What happens when you apply eBay thinking to homework?

[clep3705]

I read an article about cheating and then quickly found a website that conducts auctions for homework help. I saw a post from a student who couldn't even spell his or her assignment correctly.

I've heard people say that passing a CLEP test and getting credit for a course without attending class is like cheating or is otherwise academically impure. When I see that a person has passed a bunch of CLEPs, I have a high degree of confidence that the person knows something because of how the exams are proctored.

[Westerner]

I like to say that a CLEP or DSST is like a college final—you're just studying for it independently instead of sitting through classes and paying all that tuition. Save time, save money

[Lindagerr]

The worst part is those students paying for their homework are probably the rich ones going to the Ivy league schools. Sometimes I think the reason our country is going to HEII is we have to many Ivy league idiots running things.

[DrJohn]

The only possible downside I can see to earning a degree completely by testing out is that you may not develop the skill and the ability for college level academic writing and thinking. I may have opened a touchy subject, and yes some people have great writing ability from many years of pursuing it on their own, others learned academic writing from some college classes they have attended in the past. However, I am not speaking in absolutes here, just in generality. Ok, you may miss the frat parties too, but your grades will not suffer from it!! :-)

CLEP / DSST & ECE exams are in no way shape or form cheating out of actually learning the course material, I actually feel as if I have better recall of the subjects I have studied for in preparation of the exams I have taken. Likewise I am very pleased of the writing ability and critical thinking skills that have been developed by having to write research papers in the courses I have attended, it is a preparation graduate school.

In regards to cheating, I have found websites that for a fee, sometimes a hefty fee, will write your college research papers, thesis, or even dissertation. They go as far to say it is an original work that will pass all the plagiarism tests. Honestly, I don't care if they are right about getting away with it. I am cheating myself, my school, my family, my friends and worst of all my God by doing something that gives me absolutely no academic value. Something that I can feel proud in because it is my own accomplishment. The test results from the exams I have taken, they all mean something, we have all earned those passing scores by learning the material, regardless of how it was learned. The same thing goes with the parchment on the wall that says you have been awarded a college degree at whichever level, as long as the school is a respected, regionally accredited school, you have earned that diploma and the pride that comes from it. (I mean no insult or disrespect to the nationally accredited schools or students, just too many issues with NA credits to place them at an equal level of RA schools and degrees)

[sanantone]

Harvard's freshman survey was just posted on the other forum. 42% of students admitted to cheating on homework assignments, and 10% admitted to cheating on tests in high school. Of course, we don't know if they are going to continue this behavior in college, but Harvard did force dozens of students to withdraw last year due to a cheating scandal involving take home exams.

Survey: 42 percent of Harvard's incoming freshman class cheated on homework - U.S. News

Administrators said that on final-exam questions, some students supplied identical answers, down to, in some cases, typographical errors, indicating that they had written them together or plagiarized them. But some students claimed that the similarities in their answers were due to sharing notes or sitting in on sessions with the same teaching fellows. The instructions on the take-home exam explicitly prohibited collaboration, but many students said they did not think that included talking with teaching fellows.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/educat....html?_r=0

[UptonSinclair]

The only possible downside I can see to earning a degree completely by testing out is that you may not develop the skill and the ability for college level academic writing and thinking. I may have opened a touchy subject, and yes some people have great writing ability from many years of pursuing it on their own, others learned academic writing from some college classes they have attended in the past.

I believe this has a lot to do with the student. If a person wants to learn academic writing, they will do far better than if they are just taking a class or an exam to fill a box. Excelsior is pretty demanding about their Written English Requirement, so there isn't much opportunity to slide by. I was actually very surprised at the amazing quality of the BYU-Independent writing course. I take the final in a couple of weeks and then I plan to continue with their upper level writing course.

I guess I am trying to say you get what you put into any class, exam, etc. Sitting in a college class texting isn't much better than trying to slide by on a college comp exam.

[DrJohn]

I believe this has a lot to do with the student. If a person wants to learn academic writing, they will do far better than if they are just taking a class or an exam to fill a box. Excelsior is pretty demanding about their Written English Requirement, so there isn't much opportunity to slide by. I was actually very surprised at the amazing quality of the BYU-Independent writing course. I take the final in a couple of weeks and then I plan to continue with their upper level writing course.

I guess I am trying to say you get what you put into any class, exam, etc. Sitting in a college class texting isn't much better than trying to slide by on a college comp exam.

Very true, it is all about what you put into it. I know at COSC they seem to take writing pretty seriously by requiring a written exam to gain full admission, the Cornerstone Seminar which was pretty good at preparing you for college writing and while I haven't taken the Capstone Course yet I expect that will solidify the academic writing and make for good preparation for graduate school.

[koenigtv]

In my opinion I think the situation eventually balances out.

For example the majority of colleges only accept a certain amount of CBE and therefore most students have to complete traditional classes to earn their degrees. In the case of students attending the Big 3, the majority of students are adult learners with prior college and professional work experience. People who have the opportunity or tendency to cheat will continue to do so either in the classroom or the real world.

I think most students who are pursuing a degree out of personal satisfaction or in subjects that are relevant to their fields or occupation are motivated to learn but are just doing it by CBE which is the most cost effective and efficient way possible. What ever "system" is in place for proctoring and ensuring academic integrity will eventually catch those with impure motives. Ultimately if someone earns a degree without real knowledge they may get the job they want but its unlikely they will be able to keep it in a real world, competitive environment.

In my experience I've hired a few people that looked really good on paper that turned out not to have the skills and knowledge they claimed. They didn't last long. Karma I guess.

[Lindagerr]

I took my English Comp course back when I was returning to my 3rd CC. By this time I knew how important being able to express yourself in writing is. I worked hard and got A in both comp1 and 2. I always cringe when I see something written by a supposedly intelligent person with many grammar , spelling capitalization and punctuation mistakes. Don't get me wrong I know I do that here all the time but this is not an assignment.

When I took my GLOBAL Enviro change I had one women who was supposed to be on her last class. Her writing was stream of thought and wandered all over the place. I loved that she really thought y'all was a real word. The problem is when people see morons like this with a degree they wonder how we can be better. Maybe the fact that we say supposedly not supposably doesn't register.

[sanantone]

Y'all is a real word in Texas! "You all" sounds unnatural.