Collaboration and Academic Integrity, CSE332 Spring 2010

You are responsible for understanding every word in this document.

Motivation

A course in which students do not accurately present what they know and what work they have done is worse than having no course at all. Your instructor and your fellow students expect and deserve a basic respect for the integrity of this course and an environment where we can all focus on learning. Therefore, this document establishes a clear understanding of what we all will do with the expectation that it will never be an issue.

Bottom Line

While we want you to learn from your fellow students and discuss the course material, the work you complete must be your own. If you are ever unclear about how to represent what work you have done, (a) ask and (b) describe clearly what you have done. If you do, the worst that will happen is you will lose some credit on an assignment. This is much better than the alternative.

Collaboration Policies

Unless we specifically state otherwise, we encourage collaboration on "individual" homework, provided you following the Gilligan's Island rule:

1. You spend at least 30 minutes on each and every problem alone, before discussing it with others.
2. Cooperation is limited to group discussion and brainstorming. No written or electronic material may be exchanged or leave the brainstorming session.
3. After collaborating, you do something mind-numbing or otherwise non-technical for at least 30 minutes, such as watch an episode of Gilligan's Island.
4. You write up each and every problem on your own, using your own words, and understand your solution fully.
5. You identify each person that you collaborated with at the top of your written homework or in your README file.

Copying someone else's homework or receiving unfair help completing your assignment is cheating (see below), as is copying the homework from another source (the web, other classes, previous course offerings, etc.).

Cheating

Cheating is a very serious offense. If you are caught cheating, you can expect a failing grade and initiation of a cheating case in the University system. Cheating is an insult to your colleagues, to the instructors, to the department and major program, and most importantly, to you. If you feel that you are having a problem with the material, or don't have time to finish an assignment, or have any number of other reasons to cheat, then talk with the instructor. Copying others' work is not the solution.

To avoid creating situations where copying can arise, never e-mail or post your solution files. You can post general questions about interpretation and tools but limit your comments to these categories. If in doubt about what might constitute cheating, send the instructor email describing the situation. For more details see the Academic Misconduct web page.