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Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 01:33:01 -0500 (EST)
From: Russell Hendel <  rhendel@mcs.drexel.edu>
Subject: Re: Grades

Rachel in Bais-Medrash Volume 2 Number 9 asks about the ethics of
<  <  ...doing a computer project for credit by having someone else write the
program and only making changes which require changes>  >

I have taught Computer Courses at 3 Universities. My policy is that the
above is ethical RELATIVE to the standards of computer science. I clearly
explain to my students

<  You very rarely write whole programs. Part of learning computer science is
learning how to take known programs and modifying them to fit your needs.
If you get a job when you leave this school most of what you are doing is
modifying other people's jobs>

So the reason I think it ethical is that this is all the workplace requires
and I see no reason to establish standards higher than the workplace.

The above policies of mine hold on Homework. On tests however I frequently
ask questions by giving students a WHOLE PROGRAM and telling them to modify
it or fix errors in it. Thus the teacher has an obligation to use this
principle also.

I should make it clear that EVEN if the Course Professor did not explicitly
make this policy, nevertheless since this practice (modifying other
people's programs) is the practice of the workplace therefore I would argue
that a student has a right to be graded by it.

Russell Hendel; Phd ASA; Math Towson University
Moderator Rashi is Simple; http://www.shamash.org/rashi/

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