> If you would get partial marks for completing what you can, where is the upside in cheating in this scenario where the maximum you get is 50%, which you may get from your partially completed assignment.
There are two factors to utility: probability of getting caught, and the outcome of getting caught.
The problem is that the probability of getting caught, while substantial, is actually much lower than 50% in my experience. As a result the payoff differential has to be that much worse.
Let's revisit my example. In order for cheating not to be the smart thing to do, the expected grade for not cheating would have to be over 75!
And that's with a ridiculous 50% chance of being caught. Now if we lowered the probability of being caught to, say, 25%, the expected grade for not cheating would have to exceed 0.75 * 100 + 0.25 * (100/2) = 87.5.
There are two factors to utility: probability of getting caught, and the outcome of getting caught.
The problem is that the probability of getting caught, while substantial, is actually much lower than 50% in my experience. As a result the payoff differential has to be that much worse.
Let's revisit my example. In order for cheating not to be the smart thing to do, the expected grade for not cheating would have to be over 75!
And that's with a ridiculous 50% chance of being caught. Now if we lowered the probability of being caught to, say, 25%, the expected grade for not cheating would have to exceed 0.75 * 100 + 0.25 * (100/2) = 87.5.
It's a terrible, terrible policy.