Ethical Behavior in Learning Communities

All institutions of higher education place the highest value on student integrity and honesty. That extends to all arenas of academic work and to the individual student’s relationship with his or her learning activities, working with others, and in the use of resources, college facilities, and institutional staff and faculty. The appropriate decorum is one of polite and mutual respect that recognizes the value of the growth of yourself and others in a learning community.

The Relationship between You and Your Instructor
The relationship between you and your instructor is defined in the Navarro College Policies and Procedures as a contractual relationship of that of the learner and the facilitator of that learning. All contact between you and your instructor is to be conducted in the service of specific learning objectives defined for this course. Your instructor will always treat you with respect and courtesy and will extend to you the time as necessary to assist you in your learning and the successful completion of your course of study. All advice and commentary extended to you on the completion of exercises is governed by this priority and should not be interpreted from any other perspective.

Your instructor is pledged to work with you in only the highest ethical relationship regarding your learning work, evaluation of that work, and the maintenance of your records. Additionally, your instructor and college administrators and staff understand that the privacy of your records is your right and is protected by federal law. For that reason, no records or official course information, including grades or commentary, will be transmitted to anyone other than to you and to official college or appropriate institutional personnel.

A Note on Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the intentional use of someone else’s information as your own without appropriate documentation and citation. In order to avoid plagiarism, you must cite the name of the author in the text of each paragraph each time you make use of someone else’s information or ideas, whether you are quoting the information, paraphrasing, summarizing, or only alluding them.

“Incidental plagiarism” will result in an automatic “F/50” on the essay. “Incidental plagiarism” is a single example of a plagiarized reference.

“Flagrant plagiarism” will result in an automatic “F” in the course. “Flagrant plagiarism is the intentional use of a substantial section or sections of someone else’s work copied into an exercise.”

How to Avoid Plagiarism
To avoid plagiarism, follow the guidelines and examples that follow for citation and documentation within the body of your essays.

Citing an Author/Source:
To cite and document an author and source, follow these examples:

Citing a source from the Internet
In “The Epic Traditions: The Hero,” the author claims that “_________” (http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/epic_traditions_the_hero.htm).
(an anonymous authorship from an Internet website with parenthetical documentation at the end of the reference)

Citing a source from the Course CD-ROM
In Requiem Guatemala, Marshall Bennett Connelly explains that “_____” (ENGL 2332 CD-ROM)
(known author and source from the course CD-ROM with parenthetical documentation at the end of the reference)

Citing a source from a Printed Text
In “The Prince,” his analysis of political power, Niccolo Machiavelli observes that “______________________” (Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, 1713).
(known author and source from a printed text)

Observing these principles in the use of outside resources will help you to avoid the misuse or abuse of other people’s creativity, ownership, and work. Any questions you may have should be directed to your instructor who will be happy to assist you.

Dr. Grimes

This page was last modified on December 7, 2003,
and is maintained by Dr. Geoffrey A. Grimes.
.