If you discover/figure out that your professor is recycling old homeworks verbatim from years prior, is it okay to use those homeworks if you have access to them through non-prof-provided means?

I'll take it up a notch. If you also notice that your prof basically uses old test questions over and over again, is it ok to use old tests that your friends may have in studying for your tests? If the prof allows notes to be used during the exam, is it ok to then copy the old questions into your notes for reference?

The old homework and old tests are "more or less" in the public domain, and the prof isn't changing anything. So is it ok/ethical?

This question came up on ask-metafilter, and the answer was *overwhelming* no. Interestingly, the dissenters from the common line were a philosophy prof and an ethicist, who said it was ok as it was furthering the understanding.

What do you think?

Relevant links: the askmefi question: http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/47232
ensuing discussion: http://metatalk.metafilter.com/mefi/12756

9/26/2006 6:00:08 PM

if you look in the school's policy, youll find that you CANT study tests before they are given. you cant steal them from your proffesor's gome.

if other students have them, old exams, they are fair game. this gets asked every 2 weeks.

[Edited on September 26, 2006 at 6:04 PM. Reason : 234]

9/26/2006 6:04:18 PM

1) DON'T SNITCH
2) DON'T SNITCH ON YOURSELF

9/27/2006 11:21:18 PM

this happened with me a few years ago when i took statics with dr. parrish

he had left an old course locker open and most of the homework was recycled

i never copied anything verbatim, but i used the old homework whenever i was stuck, so did most everyone else

apparently someone blabbed about it on tww and word got back to him

he closed the course locker and said we shouldn't use 'the wolf webs' for cheating

[Edited on September 28, 2006 at 12:11 AM. Reason : ]

9/28/2006 12:11:11 AM

^^ lol... exactly

9/30/2006 6:33:00 PM

It seems like as long as you memorize all the required information, rather than just learning 1 is a, 2 is c, 3 is b, & 4 is false, but if you actually learn the information... it doesn't make much difference that you learned information b/c the teacher was telling you for the few weeks before the exam to study this info, or b/c you saw it on an old test that a friend had and decided to study the info, since in the end you are either way studying the info b/c you suspect it will be on the test.

9/30/2006 10:21:23 PM