In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.
(www.plagiarism.org)
Watch this short video from York University (Canada) about academic honesty.
Students at ISK are expected to be principled learners who act with integrity and honesty, including taking responsibility for their own learning and the consequences that accompany their actions. ISK places significant emphasis on academic integrity as a core value foundational to effective student learning, with students facing disciplinary action when they violate expectations by engaging in academic misconduct (aka cheating).
Definition & Student Expectations
Academic integrity broadly refers to the production of ‘authentic’ pieces of work and assessments that reflect student learning, proper conduct in relation to the conduct of examinations, the full acknowledgement of the original authorship and ownership of material, and the protection of intellectual property (including all forms of expression, as well as patents, registered designs, trademarks, moral rights and copyright).
Academic misconduct primarily refers to the practice of deceit when completing work, normally
in order to gain an unfair advantage for self or others (e.g., in order to enhance a grade). Often academic misconduct is incontrovertible. For example, if a student steals a paper from an Internet source and presents it as his or her own, it is deliberate dishonesty. Academic misconduct also includes any inadvertent behaviors that breach academic honesty expectations or may lead to
an unfair advantage. Sometimes students may be confused as to what is permissible to do or borrow, however this is not an excuse for inappropriate conduct. The intent of written exercises
is to encourage students to be creative in their thinking and to find their own ways of organizing and expressing their ideas. If students depend on other minds for the conception of their papers, for the order of ideas or events, and for their phrasing, they may not be receiving the necessary training in developing their own abilities and are asking for an evaluation of something that belongs
to somebody else. Those students are, then, circumventing a central purpose of the educational process and violating school expectations. Ignorance, haste, carelessness, or the pressures of other work or grades are not acceptable excuses. All students are expected to avoid academic misconduct - whether intentional or inadvertent - by asking the teacher in cases when they may be in doubt about how to complete work appropriately.
All assignments set and completed by ISK and IB DP (Diploma Program) students in school or at home, ranging from basic pieces of Home learning to formal assessments, must be their own authentic work. Acts of academic misconduct that do not meet expectations include but are not limited to:
● Giving or receiving aid that has not been approved by the teacher on or for any assessments
● Using outside materials or support on an assessment, except when authorized by a teacher
(including for example unauthorized assistance by an external tutor)
● Unauthorized prior possession (including pre-viewing or being informed about in any format)
of assessment materials or taking unauthorized material into an examination/assessment
● Fabricating or falsifying data, citations or other information
● Paraphrasing another person’s story or the repetition of critical judgments without credit
● Using the words, ideas, images, or writings of another without crediting the source (aka
plagiarism)
● Re-submitting the same or substantially similar work for which a grade/credit has already
been given (aka duplication)
● Copying or tampering with the academic work of others
● Facilitating another’s academic misconduct, for example providing other students with Home
learning answers, assessment answers, original or photocopied essays, and related activities
(aka collusion)
● Possessing a phone during an assessment
School Practices in Support of Academic Integrity
ISK applies practices in an ongoing effort to help students to complete authentic, accurate, legitimate, and well-researched work. Through Research Process and Standards, ISK librarians and teachers partner to guide students and help them acquire skills needed to be researchers in the 21st century through: discussion of appropriate collaboration versus collusion; guiding students around the
proper attribution of varied and emerging sources (e.g., audio-visual material, text, graphs, images and/or data published in print or in electronic sources); showing students how to use turnitin.
com for submission of work; vigilant attention to students during assessments and submission of assignments; and follow through on suspected violations of academic honesty, including reporting to an administrator and the IB coordinator if appropriate.
This handbook incorporates some key information from the relevant IB guides. IB faculty apply guidelines in this handbook in conjunction with all the expectations published by the IB, including
the IB Academic Integrity guide, the IB Coordinator Handbook of Procedures and the IB General Regulations. An orientation session for all IB families is held at the beginning of the two-year program. All candidates and parents are directed to the IB General Regulations: Diploma Programme. All candidates and parents are required to sign a declaration of academic honesty and consent when commencing the IB DP. All candidates and families receive an electronic version of the Conduct of Examinations prior to the May exam session.
Turnitin.com is a plagiarism prevention program that allows students to upload their written assignments, which are checked against a database of print and electronic sources. All ISK high school students are expected to use this resource. Turnitin.com requires all users to complete a consent form. Students who are 18 or older can do this on their own, but students between 14 and 17 require parental consent and supervision. By agreeing to the school rules laid out in the school’s handbook, parents provide their consent by signing and returning the consent form, allowing their children to sign on to the site and use it under the supervision of their teacher in the course of completing their school work.
Investigating Suspected Cases & Applying Consequences
When a case of academic misconduct appears to have occurred, the teacher meets with the student to discuss the incident. If the teacher finds that misconduct has not occurred, no further action is required. If the teacher believes that the student has violated academic honesty expectations, the teacher records the incident and initiates the following process:
The teacher contacts a parent and communicates the nature of the incident.
The teacher submits a report of the incident to the high school assistant principal.
The assistant principal will gather data relevant to the case, come to a finding, and determine
a course of action. This process will normally include feedback from a meeting with the
student and a written account of the incident from the student. Other pieces of data such as reports from other students may be sought, and the student will have the opportunity to submit any additional information that may be relevant to the case. The assistant principal will also consult the teacher, counselor, and any other relevant faculty members, prior to determining
a course of action. Minimally, the student who is found to have violated academic honesty expectations will receive a grade of 1 for all of or part of the assessment task depending upon its nature, given that it is impossible to accurately measure student performance against any standards when misconduct has occurred. The student will normally still be required to redo the assignment or complete an alternate task. Additional consequences are normally dependent on the seriousness and type of incident, though the overall aim in implementing consequences is to make the incident a learning experience and help the student to understand how to complete work appropriately.
In the most serious cases or in cases where a student has a record of previous instances of academic misconduct, the assistant principal may refer the case directly to the principal who will treat the case as a potentially major violation of school rules. Additional information about how the school handles possible conduct violations follows in this section of the handbook.
The IB coordinator, with the support of school administration, applies the specific guidelines outlined
in the IB Academic Integrity booklet as well as the specific guidelines outlined in the IB Coordinator Handbook of Procedures and the IB General Regulations: Diploma Regulations when misconduct claims arise. For cases involving potential student misconduct relating to IBDP courses or components (including the CAS program for example), the school is committed to supporting investigations conducted by the IB organization (IBO) and also reserves the right to inform the IBO of incidents concerning academic misconduct. The IBO may impose sanctions or penalties above and beyond those of the school; for example, conduct found to be in breach of regulations or guilty of malpractice may result in no grade being awarded to the student by the IBO.
From the 2023-24 ISK HS Student Handbook, pages 36 - 38