Academic Dishonesty

[mugg1eb0rn at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 139428

Merrylinks
what counts in science is the validity of the result, not the particular 
technique that is used to reach it.

In the Wizarding World, values may be different. I do remember that Snape was 
angry when Hermione helped Neville fix a potion that Snape was expecting to 
use to kill Trevor the toad. But in the Scientific World, Neville would only 
have gotten into trouble if he had taken some of Hermione's potion and claimed 
that it was his own. Taking 
Hermione's advice, or following the scribblings that somebody wrote in the 
margins of the protocol would not be objectionable in any way as long as the 
potion turned out correctly.




Janet:
I feel I should point out that the book in question with these scribbled 
notes was Snape's, and the notes are assumed to be his? I also recall that 
frequently, Snape's Potion classes followed directions he had written on the board. 
He sometimes said the directions were also in the text, I believe (can't cite 
all the examples at the moment), but it could be that the directions on the 
board contained some of his own "improvements." Slughorn relied on the text for 
giving the directions for the potions to his students, and he frequently was 
disappointed in the results compared to what Harry was producing from Snape's 
instructions. This suggests that the poster who said the book was outdated may 
have been correct. There is also a very real possibility that if Snape was 
teaching the Potions class instead of DADA, the students may have ALL been taught 
the directions in Harry's copy, rather than what they were producing. We shall 
never know, of course, and Harry's switching of the book with Ron's when he 
was ordered to produce it isn't exactly ethical. However, I must side with the 
people who say that in subjects that depend upon the practical end results, 
the end is all that counts. Does the potion do what it is supposed to do? 

It's like comparing a brand-name drug with a generic--it's only wrong if the 
medicine doesn't cure the condition for which it is prescribed.

Now, if we are to evaluate the teaching styles and methods of the two 
teachers, Slughorn does come off better than Snape. He can be a lamentable 
kiss-"butt" to the students he wants to "collect," such as Harry, but from what we saw, 
he tries to vary the lessons a bit, encourages the students by offering 
rewards for success, and doesn't go out of his way to thrown out completed potions 
so that he can give the students he dislikes a "0" and does everything he can 
to make sure his favorites get the benefit of the doubt (although Snape does 
get seriously annoyed when his favorites fail to live up to his standards, I 
must admit).

It's also possible that Slughorn isn't totally wrong about Harry having some 
degree of intuition about potion-making, like his mother. As has been 
mentioned previously by I'm-sorry-but-I-forget-whom, Harry's "Exceeds Expectations" on 
his OWLS when he had the opportunity to prepare them without the hostility, 
harassment, and out-and-out abuse from Snape, indicates Harry may have more 
ability in that area than he could ever have shown under Snape's direct tutelage. 
It's ironic that he received it anyway from the teacher's old textbook.

So, if we are talking about Harry's academic dishonesty, I don't feel Snape 
should get a free pass in this area, either. How dishonest was he in his 
treatments of many students, not just Harry, in the way he was teaching the subject? 
I know that those who apologize for Snape for everything will not agree, of 
course, but then, they are entitled to their own opinions, of course, just as I 
am to mine.

Janet (who is a certified teacher and social worker, by the way)


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