Let’s Discuss Academic Integrity

Let’s Discuss Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity – What is it? Merriam-Webster Online defines integrity as a “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values; incorruptibility ; the quality or state of being complete or undivided; synonym – honesty.”

Academic Integrity refers to honesty in your school work. A student who displays academic integrity is honest, works hard, and does not cheat or cut corners. What you do matters, and your character is revealed through the choices you make in your academic life as well as your life outside of school.

In high school, as in college, there are serious consequences to cheating. • Your Student/Parent Handbook outlines the consequences at FMHS. And depending on the school, consequences can range from a zero on the assignment, to failing the entire class, to academic probation, and even expulsion.

Protect yourself! You are in school to learn and grow as a student and as a person. By cheating, you do not learn, nor do you grow as a person in positive ways. There are many ways to avoid plagiarism or cheating. It is your responsibility as a student to know what is expected of you. Are you allowed to use outside sources on assignments? Are you allowed to collaborate? Make sure you know what is allowed on specific assignments.

Just the beginning: This session today is meant to begin the conversation. It will give you some information about cheating and plagiarism, but it is just the beginning. Let’s keep the conversation going.

The following video is used to teach students at Rutgers University about plagiarism. While the specifics of the policy applies to Rutgers, the concepts are pretty universal at high school and colleges throughout the United States.

Academic Integrity http://library.camden.rutgers.edu/EducationalModule/Plagiarism/

Honesty vs. DishonestyCan you spot the difference? Read each scenario. In your group decide whether you think this is acceptable or an example of cheating. Make sure you have an explanation for your answer.

Is she plagiarizing? For a Global Studies report Mary has to present on Hinduism, she finds detailed information through the LMC’s online subscriptions. She cuts and pastes facts from the various sources into a Power Point presentation and presents them to the class.

Yes, she plagiarized. Mary did not cite the sources she used to find the information, and she did not use quotation marks for direct quotes. • Something else to think about: Would most 9th grade students have specific knowledge of and vocabulary for discussing Hinduism?

Is it plagiarism? Steven needs to write a paper on the author J. D. Salinger after reading two of his novels for an independent reading project. He looks up three separate sources – all critics who analyze Salinger’s works. Steven combines the ideas to formulate his paper, and since he didn’t quote any of the sources’ exact words, he didn’t cite them.

It IS plagiarism! • Steven has represented the ideas of others as his own. Plagiarism includes stealing other peoples’ original words AND ideas. Rewording and synthesizing doesn’t let Steven off the hook.

Is this cheating? Jenny's French teacher asked her to write a 100-word composition over the weekend. She didn't know how to say some things, so she put two sentences in English into an on-line translator. She copied down the results and turned in the composition.

Yes, that’s cheating. The student had the online translator do the work. She could have avoided cheating by using a dictionary and doing the translating work herself. • Hint: Online translators are notoriously inaccurate. Teachers can usually tell when you’ve used them.

Collaboration – Is this okay? Mr. Lewis, a math teacher, wants his students to work collaboratively on weekly problems. A group of four students work together in the library. Jeff is especially good at math, so he often leads the discussion. Tom struggles, so he occasionally stops Jeff and asks him how he got that answer. The other two students add input along the way, and the group arrives at answers to all the problems.

In this case, the collaboration is not only okay, it’s encouraged. • Note, however, that Tom does not ask Jeff for the answers. Rather, he asks him about the process Jeff used to arrive at the answer. In this case, Tom and Jeff are collaborating responsibly. Tom will probably learn how to complete the work independently as a result. Hooray for Tom!

Is this acceptable? Karl had a paper due on Monday and, after hand writing all of it, was too tired to type it up. His mom, who was terrific at typing, offered to type it for him. Karl went to bed and his mother typed the paper. In the morning, while eating breakfast, Karl realized that his mom had changed his work. When he looked at what he had written by hand and what was typed, there were a number of differences. His mom insisted that she had only "Wordsmithed" the paper-making some of the sentences longer or changing words that he repeated. Karl turned the paper into his English teacher.

Karl’s mom should know better. She has put Karl in an unfair position, but by handing the paper in, Karl has in fact cheated. • Note: Karl’s writing won’t improve this way. However, he might have asked his mom to read his draft for feedback. She could have pointed out the paper’s repetitiveness, and he could have corrected it himself.

Is this okay to do? Sarah took an Honors Chemistry test first period Tuesday morning. In Latin class third period, Sarah's friend (who was to take the Chemistry test 5th period) asked Sarah about the test. Sarah told her it wasn't hard, and to make sure she understood Section C from the review sheet they had been given as that was emphasized a lot.

This is tricky, but this really is an example of cheating. Sarah has told her friend something fairly specific about what is on the test. They have both cheated, even if it’s mainly the friend who benefits.

Cheating or not? Peter’s assignment for English class is to write an article that follows the style and format of Newsweek Magazine. It just so happens that two months earlier, before the class started, Peter wrote an article for the school newspaper that fits the current assignment pretty well. Peter prints off a clean copy of the newspaper article, and turns it into his English teacher.

Seriously? He cheated. Peter wrote the piece for another assignment; that assignment had a different purpose. Handing in the same paper twice might feel efficient, but it’s really double-dipping.

Is this acceptable? Kenny and Sheri are working on a Earth Science Lab. They get stuck on the question that asks them to compute the results. They ask Christine, who is working with her partner next to them, how to proceed. She helps them find the formula they should use, and then they go on to finish the lab themselves.

Asking questions is part of the learning process. Kenny and Sheri didn’t ask for the answers; they asked how to get to the answers. Christine was being a good citizen by helping her peers learn. What they did was solid.

Yes or No? Susan and Michelle's math teacher told the class that working collaboratively is a good way to complete the problem sets that are assigned weekly as review. The girls decided to divvy up the problems, Susan doing the evens and Michelle the odds. They then copied the questions that they were missing.

Collaboration means working together to solve problems. By dividing the work and sharing the answers, the girls are copying. And copying is, you guessed it: cheating.

Fayetteville-Manlius High School’s current Academic Integrity Policy Cheating and Plagiarism a) Cheating includes: l. dishonest conduct before an examination 2. dishonest conduct during an examination 3. dishonest conduct after an examination 4. copying homework from another student 5. allowing homework to be copied by another student 6. using video and/or Cliff Notes to avoid reading assigned books (Continued next slide)

b) Plagiarism is a particular form of cheating involved in the preparation of any assignment (essay, research paper, photographic, art or music display, etc.) It is the use of anyone else’s work without giving proper credit and, in so doing, attempting to represent it as one’s own. c) Students found cheating or plagiarizing receive a grade of zero on that particular assignment, and their parents, administrator and guidance counselor will be contacted immediately by the teacher. It is important to note that this zero could lead to the failure of a course and even failure to graduate. Cheating on a Regents examination may result in the student being banned from all future Regents exams and a zero recorded for a grade. Incidents of cheating/ plagiarism may also result in further disciplinary action. Taken from: (Fayetteville-Manlius Student/Parent Handbook, 2008)

Mrs. Deeb and Ms. Patroulis wish to thank the many teachers who contributed true scenarios for us to include in this presentation.

Let’s Discuss Academic Integrity