Overview

OVERVIEW

    In the summer of 2006, the University of Notre Dame initiated a program designed to insure that our incoming undergraduate students have thought carefully both about general issues relating to academic integrity and about the specific ways in which we promote academic integrity via our honor code at Notre Dame.

    Under this program, each new undergraduate had to pass an online orientation prior to finalizing their class registration during the summer.  Students were presented with eight fictional cases – two involving collaborative work, one concerning the falsification of data, two regarding test-taking, and three related to plagiarism – and asked whether or not any violation of the Academic Code of Honor had occurred.  Students were asked to choose among four responses indicating whether or not a violation had occurred and why (or why not).  Only one of the four responses was correct.  To pass the orientation, students needed to get at least six of the eight correct responses.  Those who failed on their first attempt could try again the next day, though they typically would receive different hypothetical cases to consider.  (The eight cases each student received were chosen randomly from among the 33 available.)

    The impetus for this program came from our recognition that too many of our students were arriving on campus having given little or no thought either to the standards of honesty they should be upholding or to the way those standards are manifested in our honor code.  For years, new students were sent a copy of the hefty Handbook to the Academic Code of Honor, told to read it, and instructed to send back a signed form indicating their familiarity with the honor code and their intention to abide by it.  Reports from students over the years convinced us (as common sense should have informed us) that few if any students were actually reading the Handbook.  Students were dutifully signing the form and sending it in, but for most it represented very little investment of time or thought.

    Last year, a new pamphlet, The Student Guide to the Academic Code of Honor, which presents the information students most need to know concerning our honor code, was distributed to all students.  Our incoming students also received a copy of the Student Guide this summer and were instructed to attempt the orientation only after they had read the Student Guide.  The orientation was designed so that students who had not looked at the Student Guide were unlikely to succeed.  Hence, our hope is that the online orientation will ensure that our new students have both thought about issues related to academic integrity and familiarized themselves with the most significant particulars of our honor code.

    The online orientation was the fruit of nearly a year’s worth of work by the students and faculty on the University Code of Honor Committee in 2005-2006.  Because we plan to continue using it in future years, we do not intend to make the entire document broadly available, either in hard copies or online.  However, so that those with an interest in our initiative can see more clearly the type of “test” we are giving our incoming students, we have decided to make a representative case available.  What follows, then, is one case taken from the orientation.  It is presented precisely as it was given to the students, along with explanations (available to the students online when they complete the orientation) for why answers were correct or incorrect.

    Should you have any questions about or comments on Notre Dame’s online orientation, please contact:

                    Prof. Thomas P. Flint
                    Faculty Honor Code Officer
                    417 Malloy Hall
                    University of Notre Dame
                    Notre Dame, IN  46556

                     tflint@nd.edu