“We like to post pictures of teachers’ faces,” says junior Alison Clark, laughing. She is a member of many Facebook groups for her AP classes, like AP U.S. History, Calculus BC, and AP Language and Composition. In these groups, students can ask questions and provide help, as well as delve further into their course material. Facebook groups for classes have sprung up throughout various subjects and created a different learning and homework environment for many kids at different schools.
AP U.S. History teacher William Colglazier says, “Kids want to feel independent from their teachers and figure things out themselves.” Junior Nathan Perisic started a Facebook group for Pre-calculus and says, “Keith Samujh and I were struggling in Precalc so we made a group to work together with our peers to get good grades in our classes.”
“It’s easier to ask people if you’re confused on something or didn’t get a chance to write down the homework because you know that everyone else on the page is doing the same thing,” explains Clark. The extra confidence that this provides students at home may relieve some of the stress and pressure of challenging courses.
Most of the groups are for AP or advanced classes. “They seem to have really started this year,” says junior Leah Cooper. Sophomore Vivian Shen says, “I believe that when classes are hard, it pushes the students in the classes to work together and form companionships, whereas in easier classes, problems can be worked out alone.” Junior Malea Lamb-Hall is in a Facebook group for her Anatomy-Physiology class, but she says that they rarely use it. Clark adds, “A lot of AP classes have them, but they’re helpful for all classes.”
“My AP Biology class has a Facebook group where we all help each other with homework and compare studying methods, videos, etc.,” says Shen. However, in addition to helpful notes and questions, some groups share jokes from the class or even memes of the teachers. Clark says, “They are helpful, but they are also funny at like 12 o’clock when everyone’s doing homework.” Colglazier knows that students have fun on the Facebook groups as well. “Apparently, someone found a picture of me after a triathlon and posted it in the group,” he says.
Not everyone finds these groups useful, though. Sophomore Sarah Samujh says, “I honestly don’t think that it is helpful for me because I like to work independently on things.” Many people might join these groups at the beginning of the semester but then not really participate. “It can be annoying because you get notifications every time someone posts something,” Clark says. Some students choose to turn off the notifications, or even leave the group if it does not prove useful to them.
These groups also lead to the question of where the line is drawn between assisting others and cheating. Cooper says, “I think as long as you aren’t sharing answers to graded things, it can’t be cheating. If it’s a broad question, it’s nice to have help.” Sarah Samujh adds, “Cheating is copying word for word answers. I don’t think these groups would be abused because we should all know the consequences, and it’s not worth having to be on the academic dishonesty list.”
Most people like these groups and the additional assistance away from the classroom. Shen says, “It’s great having people just always there to help you with anything. So far, it’s been a great thing to be a part of.”
