The Great and Grand Academic Integrity Section!

Academic Integrity

Considering Honors students represent the best LHS has to offer academically, students are (obviously) expected to maintain honesty and the highest respect for their own work and the work of others. Should students cut corners and misrepresent themselves, it makes it impossible for the instructor to appropriately support the student while simultaneously discrediting and devaluing the entire honors program at LHS. The actions of a single individual, thus, compromises the integrity of the entire program and makes it impossible for the instructor to appropriately adjust practices to support the students as their abilities are falsely represented in their work.

Hancock

Because college credit will be offered to all students that complete the ENGL C1001 course with a passing grade, students are subject to ALL ethical and academic honesty policies in place at LHS and Hancock. This means that plagiarism or cheating on ANY of the assignments for the ENGL C1001 course may require documentation and disciplinary action at the collegiate level and on a student’s collegiate record! For more information: Allan Hancock Academic Honesty pages.

Definition of Plagiarism

“Plagiarism occurs when you use another’s words, ideas, assertions, data, or figures and do not acknowledge that you have done so… You must always acknowledge your sources by citing them” (Academic Integrity at MIT).

Plagiarism and Cheating as Applied in Class

Using Sparknotes, Shmoop, Apps, and other sites not only undermines a student’s learning, but also could count as plagiarism. Should a student present information from these sources as their own interpretation or understanding, this would count as a violation of the academic integrity policy and the plagiarism policy of this class.

Plagiarism and Cheating Exceptions

There are no exceptions. However, should a student resort to using any outside sources for support, they must acknowledge the sources of the presented ideas and acknowledge that the ideas they are presenting are not their own.

Consequences of Plagiarism and/or Cheating

Any student that attempts to plagiarize or cheat on any assessment and/or assignment will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Administration will be involved as necessary and parents will be notified. Common consequences include: a ‘0’ on the assessment or assignment, in-school suspension, parent-teacher conference, preferential seating (for observation) for the remainder of the course, consideration for placement outside of the course (with parent-teacher conference), and/or, in rare cases, a retake of the assessment. All disciplinary actions would be done to communicate the severity of the grievance and all disciplinary actions are intended to maintain the integrity of the class and promote respect for the learning process.

The Also Great and Grand AI Section!

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence in the classroom is treated essentially as a person. Thus, having AI (any form of it for any step of the process) create outlines, stories, essays, etc. without credit is considered plagiarism (see previous page for definition). If credited, it is treated as if another person completed that portion of the assignment. 

Know Your Job - Your Burden of Proof

While it may be my role to set and clearly communicate boundaries regarding AI use in the class, it is your role (your ‘job’) to ensure that you complete lessons as designed. Because of the availability of AI tools, access to online tools, etc. there is a burden of proof required by all students: students must prove that they are completing assignments and lessons as designed, following the process as designed by the instructor. To compromise the process is to miss the point of education: the process (not the outcome) is the point!

An Analogy

Imagine an instructor designed a weightlifting course with specific goals: to bench press 275 lbs, squat 405 lbs, and deadlift 495 lbs. These goals represent high standards of strength and dedication. The instructor would then evaluate students based on their consistency, workout schedule, diet, regularity of workouts, and workout intensity.

When final exams come, some students lift the weights with ease, while others struggle. Some might succeed in one lift but not in others. Interestingly, some students who couldn't lift the prescribed weights received better grades than those who did because their process was better. These students showed greater commitment, made significant gains, followed consistent schedules, and maintained high workout intensity.

This approach parallels teaching English and Literature. I am not just measuring how much you can ‘lift,’ nor am I solely focused on teaching you to ‘lift’ a specific amount of ‘weight.’ Instead, I am teaching you the process: reading, annotation, commitment, intensity, dedication, and more. The journey and improvement in these areas are just as important, if not more so, than the final outcome.

Allowed AI Use

During some class sessions, we may leverage generative AI tools to support your learning, provide you with an opportunity to explore how they can be used, and/or  better understand their benefits and limitations. Learning how to use AI is an emerging skill, and we will work through the implications of these evolving systems together, during class sessions. However, use of generative AI will be limited to exercises during class sessions. I will always indicate when and where use of AI tools during class sessions is appropriate (and not). Examples of use during ungraded classroom exercises might include: 

In contrast, you may not use AI tools to generate work for an assignment to be submitted for a grade, as this cannot be considered a substitute for developing the fundamental skills and expertise represented by the learning objectives of this course. 

Please note that generative AI tools rely on predictive models to generate content that may appear correct, but has been shown to sometimes be incomplete, inaccurate, taken without attribution from other sources, and/or biased. Consequently, an AI tool should not be considered a substitute for traditional approaches to research and you should complete all graded assignments without any assistance from AI tolls. 

You are ultimately responsible for the content of the information you submit and may not attempt to pass off any work generated by an AI program as your own.