CS2136 Academic Honesty Policy

Motivation

You are taking this course to acquire and demonstrate knowledge, techniques, skills, and experience in the field of software engineering. Discussing the course content and completing the assignments helps you do this; copying someone else's homework does not.

General Policies

• All the rules of WPI's standard Academic Honesty Policy are in effect. This document includes guidelines on how they apply in this course.
• If you claim that you did some work, you actually had to do the work. If it has your name on it, by default you are automatically saying it is your work.
• You can discuss the meaning of an assignment with others, both students and non-students. You can discuss how to accomplish the assignments. But, you have to perform the work yourself.
• If you copy someone else's work, even just part of a program, you have to acknowledge this in writing. This includes, for example, a program someone gives you, a program from a book, and a program you find on the Internet.
• Even if you acknowledge copying someone else's work, the vast majority of what you turn in for any assignment must be your own work.
• Violating the Academic Honesty Policy can have severe consequences, ranging from receiving a zero for the assignment, receiving an NR for the entire course, and being suspended or expelled from WPI. So don't do it! You are better off not turning in an assignment than being caught cheating.

Examples of Things You Can Do

• Ask the meaning of a term or concept.
• Ask about the use of a software package.
• Ask about the features and use of a programming language.
• Find a related program and get some ideas from it on how to solve the problem. In this case you must definitely cite the source in writing and say how much you took from it.

Examples of Things You Are Not Allowed To Do (Even If You Acknowledge That You Did It)

• Copy someone's assignment from a previous term.
• Copy someone's assignment from this term, and just change the names of some variables.
• Copy a program from a book, and just change the names.
• Copy a program from the Web, and just change the names.
• Work on an assignment with another student, then both turn in identical programs.
• Work on an assignment with another student, then both turn in identical programs except for changing some names.
• Permutations and combinations of the above.

• Give someone a printed copy of your program.
• Send someone an electronic copy of your program.
• Receive a printed or electronic copy of someone else’s program

Note: The preceding lists are not exhaustive. You must obey both the letter and the spirit of the policy.