Are you in college and have been wondering whether you can use Chegg or Course Hero to help with your assignments? The direct answer to your question is that it all depends on how you use the two student help websites.
This article presents all the instances when using Chegg and course hero is termed as cheating hence not being allowed in college and instances when their use is allowed.
Is Chegg allowed in College?
Chegg is not allowed in some colleges because of the tendency of students to cheat using their answers. While Chegg is a useful tool, its use in colleges varies with institutions. Colleges that allow Chegg do so with some conditions while those who do not completely disallow it with severe repercussions set for those who are found to have used the website.
The institutions that allow Chegg only prohibit using the platform to cheat.
They see no problem if students use Chegg to go through textbooks provided on the website or for work outside their college coursework.
Those that do not allow see it as an opportunity to avoid students from using the websites to cheat on tests and assignments.
Instances when Chegg is allowed in School
1. When Renting Textbooks
Chegg offers students an alternative way of renting books that do not require them to go to the library. This is one of the ways of using Chegg well and applying it well.
Through Chegg students can access books that they can use to gain more knowledge on the course that they are studying. This cannot be classed as cheating in any way.
2. When using Chegg for Non-course Related work
You cannot be accused of cheating on Chegg if the content you have got on the website does not involve anything that you are studying. Using Chegg to gain more information about a topic you are not studying in your course cannot be classed as cheating.
There is no proof that you used the content to gain an advantage over other students in your course.
Instances when using Chegg is not allowed
1. Submitting your assignment questions on Chegg
It is not allowed to copy and paste your assignment question on Chegg to get answers. The main aim of an assignment is to test you on what you have learned.
Therefore submitting the questions on Chegg for answers is not allowed because this will not be achieved.
This is risky because colleges can work with Chegg who then can share the Ip address and you will be found.
They will also have the evidence that you posted a question on Chegg.
2. Doing Homework
It is not allowed to check your assignment on Chegg and then use the answers provided there on your work. All that is required of you when given an assignment in any college is to spend time trying to do the questions and gauge your understanding.
Therefore, using Chegg to answer the questions is a form of cheating that is not allowed. Using Chegg leads to underqualified college graduates who later find it hard to navigate the job market.
For this reason, the use of Chegg is prohibited in many universities.
3. Checking Answers
Students can do assignments on their own but decide to check if the answers are correct on Chegg. Although students are learning through doing the assignments they are still cheating if they change the previously written answers and use the ones provided on Chegg.
This prevents students from missing the questions that they were supposed to and knowing where they need to improve because they will probably score 100% after checking the answers.
Using Chegg to improve grades is a form of cheating that colleges prohibit and set severe disciplinary actions to tackle it. The same applies when students are caught using Course Hero to cheat.
When confirming your answers on Chegg the chances of being caught are minimal because the percentage of detected plagiarism will be low compared to those who copy everything but it’s still not allowed because it is against the code of conduct for students.
4. Answering Exams Questions with Chegg Content
During the covid 19 outbreak when face-to-face learning was prohibited and students had to do exams online while at home, cases of submitting exam questions on Chegg were very high.
Students wanted to pass the examination and used Chegg to easily retrieve answers.
Institutions easily noticed this and prohibited it as well as take appropriate measures to prevent it such as the use of Respondus monitors that locked students on the exam tab only and surveyed their background during the exams
5. Convincing other Students to use Chegg
Chegg is not allowed in colleges because students can easily convince others to use Chegg and convert the whole class into Chegg users.
Peer pressure is very common among students and once they learn that someone did an assignment with ease and scored high grades then they are likely to want to know how they did it.
Once they do they will start using Chegg and their academic values will slowly drain.
Is it good to have students use Chegg or Course Hero
It is good to let students use Chegg and course hero as long as the two websites are used responsibly.
If students understand that they are platforms that they can use to supplement their learning and not to cheat in their examinations s then they can be allowed to use them.
Copying content directly and plagiarizing answers is the only problem that if prevented can make the use of these two websites safe for students.
Students should not get dues advantage over others through the use of these platforms.
Causes of Chegg and Course Hero Cheating
Laziness
Students who are lazy and do not want to do their homework and assignments run to Chegg for help so that they can complete their assignments within no time.
They find sitting down and concentrating on their schoolwork as a waste of time.
Pressure to Perform
Most students do assignments by themselves but then must confirm their answers on Chegg because they feel that they need to perform better than others in a class.
Instead of working hard and ensuring that they genuinely improve themselves they look for shortcuts
Lack of Time
Most students who have to work to provide for themselves in school find themselves ending up using Chegg even if they do not want to.
They usually do not have enough time to complete their school work and look for help on online platforms such as course hero to complete assignments with ease.
