Hacker News Reader

If you’re arguing that then the answer is: too bad. These sorts of pledges are not 30 pages of legalese that you’re asked to agree to in the middle of a purchase. It’s usually a single page of plain language. If someone signs it without reading it they lose all rights to argue they weren’t aware. Choosing to remain unaware is not a defense.

View on HN

Syllabus isn't legalese either, and not reading its first page that cheating is bad is exactly the same choice with the same "rights" attached. There is no magical difference here

You don’t countersign a syllabus.

Then add a signing requirement???

You are arguing for the sake of arguing.

Or you could just add it to the honor code, once, instead of multiple times each semester on what is typically a purely informational document.

Focus. The only goal here is creating a paper trail, and signing the honor code once does that and exactly that.

Sure, having a clear honor code is helpful. But individual instructors and courses have different policies on which tools are allowed and how students can collaborate.

If you sign something that says “I won’t do X”, and then you do X and argue you didn’t actually read what you signed, no one is going to take you seriously.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com