"Individual" Assignments for Economics

I'm studying for my econ test tomorrow. Yep... that's right. I'm "studying"...

It's an online class. It's been quite a unique experience this quarter. What makes it even more unique is an assignment I completed over the weekend. In the online format, students post their answers to weekly homework assignments. From Lesson 5, I've copied and pasted two questions, my answers, and a fellow classmate's answers (to the same two questions). I have not edited any of the answers. I'm simply control-c'ing and control-v'ing to this blog:

Question 5c - Can you think of other aspects of well-being that are associated with the rise in womens labor force participation? Would it be practical to construct a measure of well-being that includes these aspects?

My answer:
The rise of womens labor force participation means a tradeoff of less time spent at home where, previously, time may have been spent taking care of children. This might have a negative impact on the children in these households. It doesnt seem practical to construct a measure of well-being that includes this. How does one quantitatively measure the happiness of a child whose mother is now working?

My classmate's answer (posted, today, two days later):
The rise of womens labor force participation means a tradeoff of less time spent at home where, previously, time may have been spent taking care of children. This might have a negative impact on the children in these households. It doesnt seem practical to construct a measure of well-being that includes this. How does one quantitatively measure the happiness of a child whose mother is now working?

Problem 1B - Do tennis racquets become more or less expensive relative to Gatorade? Does the well-being of some people change relative to the well-being of others? Explain.

My answer:
Tennis Racquets: ($600 - $400) / $400 x 100 = 50
Gatorade: ($400 200) / $200 x 100 = 100
Tennis racquets (50% increase) become less expensive relative to Gatorade (100% increase). Because of this analysis, those who purchase tennis racquets would be relatively better off to those who purchase Gatorade. And, actually, those who purchase tennis balls would be relatively better off than those who purchase tennis racquets or Gatorade, since the price of tennis balls dont change.

My same classmate's answer (again posted today, two days later):
Tennis racquets become less expensive relative to Gatorade. Because of this analysis, those who purchase tennis racquets would be relatively better off to those who purchase Gatorade. And, actually, those who purchase tennis balls would be relatively better off than those who purchase tennis racquets or Gatorade, since the price of tennis balls dont change.



...so, did you notice any similarities between the two sets of answers? It's like "Hocus Focus" in the comic section of the newspaper where you try to distinguish the difference between the two panels. But, in this case, there's nothing different. My classmate actually copied my answers? (Say WHUT?) So, I emailed my classmate (I went easy 'cause I don't like my instructor - what good would come from me reporting this?):

Dear _______,

Hi. I just wanted to tell you that I noticed that a couple of answers on Lesson 5 (Individual assignment) were copied directly from my answers to your answers.

Please dont do that again. If you do, youre taking away from your learning process. I work very hard on these assignments and for someone else to just come along and copy and paste doesn't seem fair.

Thank you,
Rodney
So, if you were me, what would you have done? Should I have reported this person to my instructor? This was more amusing than irritating...