Academic Integrity
We ask you not to cheat, in any way, shape, or form. In return, we will try our best to be fair about the amount of work we are giving you, in the grading of that work, and in giving you a course grade. You can always talk to us if you have any gripe or criticism about the coures, and we will ateempt to respond to it immediately.
Why shouldn't you cheat? Society thrives and grows on trust and respect. If that trust is broken, then chaos tends to enter in. This trust can be on a small scale, such as simply trusting a bus driver to get you to your destination (if the driver is drunk, you may be killed; you trust that they are not drunk). Or it can be on a huge scale, such as the Protestants and Catholics not trusting each other in northern Ireland.
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Examples of Trust and no Trust
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| In this course | You trust us to teach you programming, with a reasonable amount of work on your part and hopefully in an interesting way, and to give you fair grades. In turn, we trust you to do your work in a timely manner, without cheating. |
| Taking a bus | You trust that the driver is not drunk and will carefully drive you to your destination. |
| Downloading music | Musicians produce music and expect to get paid for its use, so that they can make a living. They trust the copyright system. You violate that trust when you download music illegally. |
| Stocks | You buy stocks in a company, trusting that its reports are accurate and that its employees are honest. The Enron debacle shows how bad things can become when that trust is broken. The crooks in that company ruined the lives of many people. |
| Politics | We would like to trust our leaders. When they act in ways that seem to benefit them and their friends rather than our society as a whole, cynicism sets in and we lose faith in them and in our system of governing. Two examples: Too often, the parties in Congress seem to be more interested in preserving their own parties than in working together for society. In New York State, year after year, the governor and legislature cannot pass a budget by the legal deadline; they don't seem to care about what that does to schools and other parts of society. And they lose our respect and trust. |
| Israel/ Palestine | Neither side trusts the other, because neither side has done enough to gain that trust. The result is chaos. |
Cheating destroys the respect others have for you when they find out that you cheated. More importantly, cheating, starting on a small scale, can continue to grow, leading to cheating on a large scale later on. Cheating destroys your character. It can lessen what you think of yourself and ruin your self-confidence. It can ruin your life. While cheating may seem to help in the short run, in the long run it can lead to disaster.
Cornell University has a Code of Academic Integrity, which explains clearly what is academic cheating and what is not.
Violations of the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity occurring in Computer Science courses are taken very seriously by the Computer Science faculty. Therefore, it is necessary to impress upon students the gravity of violations of the Code. The following are excerpts from a longer version of the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity. The exclusion of any part does not excuse ignorance of the Code.
Principle
Absolute integrity is expected of every Cornell student in all
academic undertakings; a person must in no way misrepresent their work fraudulently,
unfairly advance their academic status, or be a party to another person's
failure to maintain academic integrity. The maintenance of an atmosphere of
academic honor and the fulfillment of the provisions of this Code are the
responsibilities of the students and faculty of Cornell University. Therefore,
all students and faculty members shall refrain from any action that would
violate the basic principles of this Code.
General Responsibilities
A student assumes responsibility for the content and integrity of the academic
work he/she submits, such as papers, examinations, or reports.
A student shall be guilty of violating the Code and subject to proceedings
under it if they:
Who performs the work?
What do you submit?You must submit only work you performed. Using a computer does not modify the standards of academic integrity stipulated in the Cornell University code of conduct. You may discuss work with other students. However, cooperation should never involve other students possessing a copy of all, or a portion of, your work regardless of format. You cannot remove your partner's name from an assignment unless you do not use each other's work.
What are the penalties?The programs that you submit must generate the entire output you submit in your assignments. You cannot submit more than one assignment if you have worked with a partner.