Assignment #0

This assignment is intended to make sure that you have read and understand the rules
associated with Academic Dishonesty at Acadia University. The value of this
assignment is either 1 or 0. If you complete the assignment, you get a 1. If you fail to
complete the assignment, you get a 0. The mark on this assignment will be used to
multiply the total of your other marks in the class. (Read: If you don't do this assignment,
you will fail this course.) This assignment is not optional.

Task 1 – Read the section on Academic Integrity in the University Calendar (Under
Academic Policy and Regulations the Calendar, pages 39-40). Read the course
webpage in full, taking note of the issues concerning Academic Dishonesty. Make sure
that you understand these documents. If you do not understand any of this material,
please feel free to discuss any issues with me.

Task 2 – This section is to make you aware that if you have any concerns associated
with academic dishonesty issues, you are free to discuss them with me either by email
or in person. Please recognize that you will not get into trouble if you ask me about an
academic dishonesty issue BEFORE you pass in the work. If you are unsure if what you
are doing is plagiarism, then ask before you submit. Note that once you submit work for
marking, you cannot “withdraw” the work. For example, I won’t accept the “I passed in
the wrong version of the assignment, so I didn’t really cheat” excuse. If you passed it in
for marks, you need to make absolutely sure that you are passing in the right version.

Task 3 - This section is to make you aware of what is considered Academic Dishonesty
and what is not.

A student who is successful in the education system is one who both understands the
material and can show that they understand the material. Often, students are asked to
write programs that others have already written or implement algorithms that are easily
found on the web. These assessments are to promote understanding of the material
and to provide the students a learning opportunity. Students who submit code that they
did not write are both missing a learning opportunity as well as committing plagiarism.
Acadia’s Academic Calendar defines plagiarism as “the act of presenting the ideas or
words of another as one’s own”. With respect to computer programming, this means
that if you are passing in code that you did not write, then you are committing an act of
Academic Dishonesty.

Discussion:

Discussion of an assignment - talking about the assignment, how to approach the

problem, etc - is not cheating. Writing code for someone, taking code that someone else
wrote, etc, is considered Academic Dishonesty. Think of it this way: If you needed to
write a history paper about France in the 1700s, then talking with your friend about
France in the 1700s isn't cheating - but having your friend write the paper (or portions of
the paper) is cheating.

Debugging:

Helping a friend debug their code isn't cheating - it is helping them find an error. Having
someone help you figure out the error in your code isn't cheating - it is you getting some
help with an error. This is similar to having someone proofread your papers on France
in the 1700s for grammar - as long as you wrote the paper, and as long as they aren't
changing it, then it is not an issue. Please note that if you get to the point where
someone is rewriting your code for you, then you are at the stage where the code isn't
yours anymore. If your friend looks at your code and tells you that it is broken beyond
repair, then you get to rewrite it - not them.

Online Resources:

Many programmers will look at code examples to see how things are done, and then
incorporate what they learned into their code. This is not a problem. Copying code that
you do not understand and putting it into your code is a problem. So, looking at online
examples of similar things is no different from looking at the textbook, and I am okay
with that. So just like reading a Wikipedia page on France in the 1700s and then writing
your own paper isn't a problem, then looking at information/examples of code isn't a
problem. Copying it is a problem.

Online "Help" Websites:

There are a number of online "Help" websites (Chegg, etc) where people do your
homework for you. I shouldn't have to tell you that this is completely not allowed.
These websites have methods for faculty to determine who uploaded the questions to
the website, who downloaded the answers, etc. If I find any of the questions from this
class on any of those websites, I will pursue the issue to the fullest extent possible.

This also includes copying code found on websites or having AI generate the code for
you (using tools like GitHub Copilot, Google Codey/Colab, ChatGPT, etc). While each
individual class at Acadia will approach the use of AI-generated content differently, the
Jodrey School of Computer Science will treat AI-generated work as plagiarism unless
the syllabus/assignment direction specifically allows for the use of such generated code.

Programming "Style":

Please note that programming style is something that is easy to determine, and it is
easy for a trained eye to see code that has been copied. I have been doing this for
years, and copied code always looks copied. Please, do your own work.
If you do not understand any part of the Calendar or any part of this assignment, please
see me before you submit this assignment.

By submitting the online text "I have read and understand Assignment #0", you will
receive full marks for this assignment, and are agreeing to abide by the policies that
have been set forth by myself and the University.