WeBWork Professional Standards and Ethics 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student notices a classmate sharing WeBWorK login credentials so the classmate can complete assignments for them. What is the most appropriate response?
- Report the behavior to the instructor or academic integrity office (Correct answer)
- Ignore it since it doesn't affect their own grade
- Join in since everyone does it anyway
- Warn the classmate privately but take no further action
Correct answer: Report the behavior to the instructor or academic integrity office
Credential sharing constitutes academic dishonesty and should be reported to uphold the integrity of the course.
Question 2: Which practice best aligns with ethical use of WeBWorK's randomized problem sets?
- Comparing exact numerical answers with classmates to verify correctness
- Working through the mathematical process independently before entering answers (Correct answer)
- Refreshing the problem repeatedly until an easier variant appears
- Using a script to automatically submit multiple answer attempts
Correct answer: Working through the mathematical process independently before entering answers
Independently solving problems develops genuine understanding and respects the system's academic integrity purpose.
Question 3: An instructor discovers that a student submitted correct answers within seconds of each problem appearing, far faster than mathematically possible. This most likely indicates:
- Exceptional mathematical talent
- Use of an automated answer-scraping tool (Correct answer)
- A system clock error
- The student previewed the problems in advance legitimately
Correct answer: Use of an automated answer-scraping tool
Submissions faster than humanly possible to compute strongly suggest use of unauthorized automated tools.
Question 4: Under professional ethics standards, an educator who discovers a flaw in a WeBWorK problem that gives away the answer should:
- Leave it unchanged so students benefit from easier grading
- Fix or remove the problem and notify affected students appropriately (Correct answer)
- Only fix it for future semesters without informing current students
- Delete the student records for that problem to avoid grade disputes
Correct answer: Fix or remove the problem and notify affected students appropriately
Transparency and fairness require promptly correcting flawed problems and communicating with affected students.
Question 5: A teaching assistant is given WeBWorK administrator access to help manage the course. Ethically, they should:
- Use their access to preview all students' answer histories out of curiosity
- Access only the data necessary to fulfill their assigned course duties (Correct answer)
- Share the admin password with other TAs for convenience
- Change student scores without instructor approval if they think there was an error
Correct answer: Access only the data necessary to fulfill their assigned course duties
Privilege of access obligates users to the principle of least privilege — accessing only what their role requires.
Question 6: A student believes a WeBWorK problem has an incorrect answer key. The ethical course of action is to:
- Post the suspected error publicly online to warn classmates
- Submit a random answer to avoid losing points and move on
- Contact the instructor directly with a clear mathematical explanation of the suspected error (Correct answer)
- Access the problem source code without permission to verify the key
Correct answer: Contact the instructor directly with a clear mathematical explanation of the suspected error
Reporting suspected errors through proper channels with mathematical evidence is the responsible and constructive approach.
Question 7: Which behavior violates the principle of academic integrity when using WeBWorK?
- Using the system's built-in hints when they are provided by the instructor
- Checking your textbook for relevant formulas while solving a problem
- Paying a tutoring service to log into your account and submit answers (Correct answer)
- Asking a classmate to explain a concept you don't understand
Correct answer: Paying a tutoring service to log into your account and submit answers
Having another person complete assignments under your account is academic fraud regardless of whether payment is involved.
WeBWork Professional Standards and Ethics 2
A student notices a classmate sharing WeBWorK login credentials so the classmate can complete assignments for them.
What is the most appropriate response?