Academic Integrity
Contents
Academic Integrity¶
Nothing is held more dear to a researcher than their integrity. To researchers, the most precious commodity is our ideas. While some researchers build tangible items that can be protected by patents, many researchers’ products are ideas and theories, which are less likely to be protected under things like patents. Instead, it is academic integrity that governs our research communities, protecting our ideas from being stolen. The system of academic integrity relies on researchers trusting each other to be honest and to act with integrity.
Honor Code¶
Being at a school with an Honor Code, like Smith, is a special privilege. The Honor Code goes beyond inviting students to act with integrity, instead it welcomes students as equal participants of the learning community, imbuing students with the same level of trust that we extend to our collaborators and colleagues. The Smith College Honor Code, established in 1944, and as stated in the Student Handbook, says:
Smith College expects all students to be honest and committed to the principles of academic and intellectual integrity in their preparation and submission of course work and examinations. Students and faculty at Smith are part of an academic community defined by its commitment to scholarship, which depends on scrupulous and attentive acknowledgement of all sources of information, and honest and respectful use of college resources.
This trust bestowed to students in the Honor Code is the same trust that exists in and among researchers within a research community, the same trust that exists between me and my collaborators. Simply put, at Smith, under the Honor Code, I trust that you will each act with integrity, citing sources when you celebrate others’ ideas and noting who you work with when collaborating.
This trust manifests in how assignments are created, in how work is completed, and in how we resolve instances where the trust has been broken. At an Honor Code school, assignments are created knowing that while there are resources online that can offer complete solutions, you are trusted to not seek out such complete resources and that if you do stumble on a solution guide, you will not use it. Under an Honor Code, students are expected to keep careful notes about the resources that they consult and the people that they collaborate with. We get to assume that the work handed in by a student is the creation of that student. Lastly, when there are violations of the Honor Code, the resolution is determined by a committee established by the community and trusted to seek restoration of the whole community’s trust through education and action.
I regard the Honor Code with deep and profound respect. Being an educator at an Honor Code school means we begin from a place of trust without any underlying suspicion of our students. Simply put, we - instructors and students - work from the assumption that all are acting in good faith and with the utmost integrity. This is an assumption that cannot be made at a school without an Honor code, and it is why it is a privilege to be both an instructor and a student at Smith under the Honor Code.
Honor Code Practicalities¶
The work you submit should be your own and created by you, unless explicitly listed as a group assignment. With the exception of the starred problems, I do encourage you to ask for help from your peers or myself when you have questions; however, copying is never allowed. The line between copying and helping is subtle. Below are a few guidelines:
Do not share nor give your work with other students; instead, offer to discuss the big ideas of the task at hand.
Do not look at someone else’s work (including online solutions); instead, ask if you could talk with them about your ideas and share where you are getting stuck.
Acknowledge those you talk or work with at the top of every assignment. I will not dock points for getting acknowledged help from others. If you generate a solution or an argument with someone, in addition to acknowledging that person, recreate the solution or argument on your own in your own words.
If you think you may have crossed the line between helping and copying, please talk to me. Do not let me discover that the line was crossed. If a violation of the Honor Code is suspected, the student will be informed and will be given the opportunity to meet with the instructor. As recommended by the Academic Honor Board and in keeping with Smith tradition, the student will be given time to self-report, and after such time, the suspected violation will be reported to the Academic Honor Board by the instructor.
If you are unsure about how Smith’s Honor Code applies to our course, please consult with me or a class dean. We are happy to discuss the Honor Code with you.
Creation vs. Curation¶
In my role as your instructor, I am curating resources for you that I feel are best for the teaching and learning of machine learning. In this process of curation, I will give credit to those whose materials I have used and I will only use materials as allowable by copyright and fair use.
In this course, you will be asked to create solutions for homework assignments and projects. In these acts of creation, you are demonstrating you most current understanding of the concepts in our course. This course will give you lots of chances to demonstrate what you know and lots of flexibility.
I am aware that there is a tension between the curation that I am modeling and the creation that is being asked of you. My goal is to provide the best resources to you, which requires reading and sorting through many sources (curation). Your goal is to learn as much machine learning as deeply as possible, which requires a lot of practice, trying out machine learning ideas, reflecting on your attempts, and trying again (creation).