For those of us who do not know what Quizlet is, well, you are not alone. This is because not many students know about its presence and use. Quizlet is a company that designs and creates tools for learning and studying.
The primary products offered by the company include live quizzes, matching games, digital flashcards, and practice electronic assessments.
Is Quizlet Considered Cheating?
Now that we have understood what Quizlet is and its use, some of us may be wondering about its legitimacy when it comes to learning. Quizlet provides the necessary tools used by students to learn or study. But does it break the rules?
Ideally, using Quizlet is not considered cheating if you use it for personal studies and reference for questions and problems. However, using Quizlet becomes cheating when you copy the solutions from the flashcards and present it as your own. Copying the answers constitutes plagiarism which breaks the honor code and academic integrity rules.
This means that a student may have some homework and refer to Quizlet for answers. Depending on the perspective, it can be regarded as cheating because the student has not conducted research concerning their homework or topic.
They will have lifted material from Quizlet and used it as their own, therefore making it an academic dishonesty case.
For example, there was a case reported by CBS News that 12 students had been suspended for using Quizlet to cheat. This was after it was reported that they had used the Quizlet app to cheat during their finals at Texas Christian University.
While this was the case, the students contested that they used Quizlet to study. They said that they did not realize that the questions that they would find in their finals would be similar to those they had used as study guides in Quizlet.
This is just one of the various examples where Quizlet has been accused of facilitating academic dishonesty in institutions of higher learning.
Ways that Quizlet does not Constitute Cheating
However, this can also be perceived from a different angle. The use of Quizlet cannot be considered cheating because of various reasons. First, Quizlet is a form of a study tool that helps students understand content more.
They simplify the learning process to ensure that even the students who have a problem grasping intricate concepts can understand them.
The second reason is the content offered by Quizlet. Imagine this situation like a teacher or instructor preparing their lesson to teach their students.
They can prepare the lesson through the use of flashcards, presentations, and so on. Quizlet acts as a tutor who prepares such content to facilitate the understanding of the content.
Finally, the content offered by Quizlet may not be exactly similar to students’ assignments or homework. It is not as if the company knows the type of exams or tests that will be given to students.
They are just offering random study materials that may be similar to those found in some of the students’ assignments or homework.
Therefore, depending on individual perspectives, the use of Quizlet can either be regarded as cheating or not cheating. As long as it helps the student understand the concepts, then it is absolutely fine to use it when studying.
Are Quizlet Answers Correct?
Quizlet has several solutions to different courses and provides flashcards that really simplify the learning process. Students check the answers to questions quite fast and quick. But are the answers really correct. Well, the answer to this question depends on the question.
In most cases, Quizlet answers are correct and reflect the solutions to the questions from the course. However, not all Quizlet answers are correct because the content posted is usually from users who are not students of the courses. The best way to rely on these answers is to confirm with your class books.
But with most answers correct, the flash cards seem to be worth the check. Students can post questions and answers to Quizlet after they have completed their tests or exams to gain some free features instead of paying a subscription fee.
Since the content that has been posted belongs to students, it means that some of the answers provided may be wrong while others correct. Some answers may also be incomplete.
After all, most users are students who are also learning and can easily make mistakes when answering questions. Therefore, students should not blindly follow the content posted on Quizlet because it may be wrong.
However, some answers provided on Quizlet are correct. This is because some users are teachers or instructors and the content that they post will most likely be credible.
Quizlet has created a community where learners and instructors can interact academically. Because of this, instructors will often post teaching material to be used by students within their online community.
Students can therefore access the credible material to use for their studies. However, others use Quizlet solutions for questions and copying online answers to cheat among other methods of cheating in exams. There are consequences for that, as in the case of the 12 students who had been suspended for using Quizlet to cheat.
Can Quizlet Detect Cheating?
As an online flash card platform, Quizlet cannot directly detect cheating because it is not their core business. This is because the platform only offers study material and it is not involved in plagiarism detection or facilitating institutions to conduct online tests or exams remotely.
However, according to Quizlet, their team is continuously working to add both unseen and seen features to make sure that users utilize the platform for academic or learning purposes only and not cheating.
The company has also included a Quizlet honor code that requires users, especially students, to uphold and be aware of their institutions or teachers’ policies revolving around sharing or posting sensitive course material on the platform.
The platform also has Quizlet community guidelines that unequivocally prohibit any form of academic dishonesty and posting content that has been copyrighted in their platform. Such content can include exam/test questions, test banks, and confidential course content.
To help combat or detect academic dishonesty, Quizlet allows both instructors and students to identify material that can negatively affect their course and request for its removal. It is through such methods that Quizlet can indirectly detect cheating.
Can you be Caught Using Quizlet?
As noted earlier, some students at the Texas Christian University were caught using Quizlet during their finals and consequently suspended.
Yes, you can be caught using Quizlet if you copy the flashcard answers and present them as yours. Educational institutions will catch Quizlet cheating by comparing the answers, using plagiarism scans and proctoring software.
Most schools use proctoring tools to monitor your computer while doing an online test or exam. Proctoring tools are used to monitor all the activities done on the computer including using the computer’s webcam to detect any suspicious activity during exams or tests.
This means that you can be caught using Quizlet and the academic consequences are dire. How is this achieved? Well, the first way you can be caught using Quizlet is if your instructor
How Professors Detect Quizlet Cheating
Using Proctoring
Proctoring tools can determine whether you have opened another window in your browser to access Quizlet.
The second method in which you can be caught cheating using Quizlet is if an instructor or a student reports you.
They can report you because by cheating using Quizlet, you are gaining an unfair advantage over other students.
Student Behavior
Some students have even openly posted on social media platforms such as Twitter claiming that they have used Quizlet to cheat during their exams. If an instructor or fellow student finds such a post and is uncomfortable with it, then they can report you.
Comparing Answers
Finally, you can be caught cheating using Quizlet if the content that has been posted on the platform matches the content that you have written on your test or exam. Some instructors can decide to review the material posted on the platform and match it to your paper.
Plagiarism Scan
This is the most common method of checking whether a student copied answers from another source, especially for long text answers. Most universities use plagiarism scans like Turnitin and SafeAssign to check copying.
As we discussed in another post, plagiarism scanners detect flashcards because they are posted on public websites that are accessible to everyone.
How to use Flash Card Answers Well
The best method of using Quizlet answers well is to paraphrase or rewriting them to avoid plagiarism. This especially applies when the answers directly match what has been asked in your exam or test.
Understandably, students may encounter direct or exact answers from Quizlet while studying or going through the platform. Such students may be tempted to directly copy and paste the answers to their exams or tests.
However, this is dangerous because instructors can go through Quizlet and notice that the answers you have provided are similar. Instructors know how to detect cheating in schools and if they get you, you will face serious consequences of using online answers in exams as a cheat.
The second method of using Quizlet answers well is to use them for study purposes only. Let the answers provide you with an idea of what to do or the topic. When you encounter such questions in your tests or exams.
It is not wise to solely depend on the content provided by Quizlet during tests or exams. This is because the answers provided may be wrong, plagiarized, or incomplete.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you see who views your Quizlet?
At times, you can see who views your Quizlet depending on their profile and if you have an active profile on the platform. However, some users may have different user names and profile pictures that make it difficult to know exactly who has viewed your Quizlet.
Can Quizlet be tracked?
It is difficult for Quizlet to be tracked because it protects its users against such online activities. However, if you have provided your exact details in your user profile, then you can be tracked.
Can professors see if you use Quizlet?
As noted, if a student creates a user profile that exactly matches their true identity, then they can be tracked. Therefore, professors can see if you use Quizlet if that is the case.
Does Quizlet snitch or notify your school?
No. Quizlet does not snitch or notify your school. It only allows students and instructors to view material that is potentially damaging to their academic life or work and request it to be removed.
