How is it ethical to build a web site dedicated to answering student questions brilliantly, so all the student has to do is mimic the response?

This is a valid concern – as Educators, we certainly value academic integrity.

Let’s first address the crux of this concern: the issue of plagiarism. According to the FAQ:

“ Educators help students understand their homework, but Educators will not complete entire assignments. […] Anti-plagiarism software such as Turnitin and all search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) can include in their databases.”

We certainly want to avoid plagiarism, and encourage teachers to ensure...

This is a valid concern – as Educators, we certainly value academic integrity.

Let’s first address the crux of this concern: the issue of plagiarism. According to the FAQ:

“ Educators help students understand their homework, but Educators will not complete entire assignments. […] Anti-plagiarism software such as Turnitin and all search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) can include in their databases.”

We certainly want to avoid plagiarism, and encourage teachers to ensure that their students don’t copy-and-paste someone else’s work. This can be an issue with any educational resource, be it , Wikipedia, CliffNotes – even textbooks and encyclopedias.

Some people view these types of sites as shortcuts, as ways for students to cheat and get what they want with minimal-to-no effort. However, the intention of these sites is to serve as a bridge – a shortcut, yes, but one designed to help students gain an understanding of material that they may otherwise not get.

Let’s compare the work of this site to that of an academic aide that is generally accepted as ethical: a tutor. Tutors are hired to help students who are struggling in a certain subject. They don’t give easy answers or let the student skate by – they clarify the material and allow the students to stay abreast of their schoolwork, rather than get discouraged and hit a “wall” when they can’t understand something.

Now indeed, it would be preferable if individual students were to get tutors to work one-on-one with them to help them understand the material. However, not all students have access to tutoring services in their area. And although there are websites that provide individual tutoring, they can be expensive. The Homework Help section of this website is, ideally, meant to be an inexpensive option for students who otherwise cannot afford academic help.

(If this is meant to be an affordable option, why isn’t it free? Well, as you can see from free sites like Yahoo! Answers, the questions and responses are not exactly vetted. In order to ensure that the information, as well as the Educators, are reliable, there needs to be a way to review each and every interaction on the site. This oversight guarantees the site’s credibility.)