> the problem isn't so much with the assignment, but with the idea that assignments only have value if they are graded

There's grading and evaluating. Writing something you know won't be read, except for the purpose of being scolded for missing key words, is close to useless pedagogically. Someone motivated enough to learn from that (a) didn't need the assignment and (b) deserves better.

This! People learn differently - which IMHO schools don't usually account for - but I personally always learned best when putting something to paper (well, preferably the keyboard).

At my university, assignments were primarily used for guided learning - most of the grade came from the exam. If you cheat on the learning, you either don't _need_ to learn to pass the exam (meaning you should have a way to fast track), or you're asking to fail the exam, which hurts no one but yourself.

Maybe it's different in other schools? Cause I don't fully get the "Good." argument based on my experience. YMMV.