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/Ed
ucationalModule/Plagiarism/
Honesty vs. Dishonesty
Can 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 papermaking 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.