# Students Copying all their code from YouTube **URL:** \ **Category:** Virtual and Distance Learning\ **Created:** [May 29, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739 "2020-05-29T03:01:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kylejramstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kylejramstad](https://forum.code.org/u/kylejramstad)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/1 "2020-05-29T03:01:13Z")
I have found that a large amount of my AP CSP students and my CSD students are using YouTube to copy almost all of their work. [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbsvRhEyGkKfNohJaFQ3l035JpcsUoEMo](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbsvRhEyGkKfNohJaFQ3l035JpcsUoEMo) This YouTube playlist has just about every single level for every lesson on [Code.org](http://Code.org). The worst part is that a couple of my students used code from this YouTube channel for their entire program they submitted to the College Board. What can I do about this? How do I have a discussion with my students about copying other people’s work vs. finding the help they need online? I am really struggling with this since we are not in a classroom anymore. ---
**Author:** ![bhatnagars](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.code.org/bhatnagars/32/4919_2.png) [@bhatnagars](https://forum.code.org/u/bhatnagars)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2020, 4:07am UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/2 "2020-05-29T04:07:12Z")
It’s sad that students don’t understand the repercussions of plagiarism. I struggle with copying and cheating in both CSP and CSA. I have given up on giving them credit for assignments. Since a couple of your students have submitted copied code as part of their Create PT and have not cited the youtube channel as their source, you should probably let College Board know and flag those students. ---
**Author:** ![frank\_w\_lee](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.code.org/frank_w_lee/32/4895_2.png) [@frank\_w\_lee](https://forum.code.org/u/frank_w_lee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/3 "2020-05-30T04:12:33Z")
Also please report posted answers to [code.org](http://code.org) and they’ll try to work with the content hosts to remove the answers. You can email [support@code.org](mailto:support@code.org). I agree with Sangeeta, and I believe College Board actually states that one of teachers’ responsibilities is to flag submissions for plagiarism and cite the evidence. ---
**Author:** ![kylejramstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kylejramstad](https://forum.code.org/u/kylejramstad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2020, 5:07am UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/4 "2020-05-31T05:07:47Z")
The first thing I did was flag them to the College Board. I am more wondering how I can better help keep my students engaged with the content when there are so many ways to easily get answers with a Google search. Many new computer programers fresh out of college get a shock when they join the workforce and discover they can’t just get answers from [stackexchange.com](http://stackexchange.com) and youtube anymore. So many of my students lost their will to engage with the material since our safer-at-home orders. I don’t blame them. But I want to help them. ---
**Author:** ![elizabethpaige188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed8c4c/32.png) [@elizabethpaige188](https://forum.code.org/u/elizabethpaige188)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 6:44am UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/5 "2020-06-15T06:44:40Z")
It’s sad to know that some students do not understand the importance of learning and why plagiarism is not a good idea. Especially now that local and [international schools](https://reedleyschool.edu.ph/international-school-manila/) are advised to do online teaching, students get more access to information which they think is better since it will save them time from solving the tasks that they are asked to. Now that some of your students copied and submitted answers from a certain source, you may want to address your concern through the College Board. ---
**Author:** ![lfridman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@lfridman](https://forum.code.org/u/lfridman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/6 "2020-07-19T21:41:56Z")
There is a way to use these videos so that they provide a legitimate way for students to get unstuck. The YouTube playlist you posted goes over each lesson in detail, including the concepts behind the work. I actually think they are helpful if used correctly. Of course copying a project off the web and posting it as a performance task is not okay! They way I see it, the [code.org](http://code.org) modules are a much-needed replacement for old-school lectures where the teacher talks and the students try to follow along in their notebooks and then go and type in the code later. It’s not super critical for students to work everything out on their own. In my opinion a little help here is fine if they need it. After all, if they get stuck, they can’t move forward. In the classroom they can ask their peers or teacher, but when working remotely it’s really difficult to get help. Codecademy, a professional learning tool, provides a “View Solution” feature you can use when you get stuck (and I have used it). One thing that worked for me during remote learning was recording myself going over the coding exercises and then posting on EdPuzzle (so that students are forced to listen to explanations!). Time consuming but students said it was helpful. The real learning happens when students work on their own creative projects. This is the part where they should not be copying whole solutions from the web! I tell them if they are copying more than 3 lines of code, it’s too much. In the classroom I see them working (or not working) so it’s not a problem. For “hybrid learning” in the fall I was thinking of having students record a video of themselves explaining 3 sections of code as a plagiarism and concept knowledge check. ---
**Author:** ![jdonwells](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.code.org/jdonwells/32/7900_2.png) [@jdonwells](https://forum.code.org/u/jdonwells)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/8 "2020-07-20T23:33:36Z")
Many of my students have never been taught how to learn. They are way behind on every subject. The frustration they feel when asked to do self guided learning leads them to alternative methods. ---
**Author:** ![eduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@eduran](https://forum.code.org/u/eduran)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/9 "2020-08-24T18:40:02Z")
I would be grateful if you could post one of your edpuzzles so I can see how you were able to incorporate it? I’m curious to see how it would work for us. ---
**Author:** ![sjlindsay](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.code.org/sjlindsay/32/7043_2.png) [@sjlindsay](https://forum.code.org/u/sjlindsay)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/10 "2021-04-12T15:09:04Z")
I am ok with the explanations. I just do not want the assessments shared on Youtube. How can I assess what you know if you copy the entire lesson from Youtube. ---
**Author:** ![mwood](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.code.org/mwood/32/4941_2.png) [@mwood](https://forum.code.org/u/mwood)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 2:06am UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/11 "2021-04-13T02:06:04Z")
I believe [code.org](http://code.org) has made some requests for material to be removed, however, because [code.org](http://code.org) curriculum is licensed under a creative commons license, that license does allow for some “reuse” of the content so there are limits to what they can get removed. You can always send your concerns to [support@code.org](mailto:support@code.org) and they may be better able to explain what they have done and currently do in this area. I do agree it is frustrating. I do weight my assignment scores more heavily on the creative lessons where students can’t just get “a right answer” and if I think they created a project beyond their level of understanding that may be copied from somewhere, I have them explain it to me and it’s pretty easy to tell when they can’t explain their own code. Mike ---
**Author:** ![jdonwells](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.code.org/jdonwells/32/7900_2.png) [@jdonwells](https://forum.code.org/u/jdonwells)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 5:01pm UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/12 "2021-04-13T17:01:24Z")
It seems like most complaints are about one guy. He creates videos that walk students through the projects step by step. He also provides links to those projects so students don’t even need to watch the video. Given that it seems like the removal of a single account solves a whole lot of heartache. ---
**Author:** ![sjlindsay](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.code.org/sjlindsay/32/7043_2.png) [@sjlindsay](https://forum.code.org/u/sjlindsay)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/13 "2021-04-16T15:15:17Z")
I love teaching this curriculum! But my enthusiasm to teach it is waning because all of the lesson answers are online. I had a student say “this class could be taught without the teacher” on my evaluation because all of the videos are online. In virtual, it’s already hard for students to come to class. I will have to supplement this curriculum going forward. Any good ideas for making the lesson bubbles more challenging? ---
**Author:** ![frank\_w\_lee](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.code.org/frank_w_lee/32/4895_2.png) [@frank\_w\_lee](https://forum.code.org/u/frank_w_lee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 7:09am UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/14 "2021-04-18T07:09:39Z")
Hi @sjlindsay , Wow - ok when I read that comment by the student, my kneejerk reaction in my head was “How DARE they…” lol. But I think it calls in some interesting questions of “Is that true? If so, is that a problem? Whether true or not, why exactly about the situation makes the student think this? Ultimately, what _is_ the role of the teacher here and how do we make sure we’re providing that value (and ideally students understand and feel they’re receiving it)?” I appreciate your very forward-thinking attitude and seeing it as an opportunity to make the course more challenging (as opposed to just venting about the student, which I’m sure you wouldn’t have been alone in doing lol). To answer your question, I’m sure there are different ways to make different lessons more challenging. I feel these are probably things already built into the lessons, but when I try to increase the challenge, things I might reach for include: - Have a couple extra features for the student to add - Have students exercise some creativity and think of extra features or things they would like to see the program do and see if they can figure out or learn how to implement that - Think of algorithmically more challenging things to have the student try This is all super-vague, so definitely feel free to follow up (or start a new post) with specific lessons you’d like ideas on adding extensions. ---
**Author:** ![zimmerman\_doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@zimmerman\_doug](https://forum.code.org/u/zimmerman_doug)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/15 "2021-04-21T16:50:44Z")
Assign work that is unique and could not be found on the web, its not that hard. ---
**Author:** ![jdonwells](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.code.org/jdonwells/32/7900_2.png) [@jdonwells](https://forum.code.org/u/jdonwells)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/16 "2021-04-21T18:35:13Z")
Saying it isn’t hard makes me angry. There’s a lot that goes into lesson planning. Making sure it matches the Collage Board. Testing it with pilot classes. Preparing lecture slides. Creating examples. You need to curb your disrespect when addressing this group of dedicated teachers many of whom are working outside their certifications. ---
**Author:** ![zimmerman\_doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@zimmerman\_doug](https://forum.code.org/u/zimmerman_doug)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 12:15pm UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/17 "2021-04-23T12:15:56Z")
I meant no disrespect! It was a simple statement, For each class you change the problem “enough” that there nothing out there to copy from. If its similar that’s OK the learning comes from modifying to fit the new situation. ---
**Author:** ![jdonwells](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.code.org/jdonwells/32/7900_2.png) [@jdonwells](https://forum.code.org/u/jdonwells)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://forum.code.org/t/students-copying-all-their-code-from-youtube/32739/18 "2021-04-23T14:20:30Z")
I am glad I didn’t read what you wrote correctly. There are a couple of issues with changing up the programming assignments. The first is the Unit 5 Hackathon. I think this is the most egregious. Our students are given a project that helps them get ready for the AP Create Task. There are written responses designed to mimic the Create Task written sections. To finish in the time given the project requirements are fit for the purpose. It focuses right down on using a list. That’s it. There are no changes to make. Any program grabbed off the Internet that uses a list will pretty much fit. Or at least make a student try using it as such. Adding requirements on top, even small affects the schedule and increases the chance that students won’t even attempt it. So I don’t see any good way to change that. The next issue is with the sequenced levels or bubbles as some say. Those are designed in order to teach something specific. They build on each other and are pilot class tested to fit in 45 minute lessons. Substituting an assignment that should be comparable but takes the students much longer can blow your schedule out of existence. To some extent, [code.org](http://code.org) checks to see if the level was completed changing the assignment could be a problem. Plus, the instructions are very tightly integrated into the assignments. I don’t see a clean way to change that and still use the [code.org](http://code.org) interface. I did challenge a student to finish Unit 7 lesson 4 without using any `if` statements nor loops of any kind. But you do that kind of thing with an advanced student who isn’t going to copy from the Internet in the first place. For some teachers they are learning as the students are learning. They are certified to teach math or science and now they must teach computer science. They are not advanced enough in their own knowledge base to create alternate assignments. They often rely on the example solutions [code.org](http://code.org) gives them and would be hard pressed to make things up. And that assumes they have time. I don’t know about other school districts, but the one I volunteer at is having a problem keeping teachers. With COVID-19 many have chosen to just retire. Some teachers are in the position of having to teach classes they have not taught before or in a long time. That puts a huge strain on how much time they can devote to any one class’s preparation. So what I am saying is that following a curriculum is very attractive and almost universal. [Code.org](http://Code.org) is formatted to be very attractive to teachers who have never taught computer science before. Those two circumstances conspire to make it difficult for teachers to just switch up the assignments. Even if it was easy to change assignments there is the overreaching issue of investment. [Code.org](http://Code.org) has a large investment of people and money in and of itself. But then individual teachers spend time and money to train in the curriculum through Professional Development (PD) and time with the materials. That is a huge human investment. We have people spend time in this forum requesting changes, pointing out bugs, and helping other teachers. All totaled that is an irreplaceable amount of investment in this curriculum. Mr. Kaiser makes money from ruining that investment. His [code.org](http://code.org) spoilers get close to 90k views. His other instruction videos get just over 1k. He is being rewarded for leveraging that priceless investment for his own enrichment. It is a parasitic relationship. That should make everyone angry.