Academic Honesty

CSC 7000-002 Algorithms & Programming
Thursdays from 6:15pm to 8:45pm in Mendel 115
Dr. David Matuszek, Mendel 162c, (610 519-7333

Standard Policy

Here are some of the rules that students in Computer Science courses are expected to follow. Failure to do so will result in a variety of penalties, up to and including expulsion from the university.

You are expected to do your own homework; in particular, when given a programming assignment, you are expected to write your own program.
You may help each other by
- Helping others track down bugs in their programs.
- Explaining the material and/or the assignment.
- Discussing in general terms how to tackle a problem.
You may not copy another student's work, or allow another student to copy from you.
You may not help one another with tests and examinations, whether in-class or take-home. (Printed materials such as textbooks and class handouts may be shared, but class notes taken by the student may not be shared during the test.)
For writing assignments such as term papers, you may quote someone else's work only if such quotes are relatively short, clearly marked as a quote, and clearly attributed to the original author. In no case may you present someone else's work as your own.

These rules are intended as representative. It is the responsibility of each instructor clearly to specify the policies for that class. If the instructor does not do so, you should assume that the expectations are quite strict.

You should also be aware that it is nearly impossible to copy a program from another student and modify it (by changing variable names, layout, etc.) in such a way that an experienced grader will not almost immediately notice that the two programs are the same.

Policy for my CSC 7000 section

The rules for my CSC 7000 class are essentially as above, with the following exceptions. While I prefer that you do your own work to the extent possible, I realize that some assignments may be too difficult to do entirely by yourself (particularly near the beginning of the course, when you may not understand some of the basic concepts). In this case you may work with someone else on an assignment, provided:

Both (or all) of you contribute to the assignment, and both (or all) of you learn something from it.
You specify in the program comments that you have worked together.
If your programs are identical (not just similar), please turn in a single copy (with all relevant names on it) for grading.

Working together in this way will not detract from your grade for the program.

Disclaimer: I reserve the right to require you to do your own work for any and all remaining programs. (This is in case I feel that working with someone else is getting in the way of learning the material.)