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Is Copying Homework Cheating? - 2147483647 - 2010-03-15
[spoiler=Answer the poll before opening the spoiler. Don't worry, the poll is anonymous.]I don't copy homework, and I don't encourage it, but sometimes I let people copy stuff out of sympathy. I know the school administrators spread propaganda such as "you're not spending time applying the 'learning'", "you're only cheating yourself", and "cheating is a violation to integrity." But really, these are really unjustified statements.
Allow me to rationalize my view. Homework is homework. It's supposedly practice, but in reality, most of time it's just 'busywork'. Here's an example of what I mean:
Biotechnology: Laboratory Manual, by Ellyn Daughterty
Chapter 7a: Learning to Use the Spectrophotometer - Practice Problem Number 1 (Page 128)
What are the approximate wavelengths of the colors, blue-green, mustard-yellow, and red-orange?
To find the answer to this problem, you wouldn't need to read the section at all. All you need to do is flip to Page 126, where there's an enlarged Figure 7.1 titled "Light travels in waves" showing that blue light has a wavelength of 450nm, green light has a wavelength of 550nm, and red light has a wavelength of 650nm.
I have examples of even more pointless problems, but the above problem will suffice, as it's representative of the average homework assignment at my school. The problem is clearly pointless because people aren't likely to remember the wavelengths anyways, and in most laboratory settings, you will have access to conversion charts. It's like the pointlessness of memorizing the atomic weights of all the organic molecules because you have access to a periodic table.
My teacher assigns these problems in dozens per week, and she's not the only one who does it. Nearly every teacher I've had, starting from middle school assigns problems such as these. In addition, not only are students required to answer the question, they're required to copy the questions as well. So I'm not surprised people "cheat" so often. Hell, I don't even think it's cheating, unless the work has to be original (such as an essay). Most of the time, copying busywork merely saves them a few pages of page-turning.
People who are actually interested in learning the subject will often find the homework pointless. People who are incompetent and don't give a crap about the subject end up passing the class anyways because homework is such a huge buffer to their grades that grades no longer reflect the amount of material each person has learned. And often times, people like me, who have an A+ test average in Physucks, but end up with a C average in the class because my Nazi teacher is too anal about absences that he won't allow me to turn in work despite excused illness.[/spoiler]
After answering the poll, please elaborate on your decision. I only set the poll as anonymous for counting purposes, because there are those people willing to click one button, but not willing to elaborate, and they need to be included in the count to make the poll results more accurate.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Sarah - 2010-03-15
Homework has no bearing on your grades whatsoever. Teachers try and make you think it does, but it's only because a lot of kids wouldn't do it if they didn't, and if they don't do the work then they don't learn the material and are screwed when it comes to test time. So copying homework isn't a big deal at all, but in a sense you're cheating yourself because you won't learn anything. Teacher's are also supposed to use homework to see if anyone is struggling with the material (though a lot don't follow up on bad grades) so by handing in someone elses work, if you don't get it, you're hurting yourself.
No, homework sharing isn't cheating. But it's bad practice.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Hazzy - 2010-03-15
Depends on what kind of HW. Sh'itty busywork Homework? Not at all. Just WRITING it down at all is going to help you to learn, whether you spent 5 minutes thinking about it, or 10 seconds copying it down from a friend (or internet). If there are questions that require thinking, ie "What do you think ___ symbolizes in the story", then yes, it is cheating. Something like the aforementioned question? Not a big deal. Copying an outline for an Essay... big deal.
Sarah Wrote:Homework has no bearing on your grades whatsoever.
Where do you go to school? Homework is usually 30% or so of my grade in classes at my school. I get As and Bs on test, come to class everyday, don't do homework, and end up with a D in the class.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - 2147483647 - 2010-03-15
Sarah Wrote:Homework has no bearing on your grades whatsoever.I wish. So far I've yet to meet a teacher who even acknowledges that there exists students who have at least enough intrinsic motivation to study the subject without the "necessity" of doing homework. Most of my teachers jack up the homework to at least 50% of the final grade.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Sarah - 2010-03-15
Sorry, should have been more clear. Question and answer homework has no bearing. At least not a major one. Of course major assignments and such will play a big part in your grade. But in my experience, textbook homework isn't a big deal.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - 2147483647 - 2010-03-15
Unfortunately, in my school (ranked 'one of the top' in the US) textbook homework holds a huge percentage of the final grade.
The other thing is, I find it highly ironic how colleges are starting to adjust the admissions system so that GPA is worth more than SAT. Based on my observations, such a change is utter garbage. It doesn't take a monkey to come audit a class and discover how inaccurate GPA is. And to think that I have to listen to people who can't even make the 1500, the midline mark (you get 200 points per section for writing your name), complaining about how the SAT is an invalid "punishment", just because they have near 4.0 GPAs. Hmm.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Russt - 2010-03-15
If it's cheating anyone, it's cheating yourself.
In my AP chemistry class half the class just copies the answers from the solution set when my teacher posts it up (it's supposed to be for checking answers AFTER you do it), and they all "fail" the tests. I wonder why.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Cancambo - 2010-03-15
I've always ind of felt that it was just busywork. I've copied people all the time, and let people copy mine all the time. It makes everyone have to do less work. I've always felt that if people want to learn then they will. For example, even if Idon't do the assigned homework, I still read the book because I still want to learn. Anything that really tests your knowledge, though, is not okay to copy (i.e essays/tests).
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - WillDaSnail - 2010-03-15
Lucida Wrote:If it's cheating anyone, it's cheating yourself.
In my AP chemistry class half the class just copies the answers from the solution set when my teacher posts it up (it's supposed to be for checking answers AFTER you do it), and they all "fail" the tests. I wonder why.
Allow me to "further" upon Russt's quote.
My stance: Yes, copying homework is definitely cheating. Why?
While it may seem monotonous, boring, blah blah blah, this actually helps you practice/apply the material you learned. Looking at several cases from people here that have negative attitudes towards homework and pointed out how their teacher put heavy emphasis in terms of homework (grade-wise), I have to say those teachers are not logical......I feel for you guys.
However though....copying homework isn't good because:
1) Homework is meant as a way to apply what you learned in the day's lessons. This is especially important to the math, science, and social science/history areas.
2) Gives you a chance to practice. This will be reflected in tests - it'll show how much you practiced.
3) You're simply being lazy, not committing enough time to even do a simple homework assignment. Plus by leeching off someone, you're just hurting them too, if they get caught helping you this way.
4) Bottom line: You're cheating yourself. If you're just going to copy homework (being totally lazy by not doing it whatsoever), then you're just being. Those are easy points, and you're throwing them away.
In my school, they consider copying homework as a form of cheating. While some of you may not agree on this interpretation, I do. Copying homework is simply unfair; lets say that you spent a lot of time and effort completing the homework from top to bottom, but you see a fellow classmate just copy off someone in a very short amount of time. Does that feel unfair to you?
And plus, why have the "cheating" violation on your academic record simply because you copied homework? Not a smart thing to do - you're just presenting yourself to college admission officers as a lazy ***hole, and tremendously hurting your chances all around. Is that a worthy gamble?
Sorry for the strong language, but I'm just throwing out the brutal truth about this.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Horusmaster - 2010-03-15
It's cheating by school rules, but I don't think it's cheating, at least not cheating myself, I copy and let other people copy, no knowledge is lost (at least for me) when copying. In fact I sometime gain knowledge of how other people solve problems, and learn more efficient ways of solving them through looking at other people's answers.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Corn - 2010-03-15
I'm completely against copying other people's homework and letting people copy off of me (hey, we're on opposite sides again, Horus!). I worked my ass off to do the homework sometimes. Why would I let you copy off of my sheet in 5 seconds?
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Rob - 2010-03-15
[color="#000080"]
Cancambo Wrote:I've always ind of felt that it was just busywork. I've copied people all the time, and let people copy mine all the time. It makes everyone have to do less work. I've always felt that if people want to learn then they will. For example, even if Idon't do the assigned homework, I still read the book because I still want to learn. Anything that really tests your knowledge, though, is not okay to copy (i.e essays/tests).
Pretty much this. I learn what I want to learn. It's not that school is hugely important anyway. [/color]
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Dual - 2010-03-15
I do what I wanna do. I learn better from lessons and listening in class than homework or notes. That's why it pisses me off when teachers demand a full on notebook for a subject like Health. I don't actually use a notebook or the notes in any of my classes.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Link - 2010-03-15
Sarah Wrote:Homework has no bearing on your grades whatsoever.
I guess this depends on where you live and what your city's school board is like. When I went through High School, I never did homework, yet I always got 100%s on tests and quizes and I was literally a perfect student aside from my laziness to do homework. Yet, I always had bad grades because I never did the homework. Of course, I did my homework for my Japanese classes because I LOVED to do it, which, in turn, made my grade well over 100% average. Every other class either had bad grades or teachers getting on my ass for not doing homework. Along with them calling my parents and having my parents put me on medication to make me focus better.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Dusk - 2010-03-15
High school grading systems are terrible. In most (the following describes 4 out of the 6 classes I'm currently taking) of my classes in college, homework is worth 10% of my grade, and tests are worth 90%. I typically have one assignment every week or two that has about 5 or 6 problems that cover the material that we've been learning. I hardly lose anything by not doing my homework, but not doing it means I do worse on my tests. This makes much more sense than the typical high school system where you get assignments every day and you're always expected to do SOMETHING, no matter how pointless.
That said, I still think copying homework is cheating. You should always try to figure things out on your own. But in most cases, it only hurts the copier.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Swerve - 2010-03-15
In AP Physics my class would share answers. Certain people would simply just copy the answers because they had no idea what was going on. This resulted in many students passing with a C in a course where they didn't learn any "advanced" material. Sharing homework is not only cheating yourself out of a proper education, it's cheating a teacher from doing their job properly. Homework is used as feedback in order to determine whether they did a good job or need to review the material over again. If they see that their students are consistently getting high scores, then they will proceed with quizzing/testing. I earned my lousy B in AP Physics. I could have cheated and gotten an A because I had smart friends who knew what they were doing. But I chose to tough it out. Turns out when I took College Physics, all the hard work paid off.
Also students tend to be too short-sighted when it comes to their education. It's supposed to be a gradual process where you learn material gradually via homework and other assignments. With all this farce competition over colleges, students screw up big time by failing to look at the big picture. Sure. It sucks that you won't get that extra % so you can get into your Ivy League schools, but you won't be the retarded kid who never learned electromagnetism because he copied from a friend. If you think that it's pointless, then it will be pointless. But there are many things that are pointless if you choose to only think about the "end-result". What's the point in life for example if we all just die? Might as well just cut to the chase and kill yourself. Life is a process just like learning. There are no short-cuts.
On an interesting note, my friend who was angry over his classmate for cheating on his AP US Government test found out that he got an interview for Tufts. Attended the interview using his 5 on the US Gov test to show he was flamboyantly interested in politics. Poor shmuck never realized that he was getting interviewed by the mayor of his city. Stupid idiot. A rejection letter worth photo-copying for future students.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Russt - 2010-03-15
WillDaSnail Wrote:Allow me to "further" upon Russt's quote.
My stance: Yes, copying homework is definitely cheating. Why?
While it may seem monotonous, boring, blah blah blah, this actually helps you practice/apply the material you learned. Looking at several cases from people here that have negative attitudes towards homework and pointed out how their teacher put heavy emphasis in terms of homework (grade-wise), I have to say those teachers are not logical......I feel for you guys.
However though....copying homework isn't good because:
1) Homework is meant as a way to apply what you learned in the day's lessons. This is especially important to the math, science, and social science/history areas.
2) Gives you a chance to practice. This will be reflected in tests - it'll show how much you practiced.
3) You're simply being lazy, not committing enough time to even do a simple homework assignment. Plus by leeching off someone, you're just hurting them too, if they get caught helping you this way.
4) Bottom line: You're cheating yourself. If you're just going to copy homework (being totally lazy by not doing it whatsoever), then you're just being. Those are easy points, and you're throwing them away.
In my school, they consider copying homework as a form of cheating. While some of you may not agree on this interpretation, I do. Copying homework is simply unfair; lets say that you spent a lot of time and effort completing the homework from top to bottom, but you see a fellow classmate just copy off someone in a very short amount of time. Does that feel unfair to you?
And plus, why have the "cheating" violation on your academic record simply because you copied homework? Not a smart thing to do - you're just presenting yourself to college admission officers as a lazy ***hole, and tremendously hurting your chances all around. Is that a worthy gamble?
Sorry for the strong language, but I'm just throwing out the brutal truth about this.
To clarify, I voted No.
It's not cheating because it's not advantageous. If you're lazy and refuse to practice, that's your own business.
Even just today I nearly asked a friend to copy his homework (ended up not doing so because I got distracted) and he would've let me, too. But the only one at fault for not doing the homework is me.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Swerve - 2010-03-15
Lucida Wrote:To clarify, I voted No.
It's not cheating because it's not advantageous. If you're lazy and refuse to practice, that's your own business.
Even just today I nearly asked a friend to copy his homework (ended up not doing so because I got distracted) and he would've let me, too. But the only one at fault for not doing the homework is me.
Cheating is not determined by results. It's determined by principal. How you spend your own time is an issue to other people's business. Your parents are investing in you for you to fulfill your potential. They are not going to look after you forever. Eventually the relationship should be reciprocated when they are old and unable to take care of themselves. If you can't look out for yourself, then you will never be able to look out for other people. People who always depend on other people are useless and have no asset to a company or a business. Again I'm not talking about the short-term where you keep on living with momsy and popsy. I'm talking about the bigger picture that high school should help in developing the right mentality for kids.
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In General Chemistry in College I obtained twenty practice exams for the final exam. To be blunt, I really wanted to get into Medical School my freshman year of college and wanted all the practice I could possibly get. On top of studying the course material I also memorized all the questions and answers to the tests in case they got recycled. One practice exam out of the twenty was almost carbon-copy. I scored very high on my Chemistry exam and learned that a pre-med minority group skewed the average with high scores because they were provided with these "carbon-copy" exams. Specifically given to them by the professors of their classes. I became disillusioned with the way things work as that final determined around 40-60% of my grade. I later learned that fraternities keep their own test bank in addition to other academic groups. Everyone works hard, which is why unfair advantages make big differences when it comes to the game of academics. I personally felt guilty and quit accumulating tests, no longer really cared about my GPA, and actually died a bit on the inside. In retrospect I would have done a lot better in college if I didn't try to beat the system.
Beat the system? I'm sorry. I meant cheat the system.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Erich - 2010-03-15
I don't consider it cheating, because you usually have the info right in front of your face anyways. I usually do this with blatant, obvious assignments that I already know the answers for. And it isn't like I ask for it; my friends see i'm filling it in in another class, and they offer sometimes.
Is Copying Homework Cheating? - Swerve - 2010-03-15
Erich Wrote:I don't consider it cheating, because you usually have the info right in front of your face anyways. I usually do this with blatant, obvious assignments that I already know the answers for. And it isn't like I ask for it; my friends see i'm filling it in in another class, and they offer sometimes.
That's probably with rudimentary classes like US History or US Politics. But if you had to explain how to properly calculate the path of voltage and current in a parallel circuit system then you really have to bust out a calculator and do some thinking. Especially when the circuit gets more complex and in series circuit systems are added to parallel circuit systems in monstrously confusing ways. Or if you want to add a power generator with cables (transformer) to run through a given circuit system. Or if you want to shock a person with a given circuit system (a treatment for depression).
Also what gets interesting is when Biology majors take their mandatory neuroscience courses and discover that the brain is just a giant electrical grid for neurons to travel about at given velocities. Then all those Calculus and Physics courses they thought were not important (except for the MCAT) are shoved down their throats before they even have time to adapt their gag reflex to newer heights, or rather depths.