Copying notes is cheating?

Armando · 08-31-2007, 12:24 AM

I'm pretty confused right now.

In my AP World History class, we are assigned a few pages to read and take notes on as homework.

I read them, and took notes on them. A friend asked to copy them the next day, and I was glad to offer them, thinking they're just notes. You know, notes? The same things that when you're absent and go to the teacher the next day asking what notes you missed and the teacher yells at you to go get it from some other kid in the class?

My teacher even recommended that we form study groups (not that I'm interested in that), which I'm pretty sure involves sharing notes, right?

So, my friend was copying the notes in one of her classes. The teacher, I guess assuming it's cheating (***?), took them and handed my notes to my AP World History teacher. My AP World History teacher indirectly (by giving a little lecture to the class) said cheating is wrong, blah blah blah, blah blah blah, etc.

Is anyone else thinking w.t.f. at this point? Or is it just me?

Anyways, I doubt I'll receive credit for the notes, which I don't really care. I'm confident in my abilities to get an "A" anyways.

I don't see how copying notes is cheating...

I found this direct quote from a paper the teacher handed out:

Quote:

Form and join an informal study group with students in the class. These are very successful, and when you are together study! The group is not a substitute for reading or the work, but two heads are better than one. This also allows you to get missing notes. Exchange phone numbers and e-mail addresses so you can contact each other if need be. Also, talk over what you read and study with parents. The more a student discusses something, the better you will understand.

I'm thoroughly confused.

fizix2 · 08-31-2007, 01:01 AM

...Maybe the other teacher thought it was homework?

Armando · 08-31-2007, 01:37 AM

Don't really know, don't really care. Just wanna know what everyone else thinks.

Frosting · 08-31-2007, 03:08 AM

yeah copying notes are fine, definetely.
However sometimes (like personally, my world history teacher last year) would make taking notes mandatory, and would grade them. copying THAT would be cheating
in your case the teacher that caught you just probably just misunderstood or something

demeter · 08-31-2007, 09:51 AM

Maybe the other teacher just misunderstood the situation and explained it wrong to your AP teacher? Anyway, copying notes depends on the situation. If it was a homework assignment, then I think there's an assumption that you'll do it alone (unless stated otherwise). If you did it for your own benefit, then it's certainly up to you whether you want to share your notes with someone else or not.

Maybe your teacher was just warning the class about taking advantage of other people. There's a huge difference between slacking off on the work yourself to copy someone else's and copying someone else's notes because you were absent (which I assume is what your teacher meant on the handout). Another part that should be bolded is:

Quote:

The group is not a substitute for reading or the work

It's fine to compare notes to see what you might've missed, but it's not okay to consistently copy someone else's notes because you're too lazy or can't remember to take your own notes.

RootBeerCaesar · 08-31-2007, 10:15 AM

The teacher is an idiot, but theres a lot of idiots you'll meet in life.

Copying Notes is not cheating, everyone does it, and I personally, with high integrity morals, will copy notes without hesitation as that is something called "FREEDOM OF INFORMATION". It's not like the note's are 'answers', but simply passing information along. What are they going to do next, ban ppl from reading wikipedia? insane

Gryffon5147 · 08-31-2007, 10:56 AM

That's not cheating. Enough said...

PediatricHopeful · 08-31-2007, 11:13 AM

It's ASSIGNED READING AS HOMEWORK. Letting someone copy your HOMEWORK (in this case notes) or copying someone's notes is cheating.

RootBeerCaesar · 08-31-2007, 12:35 PM

^ all subjective

The copier isnt stealing a person's work because the copier is doing a similar amount of work himself in copying 'notes', however if it was something like a lab it would be cheating because the copier is stealing 'work', as the lab likely has questions that require thought and calculation, while 'Notes' require little to no thought/calculation except the movement of the hand and so thus it shouldn't be categorized as work that when copied is called cheating.

Basically: there's a BIG difference between copying a worksheet and copying 20 pages of notes. If i was a teacher I wouldnt care if people copied everyone else's notes, since they are still reading it while copying and getting the same stuff out of it, and frankly no teacher I've ever met ever graded notes so I dont see why its big at all

-Lurker- · 08-31-2007, 12:48 PM

for those of you that think copying people's notes and doing homework together is cheating.

you'll be doing a lot of cheating in college i guess ...

HisGraceFillsMe · 08-31-2007, 01:12 PM

^XD I completely agree.

If I were a teacher I wouldn't care if people copied notes. I'd care if they copied something I was actually grading.

Seriously, what teacher actually grades notes?

I've had teachers that graded out notebooks for completeness (ie did we HAVE all the notes, etc.) but she didn't care where we got the notes from.

Heck, if you're going to say copying notes is cheating, then is copying from the TEACHER cheating?

sciencenerd · 08-31-2007, 02:24 PM

The notes were homework and if someone copies them that's cheating. But if it's just sharing notes that's okay. Although in college this is frowned upon.

RootBeerCaesar · 08-31-2007, 08:43 PM

In college I'm going to copy someone else's notes right in front of the dean ^_^

andreaaaaaa · 08-31-2007, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Although in college this is frowned upon.

it doesnt seem to me that it is. i go to a cc, and on all of the syllabi i have received the professor recommends exchanging phone numbers with someone in the class so that you can share your notes with them, if one of you misses a class or whatever. also in almost all of the "how to study" books, which are mainly written for college students, exchanging notes is recommended, because someone else may have written down information that you have missed, and vice versa.

eg1 · 08-31-2007, 09:16 PM

I would agree that in general copying notes is not cheating, since the main reason to take notes is to have them to study from and eventually everyone has to do their own studying, no matter where the notes came from. If, however, taking notes on specific topics was assigned for homework, then I'd assume that the teacher is grading the work and wants every student to do their own work. In that situation, copying the notes would be the same as copying any other homework assignment.