DEL TRASPASO DE CUENTAS INDIVIDUALES Sección I

Information in the following sections includes materials adapted from Washington University in St. Louis

UNCW exists to facilitate the pursuit, acquisition, and transmission of knowledge.

Academic integrity is essential to our activity as researchers, teachers, and students. As a teaching assistant, you should approach the issue of academic integrity from the perspectives of encouraging integrity and preventing cheating.

What Can TAs Do to Prevent Integrity Violations?

“Everybody’s doing it.” Cheating among undergraduate students is common, on the rise, and discouraging to non-cheaters. A 1992 national study of 6096 undergraduate

students at 31of the nation’s most prestigious and highly selective universities found that 67.4% of students reported cheating at least once as undergraduates (Cahoon &

Rogers). (http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/edpolicy/projects/genattrit/Papers/cheating.pdf) Cheating takes many forms, ranging from glancing at another student's work during a test to extensive plagiarism on written assignments. You can discourage potentially dishonest behavior if you:

(1) Give clear direction to students about what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

(2) Clarify during the early stages of contact with students that plagiarism, cheating, data fabrication, and other forms of academic dishonesty are unacceptable and have serious consequences.

(3) Create an environment that makes dishonesty more difficult.

(4) Finally, if your efforts at prevention fail and some students cheat, your must deal with the infraction in an appropriate manner.

The UNCW Code of Student Life specifically addresses academic dishonesty offenses: The University of North Carolina Wilmington is committed to the proposition that the pursuit of truth requires the presence of honesty among all involved. It is therefore this institution’s stated policy that no form of dishonesty among its faculty or students will be tolerated. Although all members of the university community are encouraged to report occurrences of dishonesty, each individual is principally responsible for his or her own

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honesty. The following definitions and procedures are provided to help everyone realize the high value that is placed on academic integrity and the means that will be employed to insure its preservation.

Academic Dishonesty Offenses

At UNCW Violation of any of the following standards subjects any student to disciplinary action:

Plagiarism means the appropriation, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another person’s work and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of it in one’s own work. It is doubly unethical, since it deprives the true author of his/her rightful credit and then gives that credit to someone to whom it is not due. Three examples of plagiarism are described by Martin and Ohmann (1963) in their book The Logic and Rhetoric of Exposition:

 Word-for-Word Copying. Whenever someone else is directly quoted, honesty and courtesy require acknowledgment of the source. The quoted material should be placed in quotation marks and its exact location should be indicated, either in the text of the student’s paper or in a footnote.

 The Mosaic. To intersperse a few words of one’s own here and there while basically copying the work of another is obviously unethical, unless one clearly acknowledges that this is being done. Should there be a valid reason for doing so then quotation marks or a general footnote should be used to show what belongs to the source and what one’s own contribution is.

 The Paraphrase. Once more the crucial point is acknowledgment. Sometimes one can paraphrase in order to simplify, abbreviate, or improve upon an original, but the reader deserves to know what is being presented to him and whose work it represents. Therefore, acknowledgment of the source is required within the text of the student’s paper or by footnote.

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Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving or soliciting of any consideration in order to obtain a grade or other treatment not otherwise earned by the student through his/her own academic performance.

Cheating is any conduct during a program, course, quiz or examination which involves the unauthorized use of written or oral information, or information obtained by any other means of communication, including:

 The unauthorized buying, selling, trading or theft of any examination, quiz, term paper or project.

 The unauthorized use of any electronic or mechanical device during any

program, course, quiz, or examination or in connection with laboratory reports or other materials related to academic performance.

 The unauthorized use of laboratory reports, term reports, theses, or written materials in whole or in part.

 The unauthorized assistance or collaboration on any test, assignment, or project.  The unauthorized use by a student of another student’s work or the falsification

of any other student’s work.

 Participating in, or permitting any of the above activities.

It is not unusual for faculty to be upset or disappointed when they discover cheating or other violations of academic honesty. It is helpful to understand that such student misconduct is often the result of panic in not getting work done, pressure to make good grades, fear of failure, or values that are inconsistent with university expectations. Sometimes students are truly confused about what constitutes cheating or are poorly educated with regard to proper conduct. It is not safe to assume that students have already learned what constitutes acceptable conduct from their high school experience.

This is especially true regarding citation of source material and plagiarism, including use of information from internet sources.

How Can TAs Establish the Right Expectations?

Place a statement about academic integrity in the course syllabus and devote some time to the issue on the first day of class. You might also remind students to read the

information on academic integrity policy for undergraduate students in the UNCW Code of Student Life. Cautioning students that you will not hesitate to take an integrity

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question to the department chair or to your faculty mentor emphasizes your commitment to ethical behavior. If students understand that you view integrity as an important

element in your class, an ethical and positive learning environment will be reinforced. How Can You Clarify the Rules on Source Citation, Take-home Exams, and

Assignments?

Sometimes specific rules regarding citation of sources are not well understood by

students; therefore, instructions are crucial in clarifying your expectations. On take-home exams, for example, students may be confused about whether and which sources may be used and if so, what sort of attribution is acceptable. The same is true for papers. If formal citation is expected, recommend or require that a particular manual or style sheet be used.

If homework is given on a regular basis, it is important to define whether collaboration is acceptable or not, and if so, what level of collaboration. Rules about group projects require special delineation. Writing the rules and giving each student a copy is the best way to make your expectations clearly understood. Writing rule-reminders on the board can help to reinforce these concepts.

What Preventive Measures Can You Take to Reduce Integrity Infractions on Tests and Papers?

Tests: Testing in a crowded room is often an invitation to cheat. Temptation is

particularly high when students are crammed together taking an objective exam. Some recommendations for testing include:

 On multiple-choice or short answer tests, make two or three versions by mixing up the order of the questions.

 Instructing students to put all books and belongings in the front or back of the room before taking an exam.

 Issuing dated and numbered blue books, or providing a separate sheet for answers.

 Constructing a seating chart in advance to discourage collaboration.

 If room permits, avoid having students sitting right next to one another or right in front or behind one another.

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 If desks are not fixed to the floor, turn every other row in the opposite direction.  Observe the entire room during the exam by walking around the room and

standing in the back.

 If you believe that students may be taking exams for others, consider checking IDs.

Papers: Certain steps make it more difficult for a student to turn in a plagiarized paper or someone else's work. They include:

 Making absolutely sure your expectations regarding citation are clearly understood; a short lesson about attribution is always a good idea. Providing your rules in writing is best.

 Being sure students know you are open to discussion about style and construction on an individual basis.

 Getting a good in-class writing sample from students early in the course or asking to see an early draft of a paper helps to ensure that submitted work is the student's own.

 Providing a restricted list of topics or questions can minimize temptation to use previously written material.

 Constructing a list of acceptable sources also makes checking doubtful passages easier.

What Can You Do If a Student Cheats or Plagiarizes?

Before accusing a student of any integrity infraction, be sure the evidence supports the accusation. Mere suspicion is not enough. Discuss your concerns with your faculty mentor or the head of your department or program.

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