AngelMa,AngelicaWang,JingWen,JoshuaMok,MarvinSee,RuofanWang,YifuYu

Mr.Carr
APEnglishLanguageandComposition
25August2016
AcademicIntegrityPolicy
Introduction

Morethanjustatheoreticalconcept,plagiarismisarealthreattoacademicintegrityand
hasprofoundconsequencesforstudents,teachersandinstitutionsalike.Frombilliondollar
lawsuitsoverdesignrightsbetweenAppleandSamsungtocopyrightinfringementinthe
entertainmentindustry,theconsequencesofplagiarismaremorethanazeroonyourpaper.
Asaculturallydiverseinstitution,TsinghuaInternationalSchoolfullyrecognisesthatthe
EastandWesthavedifferentmoralperceptionsonthisissue.Throughthisrecognition,the
schoolhopesthatbothstudentsandteacherswouldshowunderstandingandsupportfor
firsttimestudentoffenders.However,THISalsoplacesvigorousemphasisonacademic
integrity.Wemustnotonlyexpectourstudentstosubmitoriginalcreationsoftheirown,butalso
strivetopushstudentstofullyembraceintegrityandhonestynotmerelyascompulsoryactions
butasqualitiesoftheirowncharacter.

AddressingCulturalDifferences

AsstudentsofTHIScomefromdifferentbackgrounds,theschoolmustaddressthecultural
differencesintheconceptofcodeofhonourandacademicintegrity.Toachievethisgoal,the
schoolmustnotonlyopenlyraiseawarenessofitsexistence,itshouldalsoallowthegradual
adjustmentofstudentswithChineselocalschoolbackground.
StudentswithaChineselocalschoolbackgroundarenotusuallytaughtofthe
importanceofacademicintegrityintheirpreviousschools,andasaresult,theyare
simplyoblivioustoit.Toinformthemoftheimportanceofacademicintegrity,a
mandatoryorientationclasswillbeintroducedtoallsecondarystudents.Thisclasswill
occurinthefirstweekofschoolandwilladdresstopicssuchasplagiarismandcheating,
Inspecific,theclasswillexplicatethatselfplagiarism,alackofcitation,inadequate
citation,andfalsecitationareallformsofplagiarism.
Aftertheorientationclassisintroduced,aspecialsystemofpunishmentforindividuals
withaChineselocalschoolbackgroundwillbeimplemented,givingthemtheopportunity
tolearnfromtheirmistakes.Afourstrikepolicywouldbeappliedinthissystem.
Studentsoftheirfirstoffensewillonlybegivenawarning,regardlessifitwasan
assignmentoranexam.Giventhisleniency,thestudentisexpectedtoenrolin
theorientationclassonceagain.
Ifsuchstudentcommitsasecondoffense,aresubmissionwillstillbeallowedbut
itwillbesubjectedtoa50%deductioninthetotalpotentialscore.Ifitwasan
examination,thestudentmustbeadministeredanewtest,witha50%deduction
appliedtothat.Ameetingbetweenthestudentsparentsandtheschoolstaffwill
bearrangedtoensurethattheseverityofthestudentsoffenseisunderstood.
Forthethirdoffense,thestudentwillreceive0%regardlessifitwasan
assignmentortest.
Ifitreachesthefourthoffense,thestudentwouldbeaskedtoleavetheschool.
OnceastudentofthisbackgroundhascompletedayearatTHIS,heorshewill
besubjectedtotheregularsystemofpunishmentasdetailedbelow.

ForstudentsthatdonotcomefromChineselocalschoolbackgrounds,adifferent
systemofpunishmentwouldbeinplace.
thepunishmentfortheirfirstoffenseisanautomaticfailinggradeforthatspecific
assignmentortestinwhichtheycheatedon.Theywouldthenbeenrolledinthe
orientationclass,sothattheyunderstandthenatureoftheircrime.
Ifthestudentcommittedasecondoffense,theywouldfailtheparticularsubject
theoffencewascommittedin.
Forthethirdoffense,thepunishmentisexpulsion.

DevelopingaCultureofAcademicIntegrity

Becausenoteveryonehasgrownupinaculturewhereunethicalacademicactivitiesare
prohibited,wemustengrainwithineveryonetheunderstandingthatplagiarismisnotmerelyan
inconveniencebutacorruptionoffairness.Otherwise,weriskpunishingpeoplewhoarenot
awareoftheconsequencesoftheiractionsand,insteadofunderstandingtheserulesandthe
reasoningbehindthem,mayfeelconfused,marginalisedandangry.
Whenignoranceofthesenormsratherthandeliberatecheatingissuspectedforthefirst
time,theEnglishteacherwillsitdownwiththestudentanddiscusshowtakinganothers
workwithoutattributionisinherentlyunfairandthereforeprohibited.
TeacherswillpromotetheuseofModernLanguageAssociation(MLA)stylecitationsin
formalwritinginordertomakestudentsgrasphowmuchoftheirwritingtrulyrelieson
externalsources,andhowwithoutthem,itwouldbehardtobuildacredibleargument.
Whoeveriscaughtplagiarisingtheworkofanotherpersonwill,whereverpractical,be
mandatedtowriteaformalapology,whetherinprintorbyemail,totheauthorwhose
workhasbeenstolen.Whereverthisisnotpractical,thestudentshallbeaskedtowrite
areflectiontotheirEnglishteacheracknowledgingthistheftofintellectualpropertyand
explainingwhyitisunacceptable.
Inanygivensemester,whoeverisfoundtohaveplagiarisedasubstantialquantityof
afterfailingtoheedpriorwarningsshallbedeemedineligibleforthehonourroll.Asthe
honourrollisaprestigiousawardthatrewardshardwork,thiswouldserveasastrong
incentiveforhonestyandreinforcethenotionthatcheatingisincompatiblewithhard
work.

UsingTechnologywithIntegrity

Theadvancementoftechnologyfacilitateseasyandeffortlessaccesstoinformation,
whichinturnpromptsacademicplagiarismamongthestudentbody,butyetprovideseducators
extendedmeansofdetectingplagiarism,firingupcontroversialdebatesontheproliferationand
integrationoftechnologyintoacademia.
Whereverthisispractical,studentswillbeaskedtoturninabibliographywith
linkstositesaccessedandanexplanationoftheirrelevancetothetopicafter
conductingonlineresearchforanessayorproject.
Teachersshouldperiodicallyconductinclassworkshopstoremindstudentshow
toproperlyconductonlineresearchandtoeffectivelyuseresourcesavailableto
them,e.g.,databasesandsearchtools.
Theschoolshouldfacilitatestudentsaccesstoelectronicplagiarismcheckers
(e.g.,Grammarly),perhapsbybuyingabulksubscriptiontosuchaservice.