Halfway through a dull book for his history class, Ruben Dominguez decided to stop reading. But, unwilling to accept a failing grade on his quiz, he reviewed the rest of the book using SparkNotes and passed his quiz.
“Sometimes you don’t have time to read the entire material,” the fourth-year history student said. “So you go online and look at SparkNotes.”
Such shortcuts may be part of an increasing trend ““ according to a study by the American Counseling Association, 47 percent of college students said they studied at least six hours per week in 1987, but by 2000, 36 percent said they studied that often.
SparkNotes is not the only resource students use to get around work. Jaimee Topinio, a third-year civil engineering student, said using past tests from friends is another common resort. She also said looking up professors on sites like bruinwalk.com to avoid “people that expect more” comes in handy.
Christopher Baswell, an English professor, said students who use these types of shortcuts are not technically cheating, but are cheating themselves.
“It’s pretty easy to learn how not to learn. Some students are very successful at not learning. If you find ways to do things like that, nobody’s the wiser, and neither are you,” he said.
Samira Zarbakhsh, a third-year psychology student, said though she sometimes uses CliffsNotes, SparkNotes and other summary books, she warns they are not always as effective as the real thing.
“There’s some books that make (studying) easier,” she said. “It’s a good way (to cut down on study time), but not that effective. There’s some details in books that aren’t in SparkNotes.”
Often, though, these details do not appear on tests, Dominguez said.
“Most tests are not specific aspects of a certain book. They’re more general themes, so you just need to get the general aspect of what the book is talking about,” he said.
Wikipedia and Google results are two other sources for homework help, said Emmabeth Nanol, a fourth-year political science student. She added she normally uses these sources in addition to assigned reading for classes.
“It’s supplementary, but because everything is available online, you probably could just stop reading,” she said. “But I think that’s technically reading as well.”
But some professors are concerned about the quality of the sources students use and look for ways to discourage students from using them.
James Gelvin, a history professor, said he is not confident in the accuracy of Internet sources such as Wikipedia.
“Students at UCLA are beyond encyclopedias,” he said.
“They should be doing real readings written by people who are experts in the field. Encyclopedia articles are just reduced to the lowest denominator; I know, I just had to write one. Frankly I’m very, very dubious about using them for practically anything.”
Gelvin said he believes students attempt these types of shortcuts often, and as a result, he tries to structure classes that make them ineffective.
“There are ways that professors can get around (student shortcuts). One of them is to ask unique, distinctive questions that can only be answered by going to the sources that students are supposed to go to ““ the required reading and lectures,” he said.
Though he said he only reads for half his classes, Eric Padilla, a second-year chemical engineering student, also said he believes outside sources such as Wikipedia are not the best choice for studying.
“Usually I’ll try and stick to what the professors want us to do because that will usually be most effective. I think they have a better idea on what their course is about than someone else might,” he said.
Baswell said he believes students resort to shortcuts not out of laziness, but time constraints.
“I don’t think many of our students at all have managed to get into UCLA if they’re lazy. They’re ambitious people. It may be the way that they’re subdividing their ambitions that they’re (needing to use shortcuts).”
But Lynn Batten, an associate professor in the English department, said using outside sources, particularly SparkNotes, to supplement assigned reading is fine.
“I think it is wrong to read SparkNotes instead of using the work ““ it won’t stick. But on the other hand, if you use SparkNotes after you read the material, I think if you use them carefully they can be of value.”
Edward Kao, a third-year electrical engineering student, also said he believes outside sources used together with class materials are helpful.
“Usually we research, Google everything,” he said of himself and his classmates.
“Some stuff isn’t … explained as clearly” in textbooks as in Wikipedia and Google results, he said.
He said he does not think these resources are cheating.
“I think it’s just supplemental, it’s like outside research. Teachers should want you to understand the material other than just depending on the textbook.”