From de09685709abfb83b883b8ec31399cbd1ffd130c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Ridleyyy Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2024 21:59:00 +1000 Subject: [PATCH] Updated formatting of text Broke down paragraphs into separate lines for each sentence to simplify blame and merge processes. --- .../how-to-ask-effective-questions.rst | 43 +++++++++++++------ 1 file changed, 31 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-) diff --git a/source/docs/being-a-team/how-to-ask-effective-questions.rst b/source/docs/being-a-team/how-to-ask-effective-questions.rst index 74b47d2f..79762c69 100644 --- a/source/docs/being-a-team/how-to-ask-effective-questions.rst +++ b/source/docs/being-a-team/how-to-ask-effective-questions.rst @@ -3,39 +3,57 @@ How to Ask Effective Questions ============================== -Asking questions effectively is one of the most important skills to develop, especially for your life outside of robotics. Being able to learn from your questions properly is crucial and as such, you should be able to ask good questions, help those who want to help you, and make the most of what you are taught. +Asking questions effectively is one of the most important skills to develop, especially for your life outside of robotics. +Being able to learn from your questions properly is crucial and as such, you should be able to ask good questions, help those who want to help you, and make the most of what you are taught. Research First -------------- -Before you ask a question, you should be doing your own research to find the answer. This will take more time. It will take more effort, but it is a crucial skill to learn to find solutions on your own, and learn how to research effectively to find solutions to your problems. In the end, this research will pay off in the long run, helping you to learn about topics relevant to your question, and often helping you to understand the roots of the problems you encounter. +Before you ask a question, you should be doing your own research to find the answer. +This will take more time, it will take more effort, but it is a crucial skill to learn to find solutions on your own, and learn how to research effectively to find solutions to your problems. +In the end, this research will pay off in the long run, helping you to learn about topics relevant to your question, and often helping you to understand the roots of the problems you encounter. Here are some steps that you could take to research your problem before asking someone a question about your current problem. -- **Google** - Simply search your problem. You will be surprised by how often this can quickly solve your problem although you may not have expected it to. Try word the question in many different ways to find similar questions that may have already been asked. +- **Google** - Simply search your problem. + You will be surprised by how often this can quickly solve your problem although you may not have expected it to. + Try word the question in many different ways to find similar questions that may have already been asked. .. tip:: - Add "filetype:pdf" to the beginning of your search to filter the search results into only .pdf documents. This can help you when looking for past documents or sections of textbooks. + Add "filetype:pdf" to the beginning of your search to filter the search results into only .pdf documents. + This can help you when looking for past documents or sections of textbooks. - **Youtube** - Just like google, there are many great resources on Youtube which can help with very specific, obscure problems. -- **Reddit and Discord** - If you can't find your own question online, the FTC Reddit and Discord will be the other most likely place to have a past question similar to your own. Try searching through the past questions with words related to your question and see if a similar question has been asiked before. You may find information in this discussion which can help you to solve your own problem. -- **Past Examples** - Try find past implementations of whatever problem you are trying to solve. This step may take more time to find the example, and then decipher how someone else figured out the solution, but this process can be super valuable. For programming, digging through another person's repo can be very insightful, and likewise, for mechanical design, taking a look at a teams technical binder or CAD release. +- **Reddit and Discord** - If you can't find your own question online, the FTC Reddit and Discord will be the other most likely place to have a past question similar to your own. + Try searching through the past questions with words related to your question and see if a similar question has been asiked before. + You may find information in this discussion which can help you to solve your own problem. +- **Past Examples** - Try find past implementations of whatever problem you are trying to solve. + This step may take more time to find the example, and then decipher how someone else figured out the solution, but this process can be super valuable. + For programming, digging through another person's repo can be very insightful, and likewise, for mechanical design, taking a look at a teams technical binder or CAD release. Be Specific ----------- -For others to be able to provide a good solution to your problem, they need the specifics. This means doing the following: +For others to be able to provide a good solution to your problem, they need the specifics. +This means doing the following: -1. **Break down the problem.** You should try to pinpoint the problem as much as possible. For example, when encountering robot crashes, try to collect as much data as possible around the times when your robot crashes. You may not understand this information yourself, but it can be a huge help to others trying to diagnose your issue. +1. **Break down the problem.** You should try to pinpoint the problem as much as possible. +For example, when encountering robot crashes, try to collect as much data as possible around the times when your robot crashes. +You may not understand this information yourself, but it can be a huge help to others trying to diagnose your issue. -2. **Provide some context.** It is often helpful to provide context for example, what you may have changed recently, what skills you are new to and hence, could be the root of the issues. Furthermore, information about your resources can help others to determine solutions which are feasible and effective within your own constraints. +1. **Provide some context.** It is often helpful to provide context for example, what you may have changed recently, what skills you are new to and hence, could be the root of the issues. +Furthermore, information about your resources can help others to determine solutions which are feasible and effective within your own constraints. -3. **Don't just use words.** You should always try to provide some additional media related to the problem. This may be sections of code, CAD files, images or videos. All of these provide others with a much better understanding of your problem, and often provide significantly useful information, which could be seemingly unrelated. +1. **Don't just use words.** You should always try to provide some additional media related to the problem. +This may be sections of code, CAD files, images or videos. +All of these provide others with a much better understanding of your problem, and often provide significantly useful information, which could be seemingly unrelated. Understand the Solution ----------------------- -The final step for asking a question is understanding the solution. This is your own responsibility and no matter how good a teacher is, if you do not ask clarifying questions, you limit your own learning. To really understand the solution, you should do the following. +The final step for asking a question is understanding the solution. +This is your own responsibility and no matter how good a teacher is, if you do not ask clarifying questions, you limit your own learning. +To really understand the solution, you should do the following. - **Understand why the problem is solved.** How was your problem fixed? Why does this fix work? - **Figure out why the problem occurred.** What was the root cause of the problem? How can you stop it happening again? @@ -43,4 +61,5 @@ The final step for asking a question is understanding the solution. This is your - **Find gaps in your knowledge.** What information were you missing that led to the problem? How can you develop this area of your knowledge? .. tip:: - If the answer is not immediately obvious to one of the steps above, ask the person who helped you and have them provide some more insight. If they were willing to help you figure out the initial problem, they will probably help you to understand the solution as well. + If the answer is not immediately obvious to one of the steps above, ask the person who helped you and have them provide some more insight. + If they were willing to help you figure out the initial problem, they will probably help you to understand the solution as well.