. You might find [this page](https://cs.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1284/755) helpful in improving your question.
We're happy to help you understand the concepts but just solving exercises for you is unlikely to achieve that. You might find this page helpful in improving your question.
(We should probably write our own reference post like the link above.)
Should we treat questions with effort shown differently?
Seek specific answerable questions, not effort. I don't think effort is the relevant factor. Instead, the factor is whether they are able to articulate a specific question about the exercise or the type of problem.
For instance, if they can identify a specific step that they want help with, that is a question and should be left open. If they can identify a concept that they don't understand and can articulate a question about it, that is a question and should be left open. If they can ask about how to solve some type of problem, that is a question and should be left open. It will probably require effort for them to reach the point where they can articulate a useful question; but that doesn't mean effort is the distinguishing factor or that effort is sufficient. There are cases where people have put in effort but it is useless and doesn't help improve the question. I am not sure what to do with those questions.
Ideally, our goal in helping people who are struggling with exercises would be to help them learn how to solve such problems in the future. Give a man a fish, and his belly is full for a day; teach a man how to fish, and he never need go hungry again. Ideally, we'd aim for teaching people how to fish, rather than giving them a fish. For example, a great answer might teach the approach needed to approach this type of problem and help them get unstuck so they can make further progress on their own, without providing them something they could copy-paste as an answer to a homework exercise. Ideally, a great answer would be applicable not only to this specific exercise, but also to others like it. I don't think this is something that we would make a matter of policy, but rather culture -- it is what we'd try to encourage.
"Here's my exercise, how do I solve it?" is not a specific question. Without context, it's hard to know what is preventing the poster from solving it at their own, or at what level to write responses, or what specific aspect is giving them difficulty. That's why we should require them to articulate a specific question about their understanding, based on their difficulties with the exercise.
Optionally, you might also leave a comment suggesting that the poster generalize their question:
Can you edit your post to ask about a specific conceptual issue you're uncertain about? As a rule of thumb, a good conceptual question should be useful even to someone who isn't looking at the particular problem you happen to be working on.
Can you edit your post to ask about a specific conceptual issue you're uncertain about? As a rule of thumb, a good conceptual question should be useful even to someone who isn't looking at the particular problem you happen to be working on.
Should we want to deliver full answers or merely hints? How should hints be delivered (answer / comment)?
If the poster has successfully articulated a specific question about their exercise, this conundrum mostly disappears -- answers should answer whatever their question was.
Of course, "how do I solve this exercise?" or "what is a hint for how to solve this exercise?" won't be suitable questions; they'll need to identify a more specific question about the exercise.
How should we handle false positives (ie questions which look like exercises but actually aren't)?
Homework or not doesn't matter. With my proposed policy, it doesn't matter whether it is actually an exercise or not, or whether it is actually homework assigned to them in some course or not. If it is an exercise-style problem, with just the statement of an exercise-style problem and no question about the problem, then we close it, because those kinds of posts aren't good for the site. Even if it wasn't actually a homework or exercise, it doesn't matter -- those kinds of posts are not good for this site and aren't a good fit for our site's format.
How strictly do we want to enforce these rules (at the discretion of each user / through reminder comments / through mod flags + mod deletion)?
Enforce these rules as you encounter questions, without delay. Based on my experience on other sites, I suspect comments won't be enough. I suggest the rules be enforced as you see it. If you see a question like this, put the question on hold when you see it. Don't wait to put it on hold. You sholud also leave a comment about how the poster can improve their question. If the poster edits their question to improve it, it can always be re-opened at that point. That goes both for users and for moderators; so if a moderator encounters such a question because it was flagged, if the moderator agrees, they should act on it.
I suggest this to try to break a harmful cycle. In particular, my goal would be to put the question on hold before it accumulates answers. Once a homework dump gets answered, it's too late; the poster has already gotten the feedback that such questions get answers here, so they are incentivized to post more of them, and that creates a harmful cycle. On the other hand, if the post is put on hold promptly and the poster is told how they will need to improve their question to make it suitable here, then the poster has a chance to put in the work needed to make the question suitable here and have the post re-opened. Putting a question on hold is not permanent; it is a temporary state until the question is revised to meet our expectations.
This goes both ways. If a question is put on hold, revised to meet our expectations, then if it is flagged, a mod should re-open it immediately without waiting for votes to accumulate from the community.
What about bringing back the homework tag?
We don't need a homework tag. I don't see the point of such a tag. In my experience it is easy to recognize exercise-style problems as soon as you see them, whether the question has such a tag or not. If you see such a question, I suggest you just assume it was already tagged with the homework tag and then do whatever you would have done if it were. Asking the poster to add a homework tag seems like a pointless extra step to me; I don't see what it accomplishes. This isn't something I feel strongly about, and I don't think a homework tag would do great harm; these are just my two cents.
