Academic Honesty, Character, Citizenship and Personal Development

Learning tasks will be directed to develop either individual working skills (independence) or the ability to work in a group (collaboration).  Teachers design tasks, projects and other learning activities so that students have rich experiences in achieving the outcomes of the Alberta programs of studies. 

While some tasks may not receive a formal grade use the CBE 4-point indicator scale, collaborative work, effort and attitude are assessed and reported on through the CBE Results – Character, Citizenship and Personal Development.  These three categories exist on the CBE report card. Assessment decisions on Character, Citizenship and Personal Development are made based on teacher team input.

If a student cheats, they are robbing themselves of the chance to learn and truly understand.  To use outside help or materials not allowed in an individual assignment or test is cheating.  Cheating is a serious offense, and parents are always contacted.  Teachers will exercise their professional judgement in assessing the integrity of a submission of student work. Students will not be given credit towards reaching an outcome if it is confirmed that they are cheating. The teacher will work with students and parents to determine how to make amends. Consequences may include re-doing a test/quiz, hosting a face-to-face meeting with parents, and/or receiving a “No Evidence Recorded”.

Examples of Cheating/Plagiarism include:

  • Submitting someone else’s work as their own
  • Not giving credit (referencing) to a source of information
  • Submitting a task that was completed exclusively at home, without evidence of in-class progress and ongoing feedback provided by the teacher in the progression of the task
  • Copying someone’s work (with or without permission)
  • Allowing someone to copy work
  • Over-dependence of translation software and producing work in French or English that does not reflect the actual level of student independent language use
  • Use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications to over-inflate knowledge and skill levels; teachers utilize software tools to screen for assignment submissions which are not authentic samples of student work
  • Passing notes or getting/giving information from another student during a test or quiz
  • Obtaining information from another student who has already written a test or quiz

 

​​Plagiarism Policy

When ideas are taken from other sources without giving credit, this is known as plagiarism. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of somebody else’s words or ideas.

We expect our students to act with academic integrity, and to use their own knowledge to demonstrate authentic learning. We expect our students to be honest and ethical in their schoolwork and in how they deal with others. Our teachers support students' authentic and ethical learning through teaching when and how to cite resources, by using online tools like Turnitin, and a variety of other ways.

When To Give Credit in Your Work

Need To Give Credit​

  • When you are using or referring to somebody else's words or ideas from a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other source.
  • ​When you use information gained through interviewing another person.
  • When you copy the exact words from somewhere.
  • When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, and pictures.

Don't Need to Give Credit 

  • ​When you are writing your own experiences, your own observations, your own insights, your own thoughts, your own conclusions about a subject.
  • When you are using common knowledge, common sense observations, or shared information.
  • When you are using generally accepted facts.
  • When you are writing up your own experimental results.

Academic Expectations

Students are expected to behave according to the CBE Student Code of Conduct. Students who knowingly misrepresent the work of others as their own, or allow their work to be copied, act outside of the parameters of academic integrity. If this happens, we use Progressive Student Discipline so that teachers, parents, and school leaders can help students take responsibility for their learning to achieve their academic goals. ​