There are two different questions: 1. Are these the right rules? and 2. Should students be taught to follow well defined rules? You're almost entirely talking

There are two different questions: 1. Are these the right rules? and 2. Should students be taught to follow well defined rules? You're almost entirely talking about #1, and I totally agree. The vast majority of classes should not forbid looking stuff up because it is an artificial constraint that doesn't reflect the reality outside school. But I think #2 is also important. I know it's passe, especially in the silicon valley milieu that we swim in here, but I think "not following rules you personally think are stupid is good" is a bad lesson for students to learn. (FWIW: I thought the opposite when I was a student, but I was a short-sighted idiot when I was a student.)