5

I noticed two very similar but distinct tags — and .

The tag is less than a year old, is used on only twelve questions (two of which are also tagged with ), has no tag description, and seems to cover the same topics as .

So, I suggest that be made a synonym of .

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
8

Looking at the twelve questions tagged , I don't see the usage of this tag as necessary (the key points are already covered by other tags, and the tag seems redundant in those questions).

I think we can safely remove tag from those few questions, without the need of creating an (imperfect) synonym, and then let the system clean up the abandoned tag.

4
  • 2
    I have to agree with this, since course-design also exists. And since courses has no wiki it is unclear what it means.
    – Buffy
    Commented May 7, 2021 at 13:46
  • 1
    We probably should blacklist the tag after that, lest it be recreated at the next opportunity.
    – Wrzlprmft Mod
    Commented May 8, 2021 at 11:40
  • @Wrzlprmft According to step 3 here, once we removed the tag, we should have another meta discussion to decide whether the tag it's worth blacklisting. It seems a quite convoluted process.
    – Massimo Ortolano Mod
    Commented May 10, 2021 at 20:37
  • @MassimoOrtolano: I don’t think we need to go through that process when it’s just about avoiding people resurfacing an unclear synonym or pointless tag. It’s more for cases where you really don’t want a topic on the site or similar.
    – Wrzlprmft Mod
    Commented May 10, 2021 at 20:45
6

In most of my teaching the term refers to what would be called "homework" at grade school. It is a specific assignment created by the teacher that when completed contributes to the assignment of grades based on the judged quality and content. The grade is usually the result of the . There may be several items of within a course. differs from an examination in that it is done in the student's own time over a specified period.

However is completely different. This relates to a component of a degree programme (often worth a specific number of credits) that contains several elements of assessment, some of which may be . The term can, in some places, be synonymous with a programme and elsewhere be a specific component of a programme (e.g degree programme).

There should be no synonym or blacklist action.

I also refer you to the meta question: Academia varies more than you think it does – The Movie

2
  • In the US I often see people use "coursework" to refer to the courses included in some graduate program. For example "there is more coursework in Program A than program B" would not make me think of homework assignments but I would take this to mean that program A has more required courses and more time put towards courses vs research compared to program B. I don't think I ever hear "coursework" used as a synonym for "homework".
    – Bryan Krause Mod
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 15:55
  • All my examinations in grad school have been take-home essays which are done in my own time over a specified period
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented May 7, 2021 at 17:05
4

I've removed the status tag here. I think y'all have done a good job of responding to the issues of this tag and it's currently been removed from all questions. In general, we only outright block tags if they come back more than once, so I've let the mods here know to watch out for the tag and, should it come back, let us know and we'll get it blocked.

Thanks so much for your work to manage the tags here - I know that tags can get out of control from time to time and cleaning them up is an important part of that process.

2

It seems like would be used by students, but could be plausibly used by both instructors and students, like here and here maybe.

"Coursework" is also a bit more specific (that first question, "Why do TA teach sections?") isn't really about coursework.

I support the synonymization, but just some points to think about.

3
  • Agreed, an alternative might be update their tag descriptions and clearly delineate the usage for each, which is not happening right now.
    – GoodDeeds
    Commented May 5, 2021 at 15:57
  • Maybe it would be better to blacklist it and say "use coursework for students, or teaching for teaching?"
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented May 5, 2021 at 15:59
  • Blacklisting is fairly unusual and requires staff intervention. Probably better to make it a synonym, make the usage clear, and retag any of the 12 questions that would become tagged inappropriately.
    – Bryan Krause Mod
    Commented May 5, 2021 at 23:27

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .