I can't make a reply on the poll so I just reposted it here to comment. Here it goes...

I answered no but it is actually a YES and a NO.

Let me put it into details:
YES for student help forum so they don't have to worry too much about the course and NO for specific course answer. The reason behind is we're not actually helping them or teaching them the right attitude to learn something from their hardships if we do that. We should teach them "how to catch fish" but not spoon feed them. No offense please. They might be dependent on the forum which may affect their working attitude in the end.

I do all the research I can and my last resort is to ask for help, I dont just ask a question without researching...I think its a good thing u can ask questions about quizzes.

I agree with you, Zara Mari. Handing someone the answer is not nearly as effective as giving hints as to where to find something. I would assume, as mrssortiz says, that all research within their capability has been done before the question is asked.

There are so many resources that seasoned MTs are aware of that they can pass on that will help newbies in their research abilities. I am happy to pass those along and if I could not see any way they could find it for themselves I might eventually tell them, but I think helping the newbie find it themselves is in the vein of "how to catch a fish" instead of handing them one.

I am saying this from personal experience and not to be unkind in any way.

I definitely believe it is cheating, especially when they are asking for help on quizzes that are actually graded, which you may have noticed happens very, very often. It`s one thing to ask for help in researching to find the answer, and I`m happy to help with that if I can, but requesting and giving the answers directly is cheating in any school I ever went to.

In addition, I`m a working transcriptionist. I come here on my own time and help when I feel it`s appropriate. I don`t get paid to help them -- their instructors do. If they need help with their homework, the proper place to direct their questions is to their instructors. If the school feels it is appropriate for them to have a self-help forum, the school should be providing it so that instructors can step in and redirect people who have been given incorrect answers in the forum (and, for those of you who post questions of this type, this happens a LOT, believe me).

I have been tempted many, many times to write to the school to let them know what is going on (by giving them the URLs for the particular threads), because I really don`t believe that, when the school tells the students to use the internet as a resource, they mean that they should use internet forums in the way this one is being used. I find it hard to believe that a reputable school would condone that.

What is the value of a certificate of completion when one obtains it only by having someone else fill in the test answers? How does it measure one`s own achievement?

I know that prohibiting these types of posts will cost you quite a bit of traffic on the site, SOMara, and I do regret that, but I feel very strongly about the cheating issue.

Please post comments here regarding the recent poll on course help. Thank you.

I agree with you also, Carol. Having the answers handed to them will not improve their MT skills.

I am currently a student and I research everything I do. I only ask a question on here if I have exhausted all my resourses. I so appreciate learning new sites, new suggestions etc. I don't want the answer handed to me, but just knowing that there is a forum of all these MTs out there that may be able to suggest a clue to me is "priceless" I voted yes for that reason.

I'm not sure how other schools handle it but I find it difficult at Allied. I'm doing the assingments as instructed but I am frustrated that they do not count any of the homework or midterms as part of the final grade. The only thing that counts is your final exam. So, I don't see the harm in helping Allied students. I do research myself before coming here for help too. I find a lot of the answers are not correct on the forum or just go unanswered.

I agree that asking for specific answers is unethical, asking for helpful resources in finding the correct answers is not.
I told my school about this site, they were already aware of it. Their advice was to use any resources available to me but to not take answers as correct until I investigated them for myself.
My vote is YES to the new category.
MAG55

MAG, I can certainly see where you`re coming from, especially since others have also said you get very little help from your school.

But I also see that people are in fact asking for specific answers and others are giving them. How do we solve this problem?

Any thoughts?
happy monday
carol

I just completed the Medical Transcription course through Allied and am also frustrated that it all comes down to the final. I have difficulty following there grading because you are graded one way on one assignment then you have a similar assignment and when you use that format you are marked wrong. It is very confusing and I am going to be sure to mention that on my feedback.

I've had the same problem with At Home Professions through Weston Distance, I've seen some comments about it from others in the same coures (as mine)I think it comes from having differnt people correct the reports but it is frustrating, I agree!! Good luck to you!!
Libby

Hi Carol,
I am not sure what the answer would be for people that are cheating. Since they are doing it so boldly, right out in plain sight, they will find a way to continue.
The sad part is that they are not building the skills they need to be successful in this profession and will probably fail eventually.
I am very excited about getting through my course so I can start to get paid for the time I spend on the computer : )
Hope you have an awesome day!
MAG55

Hi SOMara,
I was thrilled when I discovered MT Gab last week by googling a phrase I was researching. I very quickly realized, however, that I am hanging on to a 92% in the middle of the 5th and final course through At-Home Professions, and feel it is essential to do my own research as I have been doing all along. Therefore, I am NOT in favor! It is a fine line and I wish you the best of luck in drawing it.
Accents are frustrating, new terms with an accent are even more so, but not insurmountable.
My hope in becomming a member of MT Gab is to establish a networking relationships so that upon graduation I might find support, mentoring and hopefully employment. You are providing a valuable service. Thank you so much. Newbie in Redding, CA

Hi Carol,
I thought I responded to your question but do not see my post so I will try this again.
You are right that it would be impossible to stop that type of posts but in the long run I feel they are only hurting themselves. They are not building the skills they will need to succeed in this field and are setting themselves up to fail in the long run.
Instructors have used study groups for years to help students brain storm and come up with ideas and answers that would have otherwise taken them much to long to get, if ever. But giving answers from someone that has been graded on a test is just not right.
Since I have not had any responses to my post on resources for formatting I will probably not post again. Maybe I am using the board wrong, who knows.
I am very much looking forward to being finished with my course so I can start making money for the time I spend at the computer
Hope you are having an awesome day!
MAG55

MAG --

Thanks for your response. I think, with your approach to your studies, you will eventually do well in the "real world", although it may take some time.

Study groups are all very well, but I don`t think they are very successful unless they are guided by a teacher or at least a senior student whose role is not to answer questions but to steer the discussions into useful territory, which is why I think this particular forum is probably doing more harm than good, since no one is doing that. I have seen SO many wrong answers.

Why don`t I chime in? Well, I don`t want to give answers, as you have probably figured out. It takes time for even an experienced person to figure out how to steer, and there are always several questions looking for responses. So that takes time at the end of my work day, and sometimes my brain just rebels at all this thinking.

In addition, I don`t know how the lessons in the course go. It doesn`t help me in providing assistance when all there is to go on is a test number or a patient name and a bunch of blanks -- what one needs to know to figure stuff out is what the patient`s problem is or what his/her symptoms are. There is usually not enough of that sort of context.

And of course, it really puts me off when someone posts an entire report and asks to have it corrected before she submits it.

As to your question about formatting, if you can`t get some idea of how to proceed from your instructor, try googling "autopsy report samples" (without the quotes).

It`s been a very, very long time since I typed one, but I believe I remember that the organs are indeed listed under final diagnosis (brief descriptions) and then again in the main body of the report with more details. But please don`t take my word for it, as I wasn`t formally trained for this, just kind of fell into a few once in a while when a stat was needed after the Pathology transcriptionist had gone home for the day and I worked late afternoons and evenings.

So there you have it. I`ll keep an eye out for you to see if I can help if you need it, but remember to give some context other than the blanks.

happy tuesday
carol

I am currently a student with AHP (Weston Learning) and I stumbled upon this site awhile ago.

I must say quite honestly from how I view those asking for 'answers' and others who 'give it away' - I've not been on often since. I don't want the answers handed to me.

I was reading posts awhile ago (in areas I'm not even close to getting to yet) and one person mentioned a particular quiz they were stuck on. And while reading - I think 'That name is familiar' (the 'patient' name on the quiz). Sure enough, I looked back on a quiz I had already finished and had graded. The 'answer' would have been found by the student if instead of the person giving it away - said like...'Try reviewing quiz # __'.

I have since then stopped reading the posts if they start out AHP course or state a quiz number question. I want to EARN the certificate I will receive when I graduate.

That's my 2 cents for what it's worth on this matter.