/sci/ - Science & Math

I teach at a university.

Broadly speaking there are three sorts of people who tend to come to my office for help in their assignments. The majority don't do it at all and at most ask one or two questions over e-mail so I'm not counting those.

The first type is the diligent student who just wants some tips, often in doing something more advanced than what the assignment asked for. Sometimes it's clear they just want a pat on the back or want to show off, but that's okay. Very rarely they have some exotic problem (often caused by their unorthodox approach) that they need proper help with.

The second type is the lazy but smart person who started working on their assignment very late (and probably missed some classes too). Their problems are usually a combination of being far behind schedule and having some serious holes in their knowledge of the material (probably covered in the classes they missed). They're usually intelligent enough for an explanation and some pointers to put them right on track to a passing grade.

Type three is the genuine thicko who usually works VERY hard but is just too thick to get it. Instruction rolls off them like water off a duck's back. They're usually very respectful as they continue bugging you about even the most obvious things. They rarely ever "get" anything; they can be instructed to reach a goal but will then be stumped anew the next time they encounter the very same problem.

Even though their reasons are the most innocent and admirable, I fucking hate type three. They're so annoying to deal with. I don't mind the other two types at all.

Am I a bad person? How do I learn to deal with type three properly?