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Scholastic Honesty The NDSU policy on scholastic honesty is on p. 32 of the Bulletin. In this course I adhere to the letter and spirit of that policy. The web page you are reading, then, adds to and specifies within that policy and in no way supplants it. E-mail, Distance, and Scholastic Honesty
Digital communications and learning at a distance pose the ethical questions of scholastic honesty in new ways. They are the same old questions, but the opportunities of the media also are opportunities for abuse. So here are a few remarks about that. You are asked to carry on regular participation and to submit assignments using e-mail. In fact, all the work you do is out there on your own, unsupervised. It's obvious that anyone could cheat on this, could have someone else send the required messages and assignments, and in most cases get away with it. It isn't something I lose sleep over. There are three things to keep in mind about this. 1. Cheating is possible, often with impunity, on any assignment not done under in-class supervision. E-mail is conceptually no different in this regard. It's just that people have a sort of anything-goes attitude about e-mail that sometimes affects behavior. 2. There is every chance that someone who cheats will get tripped up. We read the stuff that comes in. Instructors notice anomalies and are capable of catching plagiarists. A cheater who has someone else do his work for him by that very act puts himself at risk of getting caught. (Oh, you’re thinking, this person—perhaps an intimate acquaintance—this person would never turn me in! If you’re thinking that, then you are naïve about matters of the heart.) 3. Honesty and dishonesty have their own rewards. Cases of Dishonesty
Scholastic dishonesty is neither expected nor tolerated. Scholastic dishonesty, as far as this course is concerned, includes • Plagiarism, commonly defined as "presenting the words, thoughts, or ideas of another person as your own." • Letting someone else do your work for you. • Helping anyone else commit an act of academic dishonesty. Students caught cheating will receive a 0 on the assignment. In such cases a notice and explanation will be sent to the student's academic advisor and to the dean of the student's college. |