Professors read this site. They can (and will) find out who you are and you will get in trouble for cheating. If you really need help, ask in generalities. **DON'T EVER** copy and paste questions from your homework and ask TWW to help you solve it. I've seen two examples of this today, and I hope my warning does not come too late.

I speak from experience on this. Last semester I asked TWW for some help with my chem homework (I just posted the question straight from webassign). The next day, I got an email from my professor with a link to the thread. She told me I could get in a lot of trouble, but she let me go with just a zero for the homework.

This has been a PSA from your friendly neighborhood TenaciousC.

1/18/2008 8:19:08 PM

How did she know it was you?

1/18/2008 8:39:46 PM

i don't really see how sharing the exact question and asking for help is still cheating - even if someone goes through the majority/all steps with you to show you one as an example. god knows i solved plenty of homework problems for/with students when i tutored, never got called out for cheating. it really sounds like your teacher was just being belligerent.

but really, how did she know it was you?

1/18/2008 8:59:27 PM

yeh, this isn't considered on the same level as getting help at a tutorial center?

1/18/2008 9:04:37 PM

^^She's got personal info and pics of herself all over her profile here.

1/18/2008 9:16:10 PM

3 pics and a first name isn't quite enough

1/18/2008 9:41:17 PM

I recommend http://www.cramster.com It's an online study/tutor community with an "answer board" where you are welcomed to post your webassign or homework/study questions directly and contributors will reply, typically within an hour or less. There are also online (Free) solutions manuals to most physics and math/calculus textbooks used at NC State. The nice thing about it is that solutions have to be worked step by step-- the point isn't to "cheat" its to help other students learn how to solve and approach problems. Contributors are rated on how well they they show a worked and well annotated approach to problems, not whether they just throw out an answer to get the green check.

I will say that I am a very frequent contributor on the site, but I choose to keep my profile/user name private for the very same reason TenaciousC describes-- I don't want "tutoring" with homework or practice problems to be misconstrued as cheating. Whether its in person or online: help is help. The tutorial center is not always convenient for students particularly those living off campus. Internet study communities are a great addition to on-campus resources.

1/18/2008 10:47:34 PM

i still don't see how it could be cheating. i know for the questions i asked i put all my work and was wondering what exactly was wrong in it. i never ask for answers, if somebody decides to put an answer then i (and others) and can't do anything about that...

1/19/2008 12:41:33 AM

I'm sure that 90% of the time people come on here is a direct result of the teacher not doing his/her job as well as they should. The other 10% are just lazy people who probably don't go to class and want someone to give them the answer. NC State takes the whole "cheating" bs overboard imho.

1/19/2008 1:08:10 AM

hey, this wasn't a bitch session... just a heads up to those who may ask for help on here.

Quote :

"i never ask for answers, if somebody decides to put an answer then i (and others) and can't do anything about that.."

That's what kept me from being in *real* trouble. I explained to my prof. that I was looking for hints, not answers, so she was understanding and let me go with little repercussion. However, something like http://www.brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=510723 is in the gray zone.

[Edited on January 19, 2008 at 3:08 AM. Reason : ]

1/19/2008 3:03:31 AM

Quote :

" 90% of the time people come on here is a direct result of the teacher not doing his/her job as well as they should."

there, fixed that for you.

Welcome to college, where teachers don't spoon feed you the answers to the test anymore.

1/19/2008 8:03:28 AM

haha, i screwed that up

i meant to strike teacher and put student.

1/19/2008 9:53:32 AM

I completely disagree with that statement.

Quote :

" I'm sure that 90% of the time people come on here is a direct result of the teacher not doing his/her job as well as they should. "

Is this what you really believe? A professor's job (depending on the course) is to guide us through material choosing the most conceptually challenging material to present in the limited time available during lecture. In order to truly do well (note: I did not say to "earn an A") and truly learn material in a class you should prepare before each lecture, attend each lecture, and spend time reviewing and fine-tuning the material presented after each lecture.

More and more in academics (and in many other situations in daily life) ones failures or lack of success are being blamed on teachers or anyone else except for the failing student. So when should a hypothetical student consistently earning D's and C's finally stop blaming every professor for their shortcomings and begin accepting responsibility for their own lack of preparation and initiative to do better? Maybe that student doesn't care about doing better, so be it.

I don't think any instructor expects a student to approach homework problems by themselves with complete accuracy. And similarly a student probably shouldn't expect to know "what to do" or how to solve every homework problem after spending 50 minutes passively learning in a lecture hall about select material. It takes effort to learn, if you want someone to blame for that fact you'll have to search long and hard.

[Edited on January 19, 2008 at 9:56 AM. Reason : Fix Quote]

1/19/2008 9:55:50 AM

Quote :

"3 pics and a first name isn't quite enough"

wrong

1/19/2008 12:53:33 PM

Quote :

"I speak from experience on this. Last semester I asked TWW for some help with my chem homework (I just posted the question straight from webassign). The next day, I got an email from my professor with a link to the thread. She told me I could get in a lot of trouble, but she let me go with just a zero for the homework."

well your professor was a bitch

1/19/2008 1:36:48 PM

just asking for hints? lmao



[Edited on January 19, 2008 at 3:08 PM. Reason : w]

1/19/2008 3:04:45 PM

i know its different for each professor & each class, but do you guys attempt to email your prof to get pointed in the right way?

i stay on top of the webassigns & try to stay at least a week ahead of them when possible

when theres one i struggle with, the first thing i do is email the prof & tell them what ive tried doing & where i seem to get stuck or have a problem & every time theyve emailed back within 24 hrs with helpful adivce

the key for this however is not waiting until 2 hrs before the webassign is due to start it

[Edited on January 19, 2008 at 3:20 PM. Reason : .]

1/19/2008 3:19:52 PM

ok here is the deal

cheating on tww is easy if you are not a dumbass about it....its basically like cheating in real life...you dont go advertising it do you? no...in real life you try to be discrete and shit...sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt...same concept on tww

another easy way to cheat is like make a "such and such class ROLLCALL" thread

and people in the class will post like "i'm in here!! "

well after that you can pm each other with questions etc



and the guy above me speaks the truth

[Edited on January 20, 2008 at 4:45 AM. Reason : dude above me isnt a dumbass]

1/20/2008 4:42:54 AM

I taught a Calculus class last semester, and one of my students posted a question from homework here. However, she had attempted the problem in several ways and couldn't figure out how to solve it. She asked for help here and got help - not the solution - just help at how to solve it. I thought it was a great thing that she recognized resources in this forum as far as getting help. I think most teachers are willing to allow students to work in groups / seek extra help on things like homework assignments. If you ask for help it's one thing - but if you ask for someone else to do your work for you - it's something else entirely.

1/20/2008 10:11:16 AM

some dude gave her the answer over PM

1/20/2008 12:51:35 PM

Quote :

"If you ask for help it's one thing - but if you ask for someone else to do your work for you - it's something else entirely."

How do you decide which is which? Regardless of what the original poster might intend, the responses they get are out of their control.

1/20/2008 1:43:06 PM