4 ms·

I disagree. Homework and exams have two purposes: 1. Help the student learn (by applying theory in homework and encouraging internalization for exams), and 2.

I disagree. Homework and exams have two purposes: 1. Help the student learn (by applying theory in homework and encouraging internalization for exams), and 2. Verifying that students have learned the material Cheating destroys both of those. A student can copy a solution to a general relativity problem, but that doesn't mean they understand it, and likewise they can obtain the exam before they take it and memorize the solutions, but then the exam only measures whether they've memorized the solution. That is, cheating completely eliminates the purpose of obtaining an education.

eecsninja 8y ago
And why do we care in a real-world sense whether this student has cheated in general relativity? If that person goes to a physics lab, he would be found out eventually. In a real-world sense, cheating hurts nobody except the person doing it, if even that.
- trendia 8y ago
  Sure, they might be found out when they fail their oral quals, but it would be much easier for everyone if there were a much faster way to find them out, such as a low grade from a school that strictly enforces anti-cheating policies.
- shabble 8y ago
  Would you want to be that surgeon's first patient?
- alonmower 8y ago
  That's not true at all. One example (there are more): Say a student cheats at Foo University and then gets a job at a physics lab. They clearly don't know the material that they purportedly got good grades studying. Now say, for the sake of the argument, that this happens a few more times. As a hiring manager at the lab I'm going to be less likely to seriously consider candidates from Foo University (because all of the 4.0 graduates I've hired from there don't know anything). Others will live need to work harder to overcome this bias because of the action of the cheaters. It's very myopic (and a very difficult position to seriously hold unless you're rationalizing past behavior) to assume that cheating doesn't hurt anyone.

eecsninja 8y ago

And why do we care in a real-world sense whether this student has cheated in general relativity? If that person goes to a physics lab, he would be found out eventually. In a real-world sense, cheating hurts nobody except the person doing it, if even that.

trendia 8y ago
Sure, they might be found out when they fail their oral quals, but it would be much easier for everyone if there were a much faster way to find them out, such as a low grade from a school that strictly enforces anti-cheating policies.
shabble 8y ago
Would you want to be that surgeon's first patient?
alonmower 8y ago
That's not true at all. One example (there are more): Say a student cheats at Foo University and then gets a job at a physics lab. They clearly don't know the material that they purportedly got good grades studying. Now say, for the sake of the argument, that this happens a few more times. As a hiring manager at the lab I'm going to be less likely to seriously consider candidates from Foo University (because all of the 4.0 graduates I've hired from there don't know anything). Others will live need to work harder to overcome this bias because of the action of the cheaters. It's very myopic (and a very difficult position to seriously hold unless you're rationalizing past behavior) to assume that cheating doesn't hurt anyone.