Asking Your Classmates for Help with Your Computer Science Homework

When working on your computer science homework, you may encounter many problems. Asking your classmates for help is one of the most effective ways to find solutions for them quickly. However, you must not forget that there is a fine line between collaboration and cheating. In order to remain honest, you need to adhere to the following rules:

• Always do your own work yourself. Only ask for assistance and advice on the parts of the assignment you really struggle with.
• List the students whom you asked for geometry homework help when working on the assignment in your paper.
• Do not ever show another student your full assignment or look at theirs. It is allowed to share a line or two of the code, but nothing more. You can help others and receive help only through pictures, diagrams, etc. Actually copying parts of another person’s code will be considered cheating. Both parties will be equally punished when the professor sees identical copies of program lines.
• If some part of your code is bugged and you cannot pinpoint the problem yourself, you are allowed to show it to other students. Please note that you are only allowed to show them the parts of code that do not work.
• You can sit with other students and converse about the subject, brainstorm ideas, etc. However, when working on the assignment, you should position your seats in a way that will prevent you from seeing each other’s monitors.
• Never give a copy of your assignment to anyone. If you suspect that the person asking to see your code wants to copy it, do not show it to them. Not everyone is honest, and you will be punished regardless of whether you knew of their intentions. This is why it’s best to treat everyone the same and keep the assignment to yourself.
• Do not give other people your password. They may use it to copy your work when you aren’t looking and submit it under your name.

What About Group Assignments?

When you need to work with a partner, or partners, your whole group will be considered an “individual”. You will need to write all your names on the homework sheet and you will be able to use identical copies of lines. You can discuss anything and show each other your assignments.

However, you will need to treat the members of other groups based on the rules listed above. This way, you will remain honest and get the assistance necessary to do your homework quickly and efficiently.