I always felt (and my maths teachers agreed) that if I understood something sufficiently to automate it, I’d proved my point and didn’t need to do the rest of the exercises.

Edit: Automate in the sense of coding it myself, not in the sense of downloading some software.

I could do it correctly from the get-go. The program just saved me from drudgery many times over. Probably enough times to recoup my time investment to create the program, but in any case I enjoyed coding for its own sake.

I you like Chemistry, then yes. If you like programming but dislike chemistry, then no.

The calculator tricked them into studying. Same trick as the "one note card, front back" but in this case accidental.