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Is online homework help ethical?

posted by Carleigh on 5/20/2009 7:02:05 PM

The facebook generation (you) have more access to online homework help and study sites than any previous generation. Along with access to online homework help comes a need for responsibility on the user's behalf.

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Some are hesitant to embrace online social learning because it is changing traditional study and teaching methods. And because it is a relatively new concept.

The New York Times recently featured Cramster in an article titled Psst! Need the Answer to No. 7? Click Here.

Suddenly, twitter and other social networks were abuzz with people pondering the ethics of online study sites.

Is Cramster cheating? What about meeting your study group in the library for a review session?

If you are studying responsibly and using the resources on Cramster to help you learn and prompt you when stumped, then you are in the clear.

But if you are using Cramster as a source for lazy, quick answers, I'm afraid you're only hurting yourself.

What are your thoughts? How has Cramster helped you in your studies? Have you discussed Cramster with your educators? Have you benefitted from using the site responsibly?

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COMMENTS:

posted by COMDER on 10/15/2009 9:27:34 PM

I don't like the fact that scholarships are linked to grades (although there are good reasons for it), combined with the fact that many HONEST people do not know about cramster, and are unfortunate to have little resources (such as private tutors, school tutors, etc).

For that, I suffered so much in probability and statistics, physics, calculus, computer science, etc, merely because I didn't know about cramster, and thus my GPA suffered, and thus my scholarships suffered.

I feel it's unfair that an honest student has to get less scholarships simply because he didn't type in google "solutions manual" and found cramster, like how a cheater would, and thus get better homework scores, and if done right, get better test results, simply because he found cramster by trying to find a way to cheat.

Therefore, with cramster's existence and the many solution manuals' circulating around the net, ALL universities, to allow HONEST students to prosper, should refer to cramster and talk about the ethics behind it and the proper use of it. Otherwise, the cheaters prosper, and the lucky honest people (who found cramster and use it ethically) prosper over the unlucky honest people (who don't know about cramster's existence).

The scenario I faced sucked, esp for being academically honest!!!

posted by Carleigh on 6/3/2009 3:24:05 PM

Thank you for these insightful comments. I am happy and proud to hear that Cramster members benefit so greatly from this service.

If any of you would like to continue this conversation, become an evangelist, or simply provide some feedback, email me: carleigh@cramster.com .

posted by Dickinm on 5/29/2009 12:49:48 AM

I just wanted to thank Cramster! I have a Physics professor currently who flies through the material, and had me in tears because Physics and I don't get along in the least (I have to take it though), and I wasn't understanding the book's explanations at all (and my professor just didn't get why I couldn't understand the problems). Thanks to the hints and the step-by-step help for problems on Cramster, I was able to walk out of my first test tonight feeling a lot more confident than I would have otherwise!

posted by Luckistar on 5/28/2009 7:24:05 PM

Cramster is the greatest tutoring site I have ever seen. These experts know what there doing and can explain and teach it step by step, line upon line, and preciept, upon preciept. It's one of the greatest tools I have found to help me with problems I do not understand, and can learn more just from them showing and explaining the problem in order to get the correct solution. And a lot of times, I can get the answer to a problem, but can't explain step by step how to do it. Cramster explains it step by step. I find myself taking short cuts and miss steps even though I may still get the correct answer, missing a step still makes the whole problem wrong.

posted by LonestarSG on 5/25/2009 7:27:19 PM

Cramster bailed me out of my Probability I class and personally, I use it to help me get the answer. I do know some who use it for answers. BUT, think about it this way, those who just copy down answers will not learn anything and in turn probably fail the class

posted by J.O. on 5/24/2009 5:14:02 PM

My name is James and I am an adult student whose time is full Monday through Sunday. I honestly have no time to do study groups and when I do homework, it is the only time to do it. when I get stuck on homework. I look at either where I went wrong or the next part to get me through the problem. I honestly love the help with the homework. it is a resource I do not take forgranted and anyways you can only get so far by cheating. it shows up eventually in tests and other areas. i have classmates who have Cramster and lets just say only a few got the grades on the test as I did. So thank you cramster, you improve my grades not hender my learing process!

posted by Paper Masters on 5/24/2009 4:42:09 PM

As an online educator myself, I believe the ethics is with the student. The internet has provided the opportunity for a better, more thorough education if used properly. If used to cheat, its like Slowly Learning says, it hurts the student. However, if the unlimited number of resources were channeled towards students to make studying easier, answers more available, learning more interactive and school more friendly, the United States may not be only 7th in the world in regards to literacy (CIA Fact Book). Cramster is helping pave the way to a better education.

posted by Slowly Learning on 5/24/2009 9:13:59 AM

I agree that online homework help is ethical when used correctly. You will always have those who abuse these type of sites because, unfortunately, those type of students do exist. As stated above, they are only hurting themselves. Cramster has been a lifesaver for me through my calculus classes. While my professor goes over the chapters and does sample problems, he does not always fully explain why you work problems certain ways. Unfortunately, I am not the type of math student who can look at a problem and just know how to work it. Cramsters has been a great help to me when I am unsure how to work a problem as I can not only look at the steps taken to work that problem but, in most cases, I can also find the reasoning behind that step. If I am still not quite sure, I ask a question. I have always gotten answers that were more than helpful. I also use Cramster to check the answers to problems once I have worked them. It is a great confidence booster to find out that you have done a problem correctly. Thank-you to all at Cramster!

posted by Grace on 5/21/2009 5:49:10 PM

I agree with Red1263's points. I would also like to add that to keep online help ethical, you have to recruit members from within the community to safeguard it. Cramster's pretty good about that - the more help you give, the more help you are able to get, which is how it should be. I also like how you can get many different methods/ways to solve a problem and pick and choose what works for you to understand a concept.

posted by Red1263 on 5/21/2009 3:46:25 PM

Online homework help is completely ethical, the only negative side is that there will always be someone who will abuse the help that is out there and then report or get reported and ruin this for everyone else. It all boils down to the people who choose to use Cramster.com and other site similar to this, and the choices they make to use it or abuse it. I will admit that I was using cramster at first for last minute answers and when a test came up, I barely passed, but now I'm using cramster as a reference and I'm doing my work, only to use cramster to check my answers, not to mention I'm starting to ask people on it for help. Which I have received replies to. Thanks Cramster!

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