Description
BUAD112
Introduction to Computers for Business Management
Academic Integrity Written Assignment
Objectives:
The objective of this assignment is to have each student think about their own personal commitment to
the rules of Academic Integrity. An additional objective is that student?s use online resources to locate
information on this topic and to synthesize their learning into a written paper.
Assignment:
Read the open letter from Professor Bill Taylor to his students at Oakton Community College. Then use
the college?s resources to locate at least one other source of information on this topic. You are to then
write your own open letter to the instructor of this course regarding your understanding of the subject
and your own commitment to academic integrity in this, and all, courses.
Resources:
1. Letter to my students by Professor Bill Taylor, Oakton Community College
2. BCCC Student Code of Conduct, available on the College?s website: click here
3. Recommended Internet search engines:
i. BCCC Libguides
ii. https://academic.microsoft.com/
4. Note that Wikipedia is not a valid academic source, and papers citing it will not be accepted.
Specific Requirements :
1. Write your own original essay, using at least two resources listed above, one of which must be
the ?Letter to my students? by Prof. Taylor; giving credit to any source used or quoted.
2. Your assignment is required to be a minimum of 1 page in length with a 2-3 page maximum.
Context, grammar, and spelling count. Citations DO NOT count towards the length of the paper.
3. One page double-spaced at a 12-point Times New Roman Font is approximately 250 ? 350
words. This means that your assignment should be a minimum of 250 words. When in doubt,
use the ?Word Count? tool in the ?Review Tab? of MS Word!
4. Use a word processing program. Ideally, use Word 2016 or later.
5. No more than 25% of your paper may be directly quoted.
6. All papers will be submitted through the Turnitin Assignment link; this will detect sources and
calculate the percent copied.
7. See the attached grading rubric – You should review the rubric both before and after you write
your first draft of the paper to make sure you meet all criteria.
Submission: When you have completed the written assignment, save your document with the file
name “Lastname_Firstname_ Academic Integrity Essay” replacing “Lastname” with your last name and
“Firstname? with you first name”. Submit your file using the link set up for this assignment in Canvas by
the due date.
25 Points are possible.
1
Academic Integrity Essay Rubric
Criteria
Content and Focus; Strong,
rich supporting details and
examples that prove thesis.
Meaningful conclusion.
Demonstrates knowledge of
topic.
Ratings
Pts
10.0 pts
Full Marks:
Exceeds
Expectations
9.0 pts
Meets
Expectations
7.0 pts
Does Meet
Some
Expectation
4.0 pts
Does Not
Meet
Expectations
0.0 pts
No Marks
5.0 pts
Full Marks:
Exceeds
Expectations
4.0 pts
Meets
Expectations
3.0 pts
Does Meet
Some
Expectations
2.0 pts
Does Not
Meet
Expectations
0.0 pts
No Marks
Organization; Strong
introduction and conclusion.
Consistent, coherent logical
progression. Clear transitions
(Writing skills not taught
within BUAD112)
5.0 pts
Full Marks:
Exceeds
Expectations
4.0 pts
Meets
Expectations
3.0 pts
Does Meet
Some
Expectations
Style; Written in formal
language, avoids slang.
Varied sentence structure.
Direct quotes support ideas.
Student’s own words (Writing
skills not taught within
BUAD112, but students are
expected to limit informal
language)
5.0 pts
Full Marks:
Exceeds
Expectations
4.0 pts
Meets
Expectation
s
3.0 pts
Does Meet
Some
Expectations
Context: Posted by the
assigned due date; Few or no
stylistic errors; Organized
with direct & clear
communication.
2.0 pts
Does Not
Meet
Expectations
2.0 pts
Does Not
Meet
Expectations
10.0 pts
5.0 pts
0.0 pts
No Marks
5.0 pts
0.0 pts
No Marks
5.0 pts
Total Points: 25
2
Integrity: Academic and Political
A Letter to My Students1
Bill Taylor
Professor of Political Science
Oakton Community College
Des Plaines, IL 60016
[email protected]
Here at the beginning of the semester I want to say something to you about academic
integrity.2
I?m deeply convinced that integrity is an essential part of any true educational experience,
integrity on my part as a faculty member and integrity on your part as a student.
To take an easy example, would you want to be operated on by a doctor who cheated his
way through medical school? Or would you feel comfortable on a bridge designed by an
engineer who cheated her way through engineering school. Would you trust your tax
return to an accountant who copied his exam answers from his neighbor?
Those are easy examples, but what difference does it make if you as a student or I as a
faculty member violate the principles of academic integrity in a political science course,
especially if it?s not in your major?
For me, the answer is that integrity is important in this course precisely because integrity
is important in all areas of life. If we don?t have integrity in the small things, if we find it
possible to justify plagiarism or cheating or shoddy work in things that don?t seem
important, how will we resist doing the same in areas that really do matter, in areas where
money might be at stake, or the possibility of advancement, or our esteem in the eyes of
others?
Personal integrity is not a quality we?re born to naturally. It?s a quality of character we
need to nurture, and this requires practice in both meanings of that word (as in practice
the piano and practice a profession). We can only be a person of integrity if we practice it
every day.
What does that involve for each of us in this course? Let?s find out by going through
each stage in the course. As you?ll see, academic integrity basically requires the same
things of you as a student as it requires of me as a teacher.
1
This letter grows out of, and is based upon, ideas contained in the first draft of “The Fundamental Values
of Academic Integrity,” a document that was developed by, and is available from, the Center for Academic
Integrity (http://www.academicintegrity.org).
2
The American Heritage Dictionary defines integrity as the ?steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical
code.?
I. Preparation for Class
What Academic Integrity Requires of Me in This Area
With regard to coming prepared for class, the principles of academic integrity require that
I come having done the things necessary to make the class a worthwhile educational
experience for you. This requires that I:
? reread the text (even when I?ve written it myself),
? clarify information I might not be clear about,
? prepare the class with an eye toward what is current today (that is, not simply rely on
past notes), and
? plan the session so that it will make it worth your while to be there.
What Academic Integrity Requires of You in This Area
With regard to coming prepared for class, the principles of academic integrity suggest that
you have a responsibility to yourself, to me, and to the other students to do the things
necessary to put yourself in a position to make fruitful contributions to class discussion.
This will require you to:
? read the text before coming to class,
? clarify anything you?re unsure of (including looking up words you don?t understand),
? formulate questions you might have so you can ask them in class, and
? think about the issues raised in the directed reading guide.
II. In Class
What Academic Integrity Requires of Me in This Area
With regard to class sessions, the principles of academic integrity require that I take you
seriously and treat you with respect. This requires that I:
? show up for all class sessions, unless I?m simply unable to do so,
? come to class on time, and not leave early,
? not waste class time, but use it well to fulfil the objectives of the course
? do my best to answer your questions,
? honestly acknowledge when I don?t have an answer or don?t know something, and then
go out and get an answer by the next class,
? both encourage you, and give you an equal opportunity, to participate in class
discussions,
? contain you if your enthusiasm for participating in the discussions makes it difficult for
others to participate,
? assume that you are prepared for class and that I won?t embarrass you if I call on you,
even if your hand isn?t up,
? respect the views you express and not make fun of you or of them,
? not allow others to ridicule you or your ideas, or you to do the same to them, and
? make clear when I am expressing an opinion, and not impose on you my views on
controversial issues.
What Academic Integrity Requires of You in This Area
With regard to class sessions, the principles of academic integrity require you to take both
me and your fellow students seriously and to treat us with respect. This requires that you:
? show up for all class sessions, unless you are simply unable to do so,
? come to class on time and not leave early,
? make good use of class time by being engaged in what?s going on,
? ask questions about anything you don?t understand, and not just for your own sake but
because other students might not realize that they also don?t understand,
? participate in the class discussions so as to contribute your thinking to the shared effort
to develop understanding and insight (remember that even something that?s clearly
wrong can contribute to the discussion by stimulating an idea in another student that
s/he might not otherwise have had),
? monitor your own participation so as to allow for and encourage the participation of
others,
? respect the other students by not making fun of them or their ideas, and by not holding
side-conversations that distract them (and me) from the class discussion.
III. With Regard to Exams
What Academic Integrity Requires of Me in This Area
With regard to exams, the principles of academic integrity require that I:
? do my best during class time to prepare you for the exams,
? be available during office hours or at arranged times to work with you individually to
help you get ready for the exams,
? develop exam questions that will be a meaningful test not only of the course content,
but also of your ability to express and defend intelligent judgments about that content,
? carefully monitor the exam so that honest students will not be disadvantaged by other
students who might choose to cheat if given the opportunity, and
? give due and careful consideration to your answers when evaluating them and
assigning a grade.
What Academic Integrity Requires of You in This Area
With regard to exams, the principles of academic integrity require you to:
? come to class having done your best to prepare for the exam, including seeking my
help if you need it,
? make full use of the time available to write the best answers you can,
? accept your limitations and not try to get around them by using cheat sheets, copying,
or seeking help from another student,
? not giving help to other students, or making it easy for them to copy off of you.
IV. With Regard to Written Assignments
What Academic Integrity Requires of Me in This Area
With regard to written assignments, the principles of academic integrity require that I:
? devise meaningful assignments that grow out of and further the work done in the
classroom,
? provide you with a clear description of that assignment so that you know what is
expected of you and what I?ll be looking for when I grade it,
? give due and careful consideration to your paper when evaluating it and assigning a
grade, and
? confront you if I suspect that you have plagiarized or in other ways not handed in work
that is entirely your own.
What Academic Integrity Requires of You in This Area
With regard to written assignments, the principles of academic integrity require you to:
? start your research and writing early enough to ensure that you have the time you need
to do your best work,
? hand in a paper which you yourself have done specifically for this course and not
borrowed from someone else or recycled from an earlier course,
? not be satisfied with a paper that is less than your best work,
? seek only appropriate help from others (such as proof-reading, or discussing your ideas
with someone else to gain clarity in your thinking), and
? give full and proper credit to your sources.
Let me expand on this last point, since it applies to both you and me.
By its very nature, education and the accumulation of knowledge is a shared enterprise.
None of us has the time, let alone the background knowledge required, to learn everything
on our own. Virtually everything we know has come to us because someone else has
taken the time to think about something, research it, and then share what s/he?s learned
with us in a class lecture or, more likely, in an article or book. This is every bit as true for
me as a teacher as it is for you as students. I?d have very little to teach if all I could talk
about is what I?ve learned solely on my own.
In a class lecture it would be too disruptive if I stopped to cite all of my sources, but I
know, and you need to know, that I am sharing with you the things I?ve learned from
hundreds of different authors. What I contribute is the way I bring their ideas together
into a coherent whole so that it makes sense to you.
If this is true for me, how much more so for you. I have many more years of education
and reading behind me than you do. I don?t expect you to do original research. Instead, I
expect you to read about the research of others, and to bring together their ideas in such a
way that makes sense to you and will make sense to me. Therefore, it?s essential for you
to cite your sources in any research paper you write. The academic reasons for doing so
are to give credit to those who have done the original research and written the article or
book, and to allow me to look at them if I needed to find out if you have properly
understood what the author was trying to say.
But at a practical level, citing your sources is a way to show that you?ve done the
assignment. If your paper contains no citations, the implication is that you have done a
piece of original research, but that wasn?t the assignment. Citations (along with the
bibliography) show that you have consulted a variety of resources as the assignment
required. They?re also an acknowledgement of your indebtedness to those authors.
So don?t feel you need to hide the fact that you?re drawing from one of your sources.
That?s what it?s all about.
V. With Regard to Your Final Grade
What Academic Integrity Requires of Me in This Area
With regard to your final grade, the principles of academic integrity require that I
carefully weigh all of your grades during the course, as well as the other factors that affect
the final grade as spelled out in the syllabus, before assigning a final grade.
What Academic Integrity Requires of You in This Area
With regard to your final grade, the principles of academic integrity require that, if you
feel I?ve made a mistake in computing that grade, you have a responsibility to come to me
as soon as possible prepared to show why you think I?ve made a mistake.
VI. Failures to Live up to Our Responsibilities
In all of the areas listed above, I will do my best to live up to my responsibilities. If you
feel I?ve failed to do so, you have every right to call me on it. If you do, I have a
responsibility to give you respectful consideration. If you feel that I do not do these
things, you have the right (and I would say the responsibility) to bring this to the attention
of my dean.
At the same time, I have a right to expect that you will live up to your responsibilities. If
I get a sense that you?re not doing so, I consider it a matter of my academic integrity that I
call you on it.
Indeed, in certain circumstances (such as cheating or plagiarism) I may be required to
charge you with a violation of the College?s Code of Academic Conduct. For the College
is every bit as committed to academic integrity as I am.
You should familiarize yourself with that Code. You can find it in the student handbook;
it?s also summarized on page 39 in the College Catalog. Be sure to notice that there?s a
procedure that?s designed to protect your rights. But that procedure might also result in
one or another sanction being imposed on you if you?re found guilty of violating the Code
of Academic Integrity.
Which brings me to the most difficult question with regard to academic integrity; what if
you become aware of a fellow classmate who is not living up to the principles of
academic integrity, but you sense that I?m not aware of it? What should you do? I?ll give
you the answer, but I?ll acknowledge up front that it?s a hard one. Nevertheless, I would
hope that you would at least grapple with it if you are ever confronted with the situation.
The answer is that you should say something to that student, and if worse comes to worse,
you should tell me. But why?
Academic integrity, as with so much in life, involves a system of interconnected rights
and responsibilities that reflect our mutual dependence upon one another. The success of
our individual efforts in this course, as with so much in life, depends on all of us
conscientiously exercising our rights and living up to our responsibilities. And the failure
of any of us?even just one of us?to do what is required will diminish, however slightly,
the opportunity for the rest to achieve their goals. That is why it?s essential for all of us in
this class to practice academic integrity, in both senses of the word practice. For practice
today will lay a solid foundation for practice tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day
after that, so that through daily practice integrity will come to be woven throughout the
fabric of our lives, and thus through at least a part of the fabric of society.
Note: Permission is granted to use any or all of the material in this letter in any way that is consistent with
its purpose of promoting academic integrity.
William M. Taylor
Oakton Community College
Des Plaines, IL 60016
[email protected]
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