PHYSICS 2212 C-INTRO. PHYSICS II
Honor Code Policies
We hope that every 2212 student this semester will take the issue of academic integrity very seriously. A Tech degree is currently valuable precisely because earlier generations of Tech students have spent the last several decades in the workplace, demonstrating to employers that Tech graduates are smart, capable, and reliable. A student who cheats (or even just cuts corners to reduce their workload) is establishing work habits that will not be valued by employers, and every such student who slips by will be chipping away at the reputation that a Tech degree confers. When this happens, these students are cheating themselves, their peers, and their successors.
You've been handed a valuable legacy by prior Tech students. Pass it on.
For those students concerned with the issue of academic honesty, a list of basic guidelines, spelling out acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, is provided below. We ask every student to follow these guidelines throughout the semester. If you are aware of someone who is blatantly violating these strictures, we encourage you to bring the matter to our attention, or else to confront the individual(s) in question, and let them that their behavior is inappropriate.
Guidelines for Academic Honesty
| 1 | Collaboration on homework: Students are allowed (and encouraged) to work together on homework, provided the final submitted work reflects a real understanding of the problem being answered. In a nutshell: it is OK to work together to understand the physics that is required to solve a problem; it is not OK to work together just to "get an answer", or to "swap solutions" with a classmate. Students are also allowed to consult freely with their instructor,
or to seek help in the Physics/OMED Help Lab, although
you should make an effort to think carefully about the problem before asking for such
help. |
| 2 | Use of "word" & solution manuals: Use of such resources are discouraged, but not prohibited. In particular, it is acceptable to consult a solution manual if you find yourself stumped on a given problem. However, such a resource should be a full solution of the problem, showing all the conceptual details and analytical steps; a resource that simply provides an "answer" (in the form of a formula for your numbers to be plopped into) is NOT an acceptable resource, under these guidlines. As with the Collaboration rule, the rule of thumb for an acceptable resource is that you should be using it to understand the physics, not to simply "get an answer". Prohibited Activities: Use/Abuse of the Mastering Physics web
site so as to obtain solutions for homework problems without having worked the problem
will be deemed a deliberate attempt to cheat; students engaged in such activities
will be referred to The Office of Academic Integrity for disciplinary action.
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| 3 | Attendance & the PRS System: Since attendance plays a role in the determination of final grades, any fabrication of attendance records (i.e using a classmate's "clicker" to simulate their presence, or asking a classmate to use your clicker in your absence) constitutes cheating, and will be dealt with accordingly. In addition to any disciplinary penalties assigned by the Office of Academic Integrity, the minimum academic penalty recommended to the Dean will be a forfeiture of all possible bonus points for attendance. Note well: both the absentee and the person faking the absentee's presence will be equally subject to this penalty. |
| 4 | The Elastic Clause: Note that the Honor Code formally defines academic dishonesty as "...any act that does or could improperly distort student grades or other student academic records. Such acts include but need not be limited to..." This means that the guidelines above should not be construed as being the only possible offenses against the Honor Code. (For example, we don't have to officially state that copying off someone else's exam is cheating...it goes without saying.) Should other abuses of the academic process be discovered during the semester, they will be dealt with appropriately. If you should have any question regarding the propriety of a particular behavior, you are encouraged to discuss the matter with your instructor. |
