I saw very little in John's post that is orthoganol to most of my
comments. I even agree on the greyness of the ethics area.
Regarding the difference between the teacher looking up something
compared to the student. The student and the teacher are not in
symmetrical positions; and the learning situation in a class is not
isomorphic with a work situation.
____
| What practices, and in what ways are they less
| than optimal?
| _________
The practice of assigning homework problems in order for the student to
get maximal learning benefit from attempting to reinvent a wheel or two.
My rewriting and making up problems is less than optimal because it
consumes more of my time preventing me from accomplishing other tasks to
which my employer as assigned me.
"There's nothing fundamentally new about this reality. Only
the details have changed."
The detail changes have created a significant qualitative difference in
my opinion. I am reminded of a quotation from Joseph Stalin.
". . .quantity has a quality all its own. . . ."
___________
Joel Rauber
Department of Physics - SDSU