HSC: All My Own Work

HSC: All My Own Work

Working with others


Working with others is a fact of life Learning is an active process

How can you work with others and maintain academic integrity in your own work?


Collaborative learning

Collusion

Copying



Where you work together in groups of two or more on a shared goal.

Can be face-to-face or online through discussion boards, chat lines, Blogs and wikis etc


Scenario

In Maths, the teacher suggests that students work together on a number of trigonometry problems in groups. What is the best way to work together so that each member can benefit?

How is this collaborative learning?


Collaborative or cooperative learning is where lots of ideas are shared and tested with each other with the intention of extending everyone’s thinking on the topic.


Little value if each student worked on individual problem and then copied the other answers with no explanation.

Better if they worked together on each problem with members explaining their thinking as they go to the other group members.

HSC: All My Own WorkScenario

Your group is instructed to brainstorm before moving to individual research on a PDHPE assignment. One student simply copies all the ideas of the other students and submits this work as his own, without additional work or attribution.

Is this cheating?


Copying is cheating

You cheat if you submit other work as your own without attribution.

When working together, the protocols of citing, referencing and acknowledgement still apply.


Scenario

You best friend has not completed her History assignment and asks to see yours. You lend it to her and remind her to change the words to make it look like her own.

Is this collusion?


Yes it is collusion

Collusion occurs when two or more people work together to produce work, which is presented as individual work, usually secretly, for the purpose of deliberately misleading others.


Scenario

A science assignment is given to your Year 11 class. The assignment is to be handed in as a single assignment. One member of your group of four offers to write a particular section, the others split the remaining work.


One week before the task is due you find that her section is a “copy and paste” from the internet. You pick up on the plagiarism and confront her, asking her to redo the section. She says she is too busy and offers to take complete blame.

What should you do?


Should you confer with the other members of the team?


Yes!

The whole group has a responsibility to ensure that the work they submit is original and that sources are acknowledged.

If your friend insists that she will not redo the work, then she is putting the group’s work presented at risk. According to the school’s assessment policy this could result in zero marks for the whole group.


Should you talk to the teacher?


Yes!

You need to talk to the teacher because if you don’t, you could be found to have colluded with your friend about the plagiarism. By knowing what she intended to do, you could be seen as part of the problem. You know what is happening is wrong and compromising the overall work of the group.


Scenario

Bernard has access to a tutor who regularly rewrites whole paragraphs of Bernard’s assignment, or tells Bernard what to write.

Collaborative learning or copying or collusion?


Collusion

Bernard accepts this support in the full knowledge that the assistance of the tutor is not his own work.

This is a form of cheating.


Scenario

Robert logs on to a blog and finds some information that is relevant to his current assessment task. He exchanges information and tests some of his ideas out through an online discussion board.




Robert is reading and contributing to the blog. His responses extend the thinking of others and have the potential to contribute to others’ learning. It is a collaborative activity. Robert should cite the blog if he uses information sourced through it in any work he submits.


In Fred's class there is a small group discussion on a particular issue. The discussion is to assist students in the preparation of their reports. Fred takes detailed notes of others’ contributions. He copies all Mark’s notes as he knows the topic really well. Fred uses the notes word for word in his report and submits it without any citation.



Copying

This is an example of copying as Fred has used Mark’s ideas in his piece of work without acknowledging Mark as the source.

Collaborative or cooperative learning is where lots of ideas are shared and tested with each other with the intention of extending everyone’s thinking on the topic.


What help is okay?

Family and friends – they may like to talk about what you are doing

External tutors – they may talk and model problems

Coaching colleges – unpack issues for you, talk about and advise


All of these can be of help but do not allow them to write your answers for you or you are acting inappropriately and could put your HSC at risk.

HSC: All My Own WorkWhat help is not okay?

Ghost writers – somebody does it for you, (or “borrowing” someone else’s essay)

Assignments online – buying or commissioning

Don’t risk it. !!!


The BOS see this as a serious breach of trust and highly unethical, putting your HSC at risk.

Remember – what we want isall your own work!


Scenario

Your brother did the same course as you two years ago and offers to help you with your essay. In fact, he did a similar assessment task and finds it for you. You decide to copy parts of his essay for your own assessment task.

Appropriate or inappropriate?


Inappropriate

This is collusion. You have accepted your brother’s support intending to use his work and present it as your own original work.

This is cheating.


You have spent a lot of time working on a digital media assignment for Visual Arts and have run out of time. Your friend has had to do a similar project for Drama and you decide to use her work and submit it as your own assignment. Her teacher is better than yours and has given her more help. No-one will ever know.



Inappropriate

This is cheating. You are presenting your friend’s work as your own with the intention of misleading your teacher


Scenario

Your Dad is a professional plumber and is great at welding. In you Visual Arts Body of Work, you are making a sculpture that requires welding. Your Dad demonstrates welding and supervises your welding. You record this in your VA Process Diary.



Appropriate

You have recorded the help given in you Visual Arts Process Diary.

HSC: All My Own WorkThis is about respect.

Respect for ideas of others and not claiming others’ ideas as your own. There is no problem referring to the ideas of others – just acknowledge appropriately.

You need to be clear about referencing and in how you cite your sources, whether written or not.


Reference everything except:

Your own experiencesYour own experimental resultsCommon knowledge


Common knowledge

Facts that are commonly known E.g. there are twelve months in a year

Facts that are so well known that they are easily available in different kinds of sources

E.g. World War II began in 1939

Commonsense observationsE.g. Interest rates going up affects loan repayments


Benefits of producing your own work

Gain credit for what you have done Learn new skills benefiting future study

and work Take pride in achieving and submitting

your best work


Gain satisfaction in knowing the work submitted is your own

Demonstrate that you value honest and ethical practices


Make sure that the work you hand in is

‘all your own work!’


NSW Board of Studieshttp://amow.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/

Documents

HSC: All My Own Work