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Piazza Etiquette

Important Note:

Unfortunately, we just don't have enough human resources to have a dedicated Piazza moderator. That's why we strongly encourage student participation on Piazza rather than answering right away (i.e. we want other students step up and answer questions).

When using Piazza, adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life.

We want to make sure that you are helping each other out, and having instructors give away the answers isn't the most beneficial for your education either.

In order to make Piazza a better resource for everyone, we've outlined some guidelines for you to follow when posting on Piazza. Questions which follow these guidelines will have a higher chance of being answered!

Signup link: piazza.com/berkeley/spring2019/stat133sp19

Keep in mind common rules of netiquette when using Piazza.

  • Don't post irrelevant links, comments, thoughts or pictures.
  • Don't type in ALL CAPS! If you do it will look like you are screaming.
  • Don't write anything that sounds angry or sarcastic even as a joke, because without hearing your tone of voice, your peers might not realize you're joking.
  • Always remember to say "please" and "thank you" when soliciting help from your classmates.
  • Respect the opinion of your classmates. If you feel the need to disagree, do so respectfully and acknowledge the valid points in your classmate's argument.
  • Refrain from personal abuse. Don't badmouth others or call them offensive words. You may express robust disagreement with what someone says, but don't call them names.
  • Be forgiving. If your classmate makes a mistake, don't badger him or her for it. Just let it go.
  • If you reply to a question from a classmate, make sure your answer is accurate.
  • Be brief. If you write a long dissertation in response to a simple question, it's unlikely that anyone will spend the time to read through it all.
  • Remember that your public posts are not anonymous. They can be read by your classmates.
  • Don't expect other people to do your homework for you. If you're looking for technical help, for example, don't ask questions you could easily answer yourself by reading the manual or help documentation provided with the software tools used in this course.

Ask HW questions only in the designated HW posts.

We've created individual posts for type of assignment. Please ask questions, discuss problems, or help out in those posts only. Before asking a question, read through (or search) the whole thread to see if your question has been answered. Likewise, stay on topic.

Do NOT post answers in Piazza.

Please don't give away the answer on Piazza. You can explain things in a way that still lets other students figure out the essence of the problem on their own, but don't spoil the problem. For example, don't point to a useful stackoverflow or YouTube link that works out essentially what the problem is asking about.

That is not cool.

Post such spoilers after the HW is due. That is totally fine. If you are not sure, post privately to instructors and then we'll let you know.

Try to make posts public.

While not violating Rule 2, try to make your questions public, because others might have the same question and we don't need to answer them multiple times.

Piazza is not Office Hours. 3 minute-test.

If you think your questions may take more than 3 minutes to answer, please come to office hours or homework parties instead.

Neither Piazza nor GSIs are for pre-grading.

Please do not post questions of the form:

  • "Is this the correct solution to HW X problem Y?"
  • "Would this receive full credit on HW X problem Y?"
  • "Is this the right level of detail for HW X problem Y?"

Please do not use Piazza as a medium to ask instructors to check your homework in advance. We simply cannot check every student's homework through Piazza.

Feel free to ask questions of clarification about a certain HW problem, or ask questions about the course content to achieve a deeper understanding, but at a certain point, you must apply your knowledge, give it your best shot, and submit your answers with confidence.

Post a screen shot of any resource referenced.

Your question should be self-contained. The TAs (and other responders) should not have to scan through PDFs to even figure out what the question is. Ask yourself: am I referring to some lecture /HW solution/discussion solution/past exam?

If the answer is yes, post a screen shot of the relevant part. This can include your handwritten notes from the relevant lecture.

Post all your work.

Don't post one line saying:

"At step n, I get XYZ, and I'm now confused."

This forces the GSIs to guess:

What happened in steps 1, 2, ..., n - 1?

Most likely, the GSIs will guess wrong, and we run into a mess of followup questions trying to figure out what steps 1, 2, ..., n - 1 were.

Instead, post:

Starting out, we have: ....

Then, I do ..., and I get ...

Next, I do ..., and I get ...

Next, I do ..., and I get ...

Now, I get $&%&#(, and this makes no sense.

Then, the GSI can respond:

The mistake is at step 3, you're not allowed to apply ABC to XYZ because ...

In summary, when you do ask for help, include details of what attempts you've made to solve the problem. It will save time and also show people that you are making an effort to help yourself.

We reserve the right to delete any posts.

We reserve the right to delete, move, or edit any posts, and even to make Piazza inactive, at any time, without previous notice.