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ACADEMIC HONESTY & MALPRACTICE
(GUIDANCE FOR STUDENTS)
1. Academic Honesty
Students must understand the basic meaning and significance of concepts that relate to academic honesty. Academic honesty is the original authorship and ownership of their own authentic work in all assignments and exams.
An authentic piece of work is one that is based on the student's individual and original ideas with the ideas and work of others fully acknowledged.
2. Malpractice
The following section provides a guideline of malpractices which constitutes academic dishonesty. You are advised to refrain from them:
Malpractice is the behaviour that results in, or may result in, the student gaining an unfair advantage in one or more assessment component.
- Plagiarism:
is the representation of the ideas or work of another person as your own
- Collusion:
is allowing your work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another
- Duplication:
is the presentation of the same work for different assessment components, subjects and requirements
- Any behaviour that gains an unfair advantage for you in favorable assessment the results of another candidate.
For example:
- Paraphrasing another person's work without acknowledging the source
- Fabricating data for an assignment
- Taking unauthorized material into an examination room (for example, an electronic device other than a permitted calculator, own rough paper, notes, a mobile phone)
- Misbehaving during an examination, including any attempt to disrupt the examination or distract another candidate
- Exchanging or in any way supporting, or attempting to support, the passing on of information that is related to the examination
- Copying the work of another candidate
- Referring to, or attempting to refer to, unauthorized material that is related to the examination
- Failing to comply with the instructions of the invigilator or other member of the school's staff responsible for the conduct of the examination
- Impersonating another candidate
- Including offensive material in a script for reasons other than analysis or intellectual inquiry
- Stealing examination papers
- Disclosing or discussing the content of an examination paper with a person outside the immediate school community within 24 hours after the examination
- Using an unauthorized calculator during an examination.
(Note: Above is not an exhaustive list)
3. Offences and Their Penalty
- Penalties are imposed on a candidate found guilty of malpractice in order to:
- ensure that the candidate does not gain an unfair advantage
- maintain the integrity of the examination session by excluding those candidates who have abused the system
- deter other candidates from taking the same action.
- The committee will not take into account the consequences of imposing a penalty; the penalty will be imposed according to the nature of the offence. However, the committee will take into consideration all the information presented by teachers and the coordinator in their statements on the case. This information may include mitigating circumstances.
- If the committee decides that a case of malpractice has been established, no grade will be awarded in the subject concerned but grades will be awarded for other subjects in which no malpractice has occurred. The candidate will be permitted to register for future examinations in which malpractice was established.
- If a case of malpractice is very serious, either because of its nature or because the candidate has already been found guilty of malpractice previously, the committee is entitled to dismiss the candidate from school and not permit to register for any internal or external examinations in any future session.
- The IB diploma, or a certificate, may be withdrawn from a candidate at any time if malpractice is subsequently established.
4. Notification of Decisions Made
In all cases where the committee has considered a breach of regulations, the student and his/her parent or guardian will be informed by a letter, signed by the head of the school, of the decision reached by the committee. The head of school will be required to acknowledge receipt of the letter to assure the decision of the committee has been received.
5. Reconsideration and Appeal
- An application for reconsideration of a decision by the committee may be presented to the committee in the light of new factual evidence. Any such application must be sent to the committee in writing within three months of the date of the original decision by the Final Award Committee.
- Decisions of the Final Award Committee are not subject to appeal to another body.
6. The Committee
- The committee will consist of the IB coordinator, Head of School, Principal of related section, and two IB Diploma teachers or their representatives.
- All decisions are reached by majority vote with each committee member having one vote.
- All members or their representatives must be present for the awarding of the final decision.
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