Thursday, August 23, 2012

While we were waiting for the academic integrity hearing to start or continue, we shared some ideas for making students aware of the severity of cheating, in an effort to discourage it, and so that fewer students wind up in this offending student's predicament. It seems we all find 1-2 cases of academic dishonesty per year. So I designed a True/False  "test" that I plan to use in all of my classes in 2012-13, to see if it helps. It carries zero credit -- but it is mandatory. I will require students to drop the class if they do not complete it with correct answers to every question, and I will give them unlimited attempts to get each one right.

Basically, there are three questions:

1) I have read the following information:

Academic Dishonesty is...

Conduct including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, multiple submission, forgery, sabotage, unauthorized collaboration, falsification, bribery or use of purchased research service reports without appropriate notation; and theft, damage or misuse of library or computer resources. Attempts to commit such acts shall also constitute academic dishonesty. Students assume full responsibility for honesty in academic exercises.
http://www.albany.edu/studentconduct/prohibited_conduct.php

T: Excellent! Hopefully you will not be one of the 1-2 students I find violating academic integrity this year.
F: Go back, read it, and try again. Scores less than 100% correct are unacceptable.

  
2) I have read the following information:

Examples of Academic Dishonesty
The following is a list of types of behaviors considered to be academically dishonest and therefore unacceptable. Even the attempt to commit such acts is a breach of integrity and is subject to penalty. No such list can, of course, describe all possible types or degrees of academic dishonesty, so these should be understood as examples rather than as a comprehensive list. Individual faculty members, Deans of Schools and Colleges as appropriate, and the Office of Conflict Resolution and Civic Responsibility will continue to judge each case according to its particular merit.

Plagiarism: Presenting as one's own work, the work of another person (for example, the words, ideas, information, data, evidence, organizing principles, or style of presentation of someone else). Plagiarism includes paraphrasing or summarizing without acknowledgment, submission of another student's work as one's own, the purchase of prepared research or completed papers or projects, and the unacknowledged use of research sources gathered by someone else. Failure to indicate accurately the extent and precise nature of one's reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly, or creative indebtedness, and the consequences for violating University regulations.

Examples of plagiarism include: failure to acknowledge the source(s) of even a few phrases, sentences, or paragraphs; failure to acknowledge a quotation or paraphrase of paragraph-length sections of a paper; failure to acknowledge the source(s) of a major idea or the source(s) for an ordering principle central to the paper's or project's structure; failure to acknowledge the source (quoted, paraphrased, or summarized) of major sections or passages in the paper or project; the unacknowledged use of several major ideas or extensive reliance on another person's data, evidence, or critical method; submitting as one's own work, work borrowed, stolen, or purchased from someone else. For more information concerning plagiarism, see the library’s tutorial on the subject on the library web site.  Graduate students will find additional information concerning Academic Integrity, Conduct, and Research Regulations on the Graduate Studies web site.

Cheating on Examinations: Giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include collaboration of any sort during an examination (unless specifically approved by the instructor); collaboration before an examination (when such collaboration is specifically forbidden by the instructor); the use of notes, books, or other aids during an examination (unless permitted by the instructor); arranging for another person to take an examination in one's place; looking upon someone else's examination during the examination period; intentionally allowing another student to look upon one's exam; the unauthorized discussing of the test items during the examination period; and the passing of any examination information to students who have not yet taken the examination. There can be no conversation while an examination is in progress unless specifically authorized by the instructor.

Multiple Submission: Submitting substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once without receiving the prior explicit consent of the instructor to whom the material is being submitted the second or subsequent time.

Forgery: Imitating another person's signature on academic or other official documents.

Sabotage: Destroying, damaging, or stealing of another's work or working materials (including lab experiments, computer programs, term papers, or projects).

Unauthorized Collaboration: Collaborating on projects, papers, or other academic exercises when this is regarded as inappropriate by the instructor(s). Although the usual faculty assumption is that work submitted for credit is entirely one's own, standards on appropriate and inappropriate collaboration vary widely among individual faculty and the different disciplines. Students who want to confer or collaborate with one another on work receiving academic credit should make certain of the instructor's expectations and standards.

Falsification: Misrepresenting material or fabricating information in an academic exercise or assignment (for example, the false or misleading citation of sources, the falsification of experimental or computer data, etc.)

Bribery: Offering or giving any article of value or service to an instructor in an attempt to receive a grade or other benefits not legitimately earned or not available to other students in the class.

Theft, Damage, or Misuse of Library or IT Resources: Removing uncharged library materials from the library, defacing or damaging library materials, intentionally displacing or hoarding materials within the library for one's unauthorized private use, or other abuse of reserve-book privileges. Any violation of the University’s Responsible Use of Information Technology policy. This includes, but is not limited to, unauthorized use of the University's or another person's computer accounts, codes, passwords, or facilities; damaging computer equipment or interfering with the operation of the computing system of the University. All students are expected to be familiar with the Responsible Use Policy.
http://www.albany.edu/studentconduct/27166.php

T: Excellent! Hopefully you will not be one of the 1-2 students I find violating academic integrity this year.
F: Go back, read it, and try again. Scores less than 100% correct are unacceptable.

3) I promise to be academically honest.

T: Excellent! Hopefully you are telling the truth.
F: If this response remains as the incorrect answer, "False," rather than the correct answer, "True," either withdraw from the class or I will be in touch. Thank you.

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