Defining Academic Misconduct
The University defines academic misconduct as “any action or attempted action that may result in creating an unfair academic advantage for oneself or an unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for any other member or members of the academic community” (UC Berkeley Code of Student Conduct).*
When the topic of academic misconduct comes up, we usually think of cheating and plagiarism. It is a much broader concept, however. Here are other examples of academic misconduct:
Interfering with course materials:
- Removing, defacing, or deliberately keeping from other students library materials that are on reserve for specific courses.
- Contaminating laboratory samples or altering indicators during a practical exam, such as moving a pin in a dissection specimen for an anatomy course.
Theft or damage of intellectual property:
- Selling, distributing, website posting, or publishing course lecture notes, handouts, readers, recordings, or other information provided by an instructor, or using them for any commercial purpose, without the express permission of the instructor. (The University’s policy about note-taking specifies several protections for instructor-authored content, including the content that you as an instructor develop, against distribution to people outside the course without the instructor’s prior written consent, and against commercial profit by students.**)
- Sabotaging or stealing another person’s assignment, book, paper, notes, experiment, project, or electronic hardware or software.
- Improper access to, or electronically interfering with, the property of another person or of the University via computer or other means.
Disturbances in the classroom can also serve to create an unfair academic advantage for oneself or disadvantage for another member of the academic community. Here are some examples that may violate the Code of Student Conduct:
- Interfering with the course of instruction to the detriment of other students.
- Disrupting classes or other academic activities in an attempt to stifle academic freedom of speech.
- Failing to comply with the instructions or directives of the course instructor.
- Phoning in falsified bomb threats.
- Unnecessarily activating a fire alarm.
Providing false information or representation, or fabricating or altering information:
- Furnishing false information in the context of an academic assignment.
- Failing to identify yourself honestly in the context of an academic obligation.
- Fabricating or altering information or data and presenting it as legitimate.
- Providing false or misleading information to an instructor or any other University official.
Altering University documents:
- Altering a previously graded exam or assignment for the purpose of a grade appeal or of gaining points in a re-grading process.
- Forging an instructor’s signature on a letter of recommendation or any other document.
- Submitting an altered transcript of grades to or from another institution or employer.
- Putting your name on another person’s exam or assignment.
Cheating and plagiarism are perhaps the most prominent forms of academic misconduct, and they are addressed in later sections of this chapter of the Teaching Guide for GSIs.
* Material on this page is drawn mainly from the UC Berkeley Center for Student Conduct and the GSI Professional Standards and Ethics Online Course, Module 5.
"Kutoka kwa UC Berkeley, ""Kusababisha makosa ya kitaaluma ni hatua yoyote au jaribio la hatua ambayo inaweza kusababisha kuunda faida isiyo ya haki ya kitaaluma kwa mtu mwenyewe au faida isiyo ya haki ya kitaaluma au hasara kwa mwanachama mwingine yeyote au wanachama wa jamii ya kitaaluma.""" * Tunapozungumzia makosa ya kitaaluma, kwa kawaida tunakumbuka udanganyifu na uchongezi. Hata hivyo, ni wazo pana zaidi. Mifano ya makosa ya kitaaluma ni: Kuingilia vifaa vya kozi: Kuondoa, kuharibu, au kwa makusudi kuweka kutoka kwa wanafunzi wengine vifaa vya maktaba ambavyo vimehifadhiwa kwa kozi maalum. - Kuchafua sampuli za maabara au kubadilisha viashiria wakati wa mtihani wa vitendo, kama vile kuhamisha pini katika sampuli ya dissection kwa kozi ya anatomy. Kuiba au uharibifu wa mali ya akili: Kuuza, kusambaza, kuweka tovuti, au kuchapisha maelezo ya masomo, handouts, wasomaji, rekodi, au habari nyingine zinazotolewa na mwalimu, au kuzitumia kwa madhumuni yoyote ya kibiashara, bila ruhusa ya wazi ya mwalimu. Sera ya Chuo Kikuu kuhusu kuchukua maelezo inabainisha ulinzi kadhaa kwa maudhui yaliyoandikwa na mwalimu, ikiwa ni pamoja na maudhui ambayo wewe kama mwalimu huendeleza, dhidi ya usambazaji kwa watu nje ya kozi bila idhini ya awali ya maandishi ya mwalimu, na dhidi ya faida ya kibiashara na wanafunzi. **) - Sabotage au kuiba mtu mwingine's mgawo, kitabu, karatasi, maelezo, majaribio, mradi, au vifaa vya elektroniki au programu. - Upatikanaji usiofaa, au kuingilia elektroniki, mali ya mtu mwingine au ya Chuo Kikuu kupitia kompyuta au njia nyingine. Madhara katika darasa pia yanaweza kutumika kuunda faida isiyo ya haki ya kitaaluma kwa mtu mwenyewe au hasara kwa mwanachama mwingine wa jamii ya kitaaluma. Hapa kuna mifano ambayo inaweza kuvunja Kanuni ya Maadili ya Wanafunzi: - Kuingilia kati na mwendo wa mafundisho kwa hasara ya wanafunzi wengine. - Kusumbua madarasa au shughuli nyingine za kitaaluma katika jaribio la kukandamiza uhuru wa kitaaluma wa kusema. - Kushindwa kufuata maagizo au maagizo ya mwalimu wa kozi. - Kupigia simu vitisho bandia vya bomu. - Unnecessarily kuamsha kengele ya moto. Kutoa habari au uwakilishi wa uwongo, au kutengeneza au kubadilisha habari: - Kutoa habari bandia katika muktadha wa kazi ya kitaaluma. - Kushindwa kujitambulisha kwa uaminifu katika muktadha wa wajibu wa kitaaluma. - Kutengeneza au kubadilisha habari au data na kuionyesha kuwa halali. - Kutoa habari za uwongo au za kupotosha kwa mwalimu au afisa mwingine wa Chuo Kikuu. Kubadilisha nyaraka za Chuo Kikuu: - Kubadilisha mtihani au kazi iliyotangazwa hapo awali kwa kusudi la rufaa ya daraja au kupata alama katika mchakato wa kurekebisha daraja. - Kufanya sahihi ya mwalimu kwenye barua ya pendekezo au hati nyingine yoyote. - kuwasilisha transcript iliyopita ya maksi kwa au kutoka taasisi nyingine au mwajiri. - Kuweka jina lako kwenye mtihani au mgawo wa mtu mwingine. Ulaghai na plagiarism ni labda aina maarufu zaidi za tabia mbaya ya kitaaluma, na zinashughulikiwa katika sehemu za baadaye za sura hii ya Mwongozo wa Ufundishaji kwa GIS. Maelezo ya ukurasa huu yanatokana na UC Berkeley Center for Student Conduct na GSI Professional Standards and Ethics Online Course, Module 5.