The biggest loser
posted by Simmy on 12/14/2007 10:13:38 PM
If students use resources like Cramster to cheat, they will strike out under pressure.
Everyone's out to get you nowadays. No matter if you've never glimpsed at an adjacent test in your life – you have a pencil, a test and a chair, so that means you're a target.
With professors, TAs and even cameras hawking you like your Barry Bonds with a wood and lead-disguised needle, you have to wonder what all the fuss is about.
Of course cheating is bad and unethical, but who is it really hurting?
As a professor, you might feel your time spent preparing the class is devalued; as a student victim, you might feel your hard work is being ripped off by a free-rider; but as the cheater, you miss out on the whole point of being in school.
In that case, you might as well drop out and start channeling your inner Britney.
Good grades could very well translate into a false front of confidence and smarts, but good grades don't compensate for a void of knowledge.
In your professional life, your grades don't improve your work – it's what you did in the classroom and in the library that pays off.
So, as is true with a lot of negatives in life, turn the focus back on yourself and away from the cheater. Trust me: It'll be more worth your time.
There are some people out there who view Cramster's resources as a method of cheating. The availability of textbook solutions in full form raises red flags for them.
Sure, there likely exists a small fraction of students who blindly copy solutions to save time and bypass effort. But returning to my original point, we're not here to dissuade bad students – we're here to help good ones.
Blindly copying answers might get you a homework grade, but it will certainly not get you a test grade and will hurt you when it comes time to apply the concepts to real work.
For the majority of students out there, seeing step-by-step solutions helps to understand the correct process by which to solve problems. The next time they are confronted with a similar problem, they won't need Cramster to find the answer.
Mission: successful.
So the next time you start to feel flushed after finding out a fellow student spent 10 minutes on the homework you spent four hours completing, relax. Tell them you're a little nervous for the "quiz" and ask for clarification on No. 3.
Your four hours just became a whole lot more worthwhile.