Policy on Academic Honesty. General Introduction 2. Academic Dishonesty 2. How to Avoid Academic Dishonesty 3. Responsibilities 4

Transcription

1 Policy on Academic Honesty Our Mission is to develop students with a readiness to face change through the ability to adapt and create; have a thirst for knowledge which they pursue with competency and a character which values honesty and a spirit of compassion. General Introduction 2 Academic Dishonesty 2 How to Avoid Academic Dishonesty 3 Responsibilities 4 Consequences of Academic Dishonesty 5 The MLA System of Referencing ) Page 1

2 General Introduction All students at Xhis should act with integrity and honesty. This is part of the IB learner profile. All students take responsibility for their actions and the consequences of their actions. This is being principled. All students should understand the meaning of Academic Honesty and the concept of intellectual property and authenticity of work. All teaching staff should understand the meaning of Academic Honesty and the concept of intellectual property and authenticity of work, and model these principles in the preparation and delivery of teaching materials. Academic Honesty refers to correct practice in: academic research, producing factual or creative works, collaborative work and proper conduct in tests and examinations. All students are expected to behave honestly at all times. No assignments, tests or examinations are exempt from this policy. Authenticity of work is work which is produced wholly by the student using their own ideas. Any sources used or referred to in the student s work, either direct quotations or paraphrasing must be acknowledged. Intellectual property refers to all forms of ownership of ideas and creative work, such as patents, trademarks, copyrights etc. Intellectual property rights are protected by law. Respecting intellectual property is about giving credit to artists, scientists, writers, etc who have produced work and ideas that are being used by students in the school, proper payment to patent and copyright holders or both. Academic Honesty is important throughout the whole school, not only to uphold the school philosophy and mission statement, but it becomes crucial in external, international situations such as in all IB programmes, due to the severe penalties exacted for plagiarism during moderation in MYP and during the examination for IBDP. Academic Dishonesty Academic Dishonesty is defined as any action which allows a student to gain an unfair advantage or affects the performance of another student. There are four different kinds of Academic Dishonesty: 1. Plagiarism: submitting the work of another person, intentionally or unintentionally through lack of acknowledgement, in part or entirety, as your own. 2. Duplication of work: submitting the same work for two different assessments in the same or different subjects. 3. Malpractice: cheating in examinations and tests. 4. Collusion: assisting another student in an act of plagiarism or malpractice. 2014) Page 2

3 1. Plagiarism How to Avoid Academic Dishonesty Students must always reference their sources in all written work, projects and assignments: through in-text referencing connected to a reference list or bibliography. This includes all sources: books, articles from newspapers or journals, CD-ROMs, websites, s, interviews, photographs, maps, illustrations, data, graphs, works of art (including music, film, dance, theatre or visual arts), etc. A bibliography must be used to list all sources of information and ideas used in the creation of a piece of work, even if they are not directly quoted in the body of the work. A bibliography is listed alphabetically. At Xhis we use the MLA referencing style when referencing sources of information in written and electronic documents. (More information is found in the last section of this document). Student Instruction and Information on Academic Honesty Skills Week Verbal information on Academic Honesty and practice activities. Student Handbook Outline of Academic Policy and MLA style referencing example table. Classroom, Computer Labs and Student Lounge posters Academic Honesty reminder, MLA style examples and URLs. Summative assessment tasks should carry an Academic Honesty reminder. 2. Collusion Students must not allow others to copy their work and should not lend work to other students. They must not borrow the work of other students. If they do not understand the assignment, they must always ask their teachers for guidance. Any work which is undertaken collaboratively should be clearly identified and detail given which shows which parts of the work were completed as a group and who was involved in the process. 3. Malpractice Students must not invent data for any assignment. During assessment situations, students must ensure that they always follow the instructions of supervising staff, invigilators, or teachers. They must not: disrupt or distract others. attempt to pass information to others. copy from other students. bring any unauthorized material into the room. Responsibilities 2014) Page 3

4 1. Students Understand the concept of Academic Honesty. Ensure that they know the penalties for academic dishonesty. Avoid plagiarism by always acknowledging all their sources in their work. Produce their own work and ensure that anything they submit for assessment is entirely their own work. Assume all work must be completed individually, unless task descriptors state otherwise. Know the regulations governing examinations and coursework and abide by them. 2. Teachers Be fully conversant with the concepts of Academic Honesty and the content of this policy document. Should model the Xhis Academic Policy in all preparation and delivery of teaching materials. Ensure their students know what Academic Honesty is and what constitutes Academic Dishonesty. Ensure that students know the penalties for Academic Dishonesty. Instruct students how to undertake academic research, produce factual or creative works, and collaborative work, with the application of correct Academic Honesty acknowledgement requirements. Instruct students in how to avoid plagiarism and correctly acknowledge sources in their work. Not to provide unnecessary and excessive assistance to students in coursework outside the programme guidelines; accommodations under the Special Needs Policy are excepted. Confirm that any work they accept for assessment is the authentic work of the student and authenticate all work submitted for internal or external assessment, in the manner accepted by the programme. Will practice the monitoring of all formative and summative assessed work for the correct application of the Xhis Academic Policy. Inform students of all assessment rules and correct assessment practices, verbally and in writing. Invigilate and supervise tests and examinations correctly. Inform the Examinations Officer, MYP/AP Coordinator, and Principal of any suspected Academic Dishonesty. 3. Academic Administration Be fully conversant with the concepts of Academic Honesty and the content of this policy document. Ensure teaching staff understand this policy document and apply it correctly. Ensure that students know the penalties for Academic Dishonesty. Inform students of examination rules and correct examination practice. Administer examinations according to the rules and regulations pertaining to that particular programme and in keeping with the Xhis Academic Honesty Policy. Deal with any cases of suspected academic dishonesty according to this policy and the regulations of the programme being examined. 2014) Page 4

5 4. Parents Be supportive of their child s efforts. Understand the concept of Academic Honesty and how to avoid plagiarism, collusion and malpractice. Understand the penalties for Academic Dishonesty. Encourage their children to be honest and always produce their own work. Ensure that they or any tutors or other persons involved in the teaching of their children outside of the school: o fully understand the concept of academic honesty and how to avoid plagiarism, collusion and malpractice. o do not break any of the rules of Academic Honesty by providing excessive assistance. o do not type, write or in any way complete any assignments given to the student by the school. Consequences of Academic Dishonesty Academic Dishonesty is very serious. Thus the penalties for it are very severe. The following penalties can be expected for: 1. Plagiarism and Collusion No grade awarded for the assignment submitted. Notification of Homeroom Teacher, Head of Student Welfare and coordinators and Xhis Principal; example: MYP/AP coordinators and the Principal for MYP/AP. Notification of the governing body for that international programme. Letter sent home to parents. Letter placed in student file. If time allows, the student may be permitted to resubmit the assignment. This will be decided by the Teacher, Head of Student Welfare, Principal and IB/AP Coordinator, as appropriate. Repeated and serious cases of Plagiarism and Collusion will be sent to the Principal and the student may be expelled from the School. 2. Malpractice in Tests and Examinations a. For internal tests and examinations: No grade given. Notification of Form Tutor, Head of Student Welfare and Principal. Notification of IB/AP Coordinator and Principal for IBAP Students. Letter sent home to parents. Letter placed in student file. b. For external examinations: Notification of the governing body of the international programme. 2014) Page 5

6 Abide by the rules and regulations of the governing body of that international programme. Note that it is the board of the particular international programme, such as the International Baccalaureate Organization who have the final say in all matters pertaining to Academic Honesty in their academic programmes. 2014) Page 6

7 MLA Referencing: An Overview The MLA (Modern Language Association) system of referencing is a widely used referencing system. When using MLA referencing, cite a book in this format: Author of text in the format of surname and forename followed by full stop. Title of text underlined followed by a full stop. Place of publication followed by a colon. Publisher followed by a comma. Year of publication. (No publication date No Date). Hence, in MLA referencing, a book would be cited thus: Taylor, John. Modern Referencing. Oxford: Oxford University Press, To cite a journal article in MLA format, use the following structure: Author of article in the format of surname and forename followed by full stop. Name of article in quotation marks followed by a full stop. Name of journal underlined. Volume/Issue number followed by a full stop. Date of publication in brackets followed by a colon. Page numbers followed by a full stop. Hence, in MLA referencing a journal would be cited thus: Taylor, John. Using MLA. Referencing Today 2. (August 2008): To cite an electronic source in MLA format, use the following structure: Author of article in the format of surname and forename followed by full stop. Name of article in quotation marks followed by a full stop. Name of website underlined followed by a full stop. Date of publication on website followed by a full stop. Date accessed. Website URL. Hence, in MLA referencing, an electronic source would be cited thus: Taylor, John. Using MLA. Referencing Online Accessed 6 August 2008 < In the body of the essay, referencing is parenthetical, as for Harvard when it is a direct quote, and in most instances provides a link to the reference list of bracketed author and page number. For indirect quotes, brackets containing the author s name and the page 2014) Page 7

8 numbers will connect it to the reference list. It should be noted that indirect quotes cannot be extensive without further indication of the source. Further resources Read more: ) Page 8