CS 101 (Spring 1999)
Policy on Collaboration

The following collaboration policy is designed to ensure that your learn as much as possible from the course, and also to promote fairness and accuracy in grading. By enrolling in CS101, you agree to adhere to this policy.

Collaboration Policy:

All material turned in for credit must be a fair representation of your own work. You may discuss ideas with other students, but you should write up all solutions on your own.

Collaboration is guided by the following principles specific to the nature of the activity.

Activity	Extent of allowable collaboration
Study for quiz	Full collaboration is encouraged. You can solve problems together in study groups if you like.
Taking the quiz	No collaboration. Closed books and notes.
Contemplating lab design	Full collaboration. You are encouraged to Bounce ideas off your peers Look at designs of similar systems
Submitted lab design	This must be your own work, but your solution can be based on discussions you have had with your peers and TAs during the design phase.
Thinking about how to code the lab	Collaboration at the design and algorithmic levels is allowed
Coding your lab	No collaboration, but you can get help from the TAs and instructor. In particular, you may not copy (in whole or in part) any code from any source. Doing this with attribution will cause you to earn 0 points for the assignment. Doing this without attribution is plaguarism and will be treated as cheating in this course.
Exams	No collaboration. Open book and notes.

Cheating will not be tolerated! This course can be difficult and time consuming, but that's no excuse for cheating!!!

Suspected violations of the course policy on collaboration will be investigated.
Violations of the policy will result in a failing course grade.
Other action (such as suspension or expulsion) may be taken by the University.

Ask in advance if you have any questions about this policy. In previous semesters, students have been dismissed and/or failed from the course because of violations of this policy. Don't let this happen to you. Be sure to start assignments when they are handed out, so you have enough time to get help from the instructor and TAs. If you do run out of time, it's not the end of the world! Remember that it's much better to turn in a partially done solution (with a note explaining what's missing) than to sacrifice your academic integrity by copying from someone else.

Students sometimes ask, "Why do we have this policy? I learn so much when I work with someone else." The answer is complicated: In CS101, it is far too easy to fall into the trap of following along with someone else and "think" that you understand. For this reason, we feel that it's important for you to do the assignments on your own (with help from the instructor or TAs as needed) so that you realize where you are having trouble and so you can clear up any minor misunderstandings before they become major problems. However, certain kinds of interaction and discussion are extremely helpful. We don't think you should hide in a closet with your computer! The following examples of what is and is not considered cheating may help clarify the policy.

Here are some example violations of the collaboration policy. This is not a complete list, only examples:

Copying part or all of another student's solution, with or without the student's knowledge.
Copying old solutions from previous semesters, however obtained.
Providing a solution to another student (electronically, on paper, or orally) for his/her use in preparing their solution.
Misrepresenting your solution. Examples of this form of cheating include turning in "output" for a program that does not run, or editing a program's output for a program that gives incorrect results to make it appear as if the results are correct. Basically, any action that is intended to mislead the grader into thinking your solution works when in fact it does not, is considered cheating.

And here are some examples of acceptable collaboration. These are not violations of the policy:

Discussing what is expected on an assignment.
Helping another student find an error in their program (but NOT writing the program for them!).
Discussing, using diagrams, possible ways to design the solution (but NOT writing the code together).
Discussing different approaches to a problem, but not getting into the nitty gritty details.
Helping someone learn a new feature of the programming environment, editor, debugger, etc.
Discussing what was covered in lecture.

Please ask if you have any questions.

Last modified 00:32:51 CST 07 January 1999 by Ron K. Cytron

CS 101 (Spring 1999) Policy on Collaboration

CS 101 (Spring 1999)
Policy on Collaboration