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Communication

Channels

We will have Canvas as the primary and official channel, but also have Slack as a more casual/quick communication channel.

You need to use IU email or Canvas for any communication that contains your personal information or specific grade. However, I may be able to see Slack messages more quickly (I'm often behind my emails).

So I'd encourage to use Slack as the default, but then Canvas/Email for anything personal or sensitive. Even when you communicate via Canvas, you can still ping me on Slack to ensure that I see it quickly.

How to get your answers quickly and effectively

Not so effective

  1. Sending DMs to a single TA or only to the instructor individually: You are less likely to get a timely response and you may need to send multiple messages to multiple people and then coordinate them. What could be a single message in a group DM can become dozens of scattered messages. Unless it is very personal/sensitive, avoid doing this.

  2. Using Canvas/email as the primary channel: This is totally fine given that it is our primary communication channel. However, please note that the response may be much slower given that I am usually swamped with emails and cannot respond quickly. I can see Slack messages more often.

More effective

  1. Post in #q-and-a channel: this will maximize the number of people who can see and answer your question (the instructor, TAs, and other students).

  2. Create a group DM with all AIs & the instructor: This again will make sure that everyone in the team see your message and everyone is on the same page.

How to ask a good question?

The quality and promptness of answers you get will largely depend on the quality of your question!

provide enough context. For instance, if you encounter an error, you may want to show us, for instance, the error message, what you were doing, screenshots, what you did to solve the issue, your hypothesis about why it is happening, and the notebook file itself, and so on. Actually, one of the best ways to solve an issue is trying to ask a really good question properly.

Show the screenshot. Since it is impossible to remember every single quiz question or parts of the assignments, not having the context right there means: open a browser, go to canvas website, type login password, wait for the duo login, navigate to the course, navigate to the module, open the right question, and read it. It creates a huge unnecessary friction. If you’re looking at the question (or any text), just copy & paste it.

Don’t summon, just ask your question.

  • Don't: "Hello professor? Can I ask a question?" - Of course you can ask a question! 😊 You can just ask!
  • Do: "Could you clarify the following quiz question? Here's the screenshot of the quiz and it is module X review quiz. I thought that the answer was X but it was Y. blah blah ..."