From time to time it is useful to review the responsibilities of a graduate student and a member of an educational community. Following are three major responsibilities that you will also see repeated in your syllabi throughout the program.
Netiquette
In addition to basic things like meeting the requirements of your courses, being a responsible group member in group projects, and being polite and respectful of the opinions of your classmates, there are some things specific to being an online student to remember. Read the Core Rules of Netiquette and take the quiz. If you feel a need for a more in-depth look at the subject, the whole book of Netiquette is available free for your reading pleasure. (If you get a java error on the netiquette quiz, you can download the java plug-in at java.com)
Documenting Sources
This is VERY important and taken VERY seriously. When you write a paper and use ideas, examples, and quotes from another source they must be documented appropriately in the paper. The Department of Adult Education uses the American Psychological Association (APA) style of documenting sources (more details are available on the APA Citations and References Page). The main point here is that all sources you use must be documented. Just because you read it on a web page and not in a journal article doesn't make it exempt from documentation. No matter where you get your information, you MUST cite it.
The Department uses the services of Turnitin.com to check all papers for plagiarism. It also allows us to check papers against others turned in by other students in previous semesters. Plagiarism is grounds for various consequences including failing the course in which the incident occurs, being placed on academic probation, and being academically dismissed from the program.
The IU Student Code of Conduct states:
A student must not submit work that reproduces ideas, words, or statements of another person without appropriate acknowledgment. A student must give credit to the originality of others and acknowledge an indebtedness whenever he or she does any of the following:
a. Quotes another person's actual words, either oral or written;
b. Paraphrases another person's words, either oral or written;
c. Uses another person's idea, opinion, or theory; or
d. Borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative material, unless the information is common knowledge.
When you are writing a paper, documentation is formal and structured. When you are posting in a discussion forum it is less formal but still important. The main thing is to give enough information that someone else can find the source and read more about it.
If you make generalizations and other blanket-type statements, they must be supported with documentation. Stating a generalization which you think "goes without saying" may not "go without saying" to your audience. Cite the sources documenting your generalization and make sure they are reliable sources.
Please use these rules of thumb when referring to the work of others in a discussion forum post:
- When referring to a journal article please give at least the author's last name, the title, and the journal title in the body of the post. Unless otherwise directed, there is no need to put an APA-style reference at the end of the post. (This does not apply if the article is one that everyone had to read for the class because then everyone already knows what you are talking about.)
- When referring to a website, give the url.
- When referring to a book, give at least the author's full name and the title.
- When referring to a document from your work like a training manual or similar, give enough detail that others can understand what you're talking about and note if you are allowed/able to share the entire document if someone wants to contact you individually.
Please read Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It from the IU Writing Tutorial Services and work through these practice exercises from the IUB School of Education.
Academic Honesty
While most students are not intentionally dishonest, there has been some confusion about what is and is not okay in a couple of areas. Everyone needs to read the Student Code of Conduct sections linked on the "Tools" page regarding academic misconduct. Please note specifically the section on turning the same or significantly similar work for more than one class which states: "A student must not submit substantial portions of the same academic work for credit or honors more than once without permission of the instructor to whom the work is being submitted." The Turnitin.com service also allows instructors to check if a student has turned in the same paper with minor modifications to more than one class.
Also note the section on falsification of sources/resources which states: "A student must not falsify or invent any information or data in an academic exercise including, but not limited to, records or reports, laboratory results, and citations to the sources of information." Forewarned is forearmed. This sort of cheating is also subject to the same penalties up to and including academic dismissal as plagiarism.
