Re: [vox] Students, cheating, mailing list, rules etc.

[Jeff Newmiller <jdneMAPSwmil@dcn.davis.ca.us>]

On Tue, 2 Oct 2001, ME wrote:

> Hello Linux Users,
> 
> I have heard the discussion of what is considered acceptable when
> discussing source code on this list and the poster does not state they are
> not a student doing work for a class.
> 
> Can anyone provide the general guidelines on this for this list?

"Don't do it if it violates the terms of your instruction (consult your
professor)."

> I am from out of this area, and have contacted CS dept chairs for my local
> colleges/universities, but wanted to see what you all have chosen to use
> in Davis.
> 
> I did look through the lugod web site a bit (especially the mailing list
> sections) to see if I could find some rules on this, but did not find an
> example list of rules on this.
> 
> I am looking for general guidelines. Suggestions?

Mailing lists are uncontrolled sources of information.  If a student
chooses to use such information in violation of the terms of their
instruction, then they risk whatever consequences apply, and they should
be cognizant of the fact that this is a public forum with archived
content.

Personally, I try to avoid answering questions that taste like homework.  
Beyond that, I don't worry about it, because I am contributing to the
modern encyclopedia (Google), and a prof who fails to account for its
existence isn't very realistic and a graduate who similarly neglects it
will be handicapped.  Profs have to state the terms of use in their
course introduction, and students have to live with that for the duration 
of the course.  The rules of conduct for someone in Introductory C have to
be different than for someone in Introduction to Programming Algorithms.

Re: source code... learning to find examples similar to your problem is a
worthwhile skill.  Learning how to elicit generation of such code may also
be a worthwhile skill... albeit not the one a CS prof wants to impart.
Fortunately it is much more common for respondents to supply syntax or
design concepts than to produce code that meets homework requirements
verbatim. Incorporating these answers into a cohesive solution is still a
learning experience, though the student might not deserve as much credit
for "originality" after using help from someone.

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