Academic Integrity

Definition

Helping someone in an act of Academic Dishonesty.

Examples

• Providing another student with solutions to a test or exam.
• Giving another student an assignment from a previous course.
• Borrowing solutions to an assignment to another student.
• Causing a distraction in a testing situation that prevents the professor or proctor from observing other students.
• Helping a student cheat in an exam.
• Uploading testing materials to an online platform (e.g. Course Hero).
• Writing part, or all, of an assignment for another student.

Case Study

Kim has to take an online exam for her Introduction to Technology course. Kim asks her friend, Mark to sit next to her while she takes the exam to help with the answers. Mark has never taken the Introduction to Technology course, but he knows a lot about information technology. Kim is cheating, which is an academic offense; Mark is also in the wrong. Although Mark is not in the course, he is committing an academic offence by helping his friend take the exam. 

Definition

Interfering with the ability of another student to successfully complete academic work.

Examples

• Withholding information from a team member.
• Excluding another student(s) from a group project.
• Intentionally missing a group presentation.
• Not participating in a group project.
• Giving a friend a higher grade than deserved in a peer-graded assignment.

Case Study 1

Grace has a group project due at the end of Week 9. In Week 7, Grace and her group have an initial meeting to discuss the project. During this meeting each person is assigned a part of the project to complete. After that meeting, Grace does not attend other team meetings, respond to communication attempts from her teammates or attend class. At the beginning of Week 9, Grace sends an email to her team, promising to do her assigned task. The day the assignment is due, Grace writes to the team and tells them that she was too busy to complete her part of the assignment. By not participating in the group project Grace has committed an academic offence.

Case Study 2

Martha, Robbie, Farah and John have a group assignment for an online course. After working on the project for a week, Robbie, Farah and John have a disagreement with Martha on how to finalize the assignment. After the disagreement, Robbie, Farah and John hold group meetings without informing Martha. They also do not contact Martha or respond to her attempts to communicate with the group. The three team members complete and submit the assignment on their own, without including any of the work that Martha contributed. Robbie, Farah and John tell the online instructor that Martha did not participate in the group project. By excluding Martha from the group and her contributions from the assignment, and withholding information from Martha, Robbie, Farah and John have committed an academic offence.