there are two kinds of students who use this service – one knows the material but doesn’t feel they have the time to do the work. they may pass the tests and get away with a passing grade. if the teacher assigns more homework, the student may have sufficient knowledge to pass it.

then there are those who pay to have homework done, and when the test comes around, can’t pass it. they will take care of themselves.

sometimes astute teachers give test questions that are not from the homework assignments. students hate that. but it has a purpose. they sometimes give test questions on parts of the book they say aren’t going to be on the tetst for the same reason.

Sometimes teachers ask students to hand in written pages in different states of completeness – first your outline with references, then a first draft, then a peer reviewed draft, etc. this is not done because they want to make sure the student will get their papers in on time. It is done to make sure the student actually wrote the paper. then they ask the student to give the topic orally. believe me it is tough to bluff your way through an oral chemistry presentation.

So, it is worth letting the teacher know – anonymous if you must. start showing up at the help sessions in the teachers office hours and build up a rapport with the teacher so you won’t look like a tattle tale by bringing up the subject.

ask the teacher if they have ever heard of those kinds of site. leave the teacher the website address – be honest without coming right out with the truth – the teacher should be able to see what is going on. then look to see what happens to the syllabus.

if no response from the teacher, head up the food chain to the head of the dept.

good luck

You can tell your professor but it is going to be your word against the other student. You may want to talk to the instructor, and say that there is a student in the class that is using such service but not say a name. This way the instructor can monitor the assignments. Often students that use those services – get their own when they have to take the test or perform the task that the assignment was about.

Most instructors take this serious. I have failed students that have been cheated on test or plagiarized work.

Good Luck! You have a difficult decision to make. You have to be comfortable with telling or not telling.

Yes definitely tell! The “it doesn’t affect me” attitude is a backhanded stamp of approval of this, and other types, of unethical behavior. Whether or not it affects you is not relevant. When left unchecked, unethical behavior has unintended consequences that eventually affect everyone.

I agree with the suggestion to remain anonymous. If you have one, take your laptop to a hotspot you don’t normally go to and create a new email account with gmail or yahoo. Then email your professor with the name of the students, the date and time you heard this conversation, and the link to the site. Let your teacher know that you will come forward if he decides to pursue the matter. Sadly, today a lot of teachers don’t care, hello unintended consequences of apathy, but this will protect your ID in case yours is one who doesn’t.

I tutor chemistry, so I have a strong hunch about the name of this place. They have contributed to a lot of problems.

Good luck, and please let us know what happens.

This does affect you, especially if your prof/teacher grades on a curve. If you feel comfortable with your prof, put a note on your next assignment that you’d like to meet with them outside of class to discuss something important, and they’ll most likely set aside time for you when others aren’t around. Explain to them that you’re a bit torn on whether to share this, but you really feel that they should know, and you’d appreciate it if they’d go about figuring out the situation as if you hadn’t said anything. Your prof shouldn’t have a problem doing this, it should cause them to go back through that student’s work and compare it to their participation in class. I’ve even had bosses that were willing to handle situations this way when I brought it to their attention (coworker taking drugs at work, etc.). Your prof/teacher, if they’re any good, will want to keep you out of this and will appreciate your coming forward and leaving the rest to them.

And honestly, whatever they choose to do about it, you did the right thing, you did what you could do…now it’s up to them. If you don’t say anything, it’s going to bug you for a long time.

I know this is difficult, but it really is the best thing to do. And quite frankly, if that student is not doing their own work (and consistently at that), it really is going to come back to bite them later. Better they fail a class now, than to completely fail at more important things in life (like a career) because they never gained the discipline to do their own work.

Edit…Oh my lands, I just looked up some of these sites…yes, this is definitely cheating, and any student in my class who did this would not only fail, but would not be allowed to take any more of my classes or tutoring sessions. Please report them.

I signed up and paid for the course. I am here to get the benefit of the knowledge. I choose to do the work in order to learn. Thus I am getting what I pay for.

What other people do is their own business until it gets in the way of what I am doing. In this case I might not like it or feel that it is “unfair” or whatever. Life has never been fair nor will it ever be. It still does not effect what I chose to do for myself and my education. I do the work therefore I learn. If I choose not to do the work I will not learn.

I can only be responsible for myself – the rest is all b.s.