How Online Solutions Harm Your Grades
Chegg Anyone?
Online homework sites like Chegg have become really popular over the past few years. And what’s not to like about them, right?
You have a hard homework problem set due tomorrow and you’re clueless where to even start. You can just go online and see how to get the answers. Great! Homework is done in no time and now you know how to solve the problems, or at least you think you know.
Although going online to check out solutions seems pretty helpful and harmless, it can actually be quite the opposite. I’ve seen this time and time again with my own students.
In fact, I now have two long paragraphs in my course syllabi discussing the dangers of relying on these sites and using them incorrectly.
The Wrong Way
There’s a right way to use these sites and a wrong way. First, let’s talk about the wrong way. If you find yourself logging into the website before you even try to do the homework problems on your own, you’re definitely doing it the wrong way!
In order to succeed in engineering, you have to develop strong problem solving skills. The only way to do this is to work problems on your own. Having a website show you the steps needed to come up with a solution isn’t really training your mind to think like an engineer.
You, yourself, have to sit down, read the problem, figure out what’s being asked for and then decide how to get the answer. After all, during tests you won’t have the internet there to give you help. You’ll have to rely on yourself.
And I know you may be thinking that the problems make sense after you see the solution. This may be true, but will you be able to apply the methods learned in that problem to others that may slightly differ?
More than likely not and it becomes very obvious during exams. I see this all the time.
Students have stellar homework grades and then completely bomb the exam covering the exact same material. When I ask them how they could do so well on the homework but not the exam, I hear the same thing. They always say they did the homework while looking at the solutions online. Problem is, they think they understood the material when they really did not. This made them study less for the exams and then their grades showed it.
The Right Way
So, how can you use these homework sites to your benefit? Well, here’s what I tell my students…
Work the problems yourself first
This seems so obvious but so many students skip this step. You’ve just got to do it though! Read the problem statement and underline the keywords like we discussed here.
Once you’ve read the problem a couple of times, then start trying to work the problem. You want to work on it by yourself until there’s no way you can go any further.
And I don’t mean just spend 5 minutes staring at the paper and then give up. Really try to work through the problem. If you get stuck, study the textbook examples or the ones given during lecture.
See what was done in those problems and figure out how to relate it to your problem.
Still stuck
Now, if after all that, you’re still stuck then go online and see what the solution has for the part you can’t figure out. But, only look at that part! Don’t just look at the entire solution – this won’t help you.
See what equation/method was used to get you past this tricky point and figure out why it was used. Once you’ve done that, then try to finish out the rest of the problem on your own. If you get frustrated again, repeat the process.
If you find yourself struggling a lot, you may need help with your study habits in general. Check out this post for suggestions on that.
What’s The Difference?
It might not seem like a big difference since you’re still checking the solution but the difference in learning is huge!
When you just copy down the solution without putting much thought into it, you aren’t gaining the knowledge and skills you need.
It’s kind of like being in class and watching the professor work an example. It can make perfect sense in class but once you leave and look at it later you have no idea what in the world is going on with the equations.
It’s a lot easier to have someone walk you through a problem but you don’t really absorb the concepts until you apply them yourself. By trying the problems yourself, before checking the answer, you’re giving your mind time to understand the material.
You’re also getting the chance to look at different concepts and figure out which ones may or may not work. This is so important for problem solving.
Summary
If you find yourself constantly going online to check out the solutions, try to switch over to this method. I promise you, you’ll be much better off in the long term if you do it. Besides, if you go into industry as an engineer you won’t have a website where you can go find the answers. You will have to come up with them yourself. So, you might as well become a confident problem solver sooner rather than later. Happy studying!
