Engineering academic integrity and misconduct
The HCDE department adheres to the College of Engineering's and the UW academic misconduct policies with regard to plagiarism. View the College of Engineering statement of principles of academic honesty, integrity, and responsibility.
HCDE grades and grievances
If you want to contest a grade, either on an assignment or for a course, HCDE faculty and instructors are willing to discuss grades. First, check the syllabus for details about a specific procedure to discuss the grade. Then, make an appointment with your instructor and be prepared to justify, with specifics, why you think a grade should be changed. If you feel uncomfortable reaching out to your instructor first, contact your academic advisor.
To address academic complaints or issues, including, but not limited to academic policies, grading practices, fair treatment, faculty and student advising relationships, etc. Students should first attempt to address the concern with the faculty or staff member directly through an informal process as outlined by the College of Engineering. If a student would like support to approach the informal process, they may first reach out to the Office of the Ombudsman for consultation. If after discussing the concern with the faculty or staff member is not resolved, the student should contact the HCDE Chair.
For support with interpersonal conflicts, between peers, classmates, relationships off campus, etc., UW students have several resources available to them to help resolve conflict. If students would like to meet with someone outside of the department for guidance on how to approach difficult conversations with other individuals, make an appointment with the Office of the Ombudsman.
Plagiarism
One of the most common forms of cheating is plagiarism, using anotherʹs words or ideas without proper citation. When students plagiarize, they usually do so in one of the following six ways:
- Using another writerʹs words without proper citation. If you use another writerʹs words, you must place quotation marks around the quoted material and include a footnote or other indication of the source of the quotation.
- Using another writerʹs ideas without proper citation. When you use another authorʹs ideas, you must indicate with footnotes or other means where this information can be found. Your instructors want to know which ideas and judgments are yours and which you arrived at by consulting other sources. Even if you arrived at the same judgment on your own, you need to acknowledge that the writer you consulted also came up with the idea.
- Citing your source but reproducing the exact words of a printed source without quotation marks. This makes it appear that you have paraphrased rather than borrowed the authorʹs exact words.
- Borrowing the structure of another authorʹs phrases or sentences without crediting the author from whom it came. This kind of plagiarism usually occurs out of laziness: it is easier to replicate another writerʹs style than to think about what you have read and then put it in your own words. The following example is from A Writerʹs Reference by Diana Hacker (New York, 1989, p. 171).
- Original: "If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists."
- Unacceptable borrowing of words: "An ape who knew sign language unsettled linguists and startled animal behaviorists."
- Unacceptable borrowing of sentence structure: "If the presence of a sign‐language‐using chimp was disturbing for scientists studying language, it was also surprising to scientists studying animal behavior."
- Acceptable paraphrase: "When they learned of an ape's ability to use sign language, both linguists and animal behaviorists were taken by surprise."
- Borrowing all or part of another studentʹs paper or using someone elseʹs outline to write your own paper.
- Using a paper writing ʺserviceʺ or having a friend write the paper for you. Regardless of whether you pay a stranger or have a friend do it, it is a breach of academic honesty to hand in work that is not your own or to use parts of another studentʹs paper.
- In computer programming classes, borrowing computer code from another student and presenting it as your own. When original computer code is a requirement for a class, it is a violation of the Universityʹs policy if students submit work they themselves did not create.
Note. The guidelines that define plagiarism also apply to information secured on internet websites. Internet references must specify precisely where the information was obtained and where it can be found.
You may think that citing another authorʹs work will lower your grade. In some unusual cases this may be true, if your instructor has indicated that you must write your paper without reading additional material. But in fact, as you progress in your studies, you will be expected to show that you are familiar with important work in your field and can use this work to further your own thinking. Your professors write this kind of paper all the time. The key to avoiding plagiarism is that you show clearly where your own thinking ends and someone elseʹs begins.