What do you say when a friend and classmate asks to see your answers or papers?
My mom called me a pushover and maybe. One girl, also my friend as in hanging out outside of classes, asked to see my 5 page study guide for a final in our class we had to write. I waited until she told me she did her own, then she asked again to see mine in case she left anything out so I emailed it to her the night before. The next day in final we took out our guides and the teacher checked them all over, and I found out that she had copied mine exactly. She told the teacher we worked on it together before I could open my mouth, and the teacher said "that was smart" and was fine so I just didn't say anything when maybe I should have I don't know. The teacher had already seen mine first. This friend is a good friend.
And other examples were just other friends asking for my homework or lab answers and reports. I mean it seems wrong to say no to a friend but???? I tried to help explain the answer to them instead but I didn't always have time (or even know how to sometimes). I gave answers in the beginning but then I felt used by the end of the semester, by my own fault. Maybe this is just what you do though.. share answers? I wasn't a good student in high school so never had this problem before of people wanting my work!
Just wondering how you guys respond to friends who ask for your work. Thank you.
And note, in nursing school, there are unfortunately tons of group projects, try not to be in groups with these "friends" or you will find yourself doing all the work.
So true. My last semester I was taking a research course that required significant work on a major group project. When we were forming groups on the first day, J and I wanted to work together because we had a similar specialty we wanted to research. There was another small group of people trying to recruit me, but there wasn't room for J, too. J and I found a few other people who wanted to work with us, and I told the other group I was working with J and some others. The group that wanted me was annoyed.
As the semester went on, it became clear that ONE member of that group was doing ALL the work. She was incredibly stressed, and sometimes vented about it to J, but didn't ever really go to the professor or do anything about it because she was "friends" with one of the group's users. I really feel like I dodged a bullet there because the group J and I formed was really good at following up with our assignments. I came to realize the reason a few of them were pushing so hard for me to join the group was because they knew I would work hard, and they planned to mooch off me.
There was a girl next to me in my A&P class years ago who I noticed was copying every answer on my multiple choice exam. I was circling my answers on the hardcopy exam and she was in sync with me ... page turning and everything. It was a 50 question exam and after question 10 I got wise to her game. So I started circling the letter before my answer (if my answer was B I would circle A, etc.) ... and when I got to the Scantron sheet I went back and darkened the right answers based on my trick. Little did she know what I was doing. I got an A and apparently she got an F because she was among the few asked to stay after class for remediation.
She started sitting in another part of the classroom for subsequent exams :)
I learned this trick online and thought it was an opportune time to try it out ... and successful it was
If she's a friend and she's been a study partner and worked with you, then cool. But if she's just a classmate that doesn't help you in any way, tell that mooch to do it herself!
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I have found that the students who respect me and are worthy of my friendship will ask me how I study, what I think is going to be on test, or for help understanding concepts. I share this type of info very freely and generously. When I explain concepts to others, it helps me retain, and learn what I still need to work on. I also share notes, index cards, study guides, anything that is not graded. That isn't cheating. I think a lot of students believe that if they look at a good student's notecards, they will do just as well as that student. I think you do much better when you make your own, but hey, whatever.
Then there are questions that are in a gray area. For example, if I come out of a test and someone wants to know what was on it, because they are in a different section with the same professor. They aren't necessarily looking to cheat, but maybe just for some guidance on where to put their energies. I will say make sure you understand this thing and that thing. This isn't cheating by my definition, but if you take it too far, you are going into shady territory that might actually become cheating. You need to be able to draw a line and for me, that line means telling people "spend time on this part". I won't tell them answers. I won't tell them what the essay questions were specifically.
If someone wants help with a homework assignment that means we sit down and do it together, and explain to each other what we think each answer is and then put it into our own words. That is helpful for learning. If someone wants to do that, I'll do it. If they want me to just give them my lab book when I'm finished, that is cheating and it is a no.
When people straight up ask to copy my stuff, I tell them very matter of factly, no. If they ask again (which almost never happens) I upgrade my answer to "No, that's cheating and I don't cheat." Also, anyone who asks to copy or look at my test, does not get study help from me. We aren't friends.
Did I read the OP right? You're allowed to make a study guide to use during the exam and the "friend" couldn't bother to even do that? That's a whole new level of lazy right there, and this professor is a bit terrible for not expecting you to actually learn the content. I think he/she is way too interested in good performance ratings than actually teaching.
FYI- our study guides are just that, guides. And we're certainly not allowed to bring them into class. Someone in my A&P class last semester had a micro professor who was "so busy on the hiring committee and being chairperson" that she didn't have time to teach so people were allowed to bring their notes and use them on exam days. SMH
People did this to me too, except I wouldn't let them. The way our labs in chemistry worked, we couldn't leave until our partner was done with all the work sheets too. Mine wouldn't try to figure things out and would ask to copy me. I always said no, and tried to guide her through the processes. We always stayed an hour after everyone else was gone, but I just don't think it's fair for her to get an A for copying off of my sheets. This also happened in Nutrition. I would simply tell my friends what page or chapter they could find the info on, and left them to it. Don't work hard for other people's good grades.
Reading the replies is very helpful, thank you all again for them.
I think there are some teachers just looking for good performance ratings yes - I'm not sure about this one in particular who I wrote about but she told the class she believes we would learn better by making the study guides.
But...who I am about is not someone cheating or not learning and doing the work.
Some years back, I was taking a chem class. In lab, I struck up an acquaintanceship (is that a word??) with the young man at the station adjacent to mine. He was a freshman chem major who was planning on med school.
One day after a challenging lab, he smiled sheepishly and asked, "Can I copy your report?"
My response: "No, you can't copy it. You want to be a doctor someday, you need to do your own work."
Honesty issue aside (although that is a good enough reason on it's own), do you want to work alongside, or be cared for by, a nurse who cheated in school? Who didn't make learning their priority?
You are doing NOBODY any favors by helping her to cheat. That includes you; if you're caught, you're in as much hot H2O as she is.
I wouldn't say NO! Cuz I'm just not that type of a person. But this "friend" of yours who put you down - I'd say NO to her for anything she asks and if she asked me Why? I'd tell her cuz she put me down. I never mind when others copy as long as I don't get in trouble. Be careful!
I wouldn't say NO! Cuz I'm just not that type of a person. But this "friend" of yours who put you down - I'd say NO to her for anything she asks and if she asked me Why? I'd tell her cuz she put me down. I never mind when others copy as long as I don't get in trouble. Be careful!
You'll mind when you get caught and are dismissed from your program. This is academic dishonesty.
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turtlesRcool
718 Posts
So true. My last semester I was taking a research course that required significant work on a major group project. When we were forming groups on the first day, J and I wanted to work together because we had a similar specialty we wanted to research. There was another small group of people trying to recruit me, but there wasn't room for J, too. J and I found a few other people who wanted to work with us, and I told the other group I was working with J and some others. The group that wanted me was annoyed.
As the semester went on, it became clear that ONE member of that group was doing ALL the work. She was incredibly stressed, and sometimes vented about it to J, but didn't ever really go to the professor or do anything about it because she was "friends" with one of the group's users. I really feel like I dodged a bullet there because the group J and I formed was really good at following up with our assignments. I came to realize the reason a few of them were pushing so hard for me to join the group was because they knew I would work hard, and they planned to mooch off me.