Would you give away a semester's worth of notes???

[CiCigirl]

hi everybody! looking for some opinions...

i'm taking a psych class this semester as a pre-req to nursing school. i'm also taking micro. well, one of the girls in my micro class asked me if--when the semester is over--she could have my notes from my psych class.

we're not by any means close. i just met her about (maybe) a month ago. we've studied together a couple of times but we're not great friends who hang out together or anything.

has anybody ever asked you to do this--give them your whole semester's worth of notes once your class is over???

when she first asked me i said, "sure". i figured, "what the h$ll do i care? i can't stand psych and i'll be glad when it's done."

but now i don't know. i'm starting to feel like i might be putting myself in a position of being used. already this person has asked me three times to see my micro class notes so she can write stuff down that she missed b/c she was late or whatever.

and at first i didn't mind, but then i started thinking--hey, get your own notes, or at least ask somebody else once in a while. she has a few friends in class, why always ask me???

am i overreacting and just being stingy:devil: in rethinking giving her my whole semester's worth of psych notes or is her request just over the line?????

sorry it's a bit long, guess i just needed to vent...:trout:

would you give this person your notes? :innerconf

[MB37]

I would never give away my actual notebook, but I will always let people make copies of mine. These days most profs put their powerpoints online anyways, so as far as my conscience is concerned that makes it OK. It never hurts to have her owe you, you might have another class together and maybe you need a couple of days' notes.

[Irene joy]

I had a girl in anatomy that knew I had already taken microbiology, she was asking about it and wanted to know if I still had my notes, Well I told her I had made a customised lab notebook for it. The teacher said we could put any extra info in there and we could use it for lab tests. I had spent a lot of time copying, cutting and pasting things into there, along this lots of cool spread sheets to help figure out unknown bacteria. I told her I would bring it in for her to check out. Well I never got it back, and I was bummed I did'nt have the guts to ask for it back, I think it was just a miscommunication, and I thought, well the class is over anyway, why not help someone out. To this day though, I wish I had it back, there's been many times I wanted to look up a certain bacteria,without digging through the whole textbook. Next time I'll just say no.

[elizabeth321]

I gave my notes, assignments and careplans to the first person who asked once I was done a course......I never looked back at any of them.......I always kept my textbooks though.....but was happy to loan them out.......I don't have time to look back over notes etc.......there is always so much to learn as your forge ahead......I would take it as a compliment that someone wants your work...I know they weren't asking me for any other reason except they knew how well I did in school.

Liz

[laughing weasel]

let her have a copy. It will not harm you and it might help her. Heck she might be in a position to help/harm you someday. generally hhelping people ethically does more good than harm as long as it cost you nothing

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

I would not. I believe each student should come to each class fresh and earn a grade on his or her own work and merits. No mooching.

-However-

I wouldn't tell this student who wants your notes this, as I don't like to make enemies. I would smooth it over as, "I like to keep my notes. Besides you couldn't read the writing. I have all sorts of codes..." etc.

In addition, would you feel comfortable giving her the semester's worth of notes in front of the professor? If not - I think this reveals your answer.

[kenzy]

When I was in Nursing School I studied by out-lining the chapters, while another girl would only take notes in lecture, which I was not good at. One day this girl and I were talking and decided to exchange notes for a test. After reviewing my notes and hers we both passed the test with flying colors. So for the rest of our schooling we did this and both of us passed without problems. Then when I got out of school I had a girl from the class behind me call for my notes, she was having problems and was really trying so I gave them to her, but I knew my notes alone would not carry her through the program she still had to comprehend and be able to apply the material, which she did and passed. I guess the way I see it is I wouldnt help a slacker, but I would help someone who is really trying. Nursing is a life long process of learning and team work. There will always be someone out there that knows more then me and whom I can learn from. So I share my knowledge freely in hopes the next nurse will do the same for me. I follow one simple rule when deciding who I will help and its help those who help themselves. If you feel that by helping someone you are carrying through then dont do it, but if you feel that they are really trying and still need help why not be a good person, talk to this girl maybe theres a way she can help you, it never hurts to have a study buddy!

P.S. Another word of advice either go with her and copy the notes or have her pay you for copies, but if you need them for an up coming test dont put yourself in a position of taking the chance of not getting them back, accidents can and do happen.:) :)

[chesara]

I would say, "yes, follow me to the library and you can make copies of anything you would like, bring lots of quarters!"

My notes are precious to me!

This is the route I'd take. Loaning them out for her to copy doesn't guarantee you'll get them back.

I used to tell people my notes are hard to read and admitted that sometimes I zoned out and didn't always get everything written down. I also used to tape lectures if the professor allowed it so that I had that as a back-up for my sometimes sloppy note-taking.

There's a difference between helping someone who is trying and just handing notes over to someone who hopes to get by on everyone else's hard work. I'd help the first type and not the second type. You can usually tell who is which.

[elizabeth321]

People still need to do a hell of a lot of work to pass a course......it is not cheating to share your work......that is a ridiculous rationalization........share some kindness maybe it will be contagious......Liz

[Jules A, MSN]

People still need to do a hell of a lot of work to pass a course......it is not cheating to share your work......that is a ridiculous rationalization........share some kindness maybe it will be contagious......Liz

I agree 100%. Always amazes me at just how helpful and generous nurses can be, lol.

If you like to keep your notes I would understand that the offer to photocopy is a nice one. Most of mine were tossed right after the final so I would have been happy to share them with someone that asked.

[casi, ASN, RN]

I have no problem letting someone copy my notes, but they are fantastically hard to read and I do use my own short hand. I'd never just give them away though, I'm like a lot of other people and do look back on my notes a lot. There's just a lot of classes where there are things covered in lecture that aren't covered in the book.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

i'm going to agree with medhead.

i wouldn't give them away, but i'd let her copy them.

why not? maybe it is just me, but copying someone else's notes, even if they are really good notes, in no way substitutes for going to class and taking your own notes. it will help me get by on occasion that i have to miss class for some reason, but i won't learn anything if i do it on a regular basis.

in my experience, those who depend on others' notes don't do very well in school. i'd let her use them. like angie said, it never hurts to be nice to people.

agreed--make a copy of them for her, or go with her as she copies them, but don't part with the originals, especially if you think you may need them down the road. i'd also tell her that you won't promise that she'll get an a by relying your notes--that as far as studying and coursework goes, she's on her own.

i also believe in helping others when i can, providing that it doesn't put me in a bind (i.e., if we were both in psych and it's crunch-time, then she can't expect me to just hand them over and pray i get them back. she needs to be bending her schedule around mine so she can get a copy of my notes, not the reverse).

besides, you never know when you'll be the one with your hat in your hand asking someone else for assistance. karma does have a way of coming back to you :)

[Pumpkin1621]

People still need to do a hell of a lot of work to pass a course......it is not cheating to share your work......that is a ridiculous rationalization........share some kindness maybe it will be contagious......Liz

If I were to give my class notebook to another student this is what would happen. They would throw 90% of it away, keep the homework assignments, keep the graded essays with instructor comments, and keep the test reviews with convenient marks on what I missed on the tests to prepare for the final. Then they would be able to copy all written assigments and know prior to tests what is on them. You are right that isn't cheating.