Homework service worries professors

For students, the Internet provides many learning tools, but certain Oklahoma State University professors are drawing the line between homework help and academic dishonesty.

Websites like Cramster.com provide a forum for students to get help in almost any subject and can also give the answers right out of the textbook for a price of $50 a year.

This is where some professors like AJ Johannes, a chemical engineering professor, have said no.

"The only way to really learn engineering is to do it yourself," Johannes said. "My problem with websites like Cramster is if they learn from it, then I understand that. But most of them don't do that."

Johannes said he has failed students for copying from the website on their homework but not without warning. He said he tells students at the beginning of the semester what will happen and gives them a warning the first time he catches them.

"Usually they're smart enough not to do it again, or at least not get caught again," he said.

Johannes said professors decide how to police the use of Cramster in their own classrooms, and there is no department policy against using the site.

But Johannes said he isn't being strict without reason. He said he's worried what could result from his students taking a shortcut with their homework.

"Engineers have people's lives in their hands," he said. "I don't want a chemical engineer to design a plant that could blow up if they make a math error or if they don't know how to make the calculation."

But one engineering junior, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear he might fail a class, said Cramster helps him with the material because he doesn't copy the answers.

"It helps with the homework a lot, but it screws you over if you rely too much on Cramster," he said. "Because you don't learn the materials well, it can end up biting you in the butt."

And this student said he isn't the only one.

"I would say most students either use Cramster or have solutions manuals that you can torrent online," he said.

Corey Higbee, an architecture junior, said he wouldn't have been able to pass physics without Cramster because he couldn't understand his professor.

"Cramster was the only reason I could figure things out because it was the only thing that had similar guidelines," Higbee said. "I could study how they arrived at the answer, or I could just copy it depending on how much time I had. I recommend it a lot."

Johannes said he isn't entirely against students using the site. He said as long as students use it as a resource rather than way to cheat, it can be a way for students to enhance their learning experience.

"If they just use Cramster to look over and review problems before an exam, that's wonderful," he said. "I'm a firm believer; it's worth the price."