The Information School - INFO/CSE 100 Academic Conduct

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Academic Conduct There are numerous difficult issues associated with academic conduct. In many cases it is clear what the right thing to do is, but in other areas there may be confusion or gray areas. Please view the Computer Science and Engineering Academic Policies information pages as the primary source for guidance.  The following paragraphs review some of these issues as they relate to this class. Appropriate Cooperation and Collaboration It is valuable to work with a friend or classmate when learning a new application or working out a problem. However, the work that you perform in this class for a grade must be your own work. Projects in this course are meant to be done by the individual. Here are some suggestions for how to work together to understand the homework problems and projects, while still producing your own work: After working together no collaborators should keep any records or documents of the session ... only memories. Wait at least 1/2 hour before starting your own work, and in that time engage in some other activity ... such as playing a video game or watching a sitcom or working on an assignment from some other course. It is recommended that you note on your submitted work "I talked to ____ while working on this assignment." Academic Integrity One of the interesting problems of academic study is that we are always studying the work of others in order to form the basis of our own work. We want you to read and understand the writings of other people; it's a very important part of academic life, and it's a valuable skill in all parts of modern life. Exposure to the work of other people and understanding that work is in many ways the defining experience of a good education. At the same time, copying files or other documents from someone else and claiming they are yours is plagiarism. This is wrong and is strictly forbidden by the University. Consequently, it is essential that all of us take the utmost care that the ideas and expressions of ideas of other people always be appropriately handled, and, where necessary, cited. For writing assignments, when ideas or materials of others are used, they must be cited. The format is not that important - as long as the source material can be located and the citation verified, it's OK. What is important is that the material be cited. In any situation, if you have a question, please feel free to ask. Such attention to ideas and acknowledgment of their sources is central not only to academic life, but life in general. You can take a draft copy of a writing assignment to the Engineering / iSchool Writing Center for review. They can help you with numerous aspects of technical writing, including the ethical and effective use of citations. The rules concerning plagiarism by the University are outlined on this page from the Faculty Resource on Grading site: Academic Honesty. If you have any questions regarding the class policy, consult the instructor. Copyright Copyright is a particularly difficult issue these days with the growth of digital media and the changing dynamics of the distribution system for audio and video works. Unfortunately, there is not yet a clear solution to the problem of preserving the rights of the creators of these works while at the same time benefitting from the rapid and error free distribution that modern technology affords, and so the legal system is working overtime as all the various parties attempt to retain, gain, or extend their advantages in whatever new system may arise. One of the challenges you may well face in your future career positions is that of dealing with copyright issues in a responsible fashion. Calling everyone an illegal pirate and forbidding the copying of digital audio and video files by individuals is a simplistic response by the existing distributors, and bears little relationship to the actual behavior, motivations, and actions of people who are actually living in the real world. At the same time, there are significant issues associated with providing some way of compensating the authors of digital works for their creative efforts, when an unlimited number of perfect copies can be generated for free from one original. It's not clear what the best solutions will be; you have an opportunity to participate in developing that solution now and in the following years. This is perhaps one of the most important issues facing our society today since it significantly affects the free exchange of ideas. With regard to this class, all of the expressions of ideas in this class that are fixed in any tangible medium such as digital and physical documents are protected by copyright law as embodied in title 17 of the United States Code. These expressions include the work product of both: (1) your student colleagues (e.g., any assignments published here in the course environment or statements committed to text in a discussion forum); and, (2) your instructors (e.g., the syllabus, assignments, reading lists, and lectures). Within the constraints of "fair use", you may copy these copyrighted expressions for your personal intellectual use in support of your education here in the iSchool. Such fair use by you does not include further distribution by any means of copying, performance or presentation beyond the circle of your close acquaintances, student colleagues in this class and your family. If you have any questions regarding whether a use to which you wish to put one of these expressions violates the creator's copyright interests, please feel free to ask the instructor for guidance. Privacy To support an academic environment of rigorous discussion and open expression of personal thoughts and feelings, we, as members of the academic community, must be committed to the inviolate right of privacy of our student and instructor colleagues. As a result, we must forego sharing personally identifiable information about any member of our community including information about the ideas they express, their families, life styles and their political and social affiliations. If you have any questions regarding whether a disclosure you wish to make regarding anyone in this course or in the iSchool community violates that person's privacy interests, please feel free to ask the instructor for guidance. Student Code of Conduct Knowing violations of these principles of academic conduct, privacy or copyright may result in University disciplinary action under the Student Code of Conduct. I urge you to behave responsibly so that this never becomes an issue.

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