Why do students not understand?

All the answers are very good except one thing is missing.

Students want to learn from good teachers. Problem: there are fewer and fewer good teachers in our schools today.

Students are imitators of the authority figure in their lives. If that figure is in the classroom, just collecting a paycheck, not reading the homework then of course the students will cheat.

If that figure is the example of what adults are like then why work hard? Why should they care anymore than the teachers?

If kids are indeed lazy it is because of the people who set the examples for them. If a student has no respect for themselves it is because the teacher has no respect for themselves or their students.

I teach in a inner-city school. Yes, I have students who try to cheat at the begining of the year, but by now they all know that I care about them as people and I want the best for them.

They know what I expect and what my standards are and I respect them and their boundries.

If a teacher expects a student to cheat and doesn't care then you will have students on this site asking for answers all the time and getting them. This isn't rocket science nor is it all the student's fault nor the teacher's fault, it is called human nature.

There will be those who fail and those who will let them, but there are also those who choose not to fail and those who will choose not let them. I don't care if I get 2 points or 10 points this isn't a numbers game.

I completely agree with you!

I give them almost the correct answer. I'll have it all correct except 1 little things that'll make it incorrect that they wont notice!

As a college student I understand there is NO hand outs of answer sheets and if you don't do the research yourself you can bet someone is going to try to throw you off. Also you learn nothing when answers are given to you.

Growing up I hated that my parents wouldn't give me the answers. They always made me figure it out myself. I plan to do the exact same with my children and if they get a bad grade they will just have to study more and pay more attention in class. I'm not going to neglect my childs education as I think it's very important but I'm not going to give out answers.

I think students need to get a tutor if they're failing or not understanding. Most schools will get an older student or a higher level student to help a younger one who needs help free of charge. I had a tutor for my senior science courses and I got made fun of but I passed the classes and I understood all I was taught.

Kids are LAZY today. They don't care about actually learning to do math- and why would they when ALL teachers allow calculators.

Children are our future and by the looks of it it's not going to be that great!

We're going to have a bunch of adults who can't substract or add without a calculator or counting on their fingers and they definitely wont be able to help their children with homework....

It's very sad really.

I agree with you in many ways-asking for help is fine, but not if it ends up as someone doing the entire piece of homework for them. Teachers at lower levels, especially in subjects such as maths should certainly keep an eye on the postings. On the other hand, if someone is stuck on a single question, or needs help organising and communicating their ideas, it's great. Also, don't fall into the trap I may have fallen into here-don't make answers too long, detailed or complicated.

Kids who cheat don't care if they're really learning it or not...or didn't you know that? There have and always will be lazy people who want to take the easy way out. If there is an incentive to help out these lazy people (a date, 10 points), they'll continue to do it. That's just the nature of the beast.

The ones who really get me are the people in college training to become teachers who copy & paste their essay questions. THEY should know better. Dorks.

1. Oh they understand all right. They just don't CARE.

2. That's a noble effort but unless you know the screen name of the student you can't really prove it was one of yours, And what would you do if you did know? It's like the old days, people used to get people to do their homework for them back then, it's just a bit easier now.

3. Best answers are 99% a joke anyway and it's not just homework help. The questioner is going to award it for what they want to hear, the voters for whatever appeared first.

4. You hit the nail on the head. THEY HAVE TO WANT TO LEARN. If all they want to do is cheat, there are plenty of ways for them to do that, Y!A is just one. It's sad, but what can be done about it? Dunno.

Why should I waste my time finding a real site explaining slope or ratios or something when I can show work right here and lead them to the answer. As a high school student, I can assure you that I and other kids like me still want to learn. But in a pinch, we'll do what we have to do to get an answer quickly

Yeah, it ticks me off, too. Usually I just say, "The answer is 'do your own homework, you lazy slacker.'" The little twerps who cheat will take more time to go out of their way to cheat than it would take to just do the work themselves. Hopefully one day that will come back to bite them hard in the a**

It's a symptom of a larger cultural problem.

These kids are too concerned with just getting the right answer, the right grade, to get the right college... bla bla bla...

They dont get that eventually they're going to have to prove themselves...and if they lean on resources like this too much, they'll fall flat on their face.

I fully agree! I try and lead them to sites, and give them ideas or help with ideas, but never the real answer!

because some kids just dont care