Academic Integrity Policy

2021

Table of Contents

IB mission statement

School mission statement

Purpose

Key terms

Responsibilities

The school

Programme coordinator

Teaching staff

The student

Parents and legal guardians

Measures taken to provide education and support

Procedures—reporting, recording and monitoring

Cases identified by the school

Incidents related to Coursework

Incidents related to examinations

The rights of the student, if suspected of a breach of academic integrity

Consequences

School penalty matrix

Bibliography

 


 

Academic integrity policy

 

IB mission statement

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

 

School mission statement

Druga gimnazija Sarajevo teaches and encourages students to learn, nurture their talents and apply them to various challenges of today. It introduces young people to a rich world of friendship, tolerance and intercultural understanding, while guiding them to think critically, be just and socially responsible.

 

Purpose

Druga gimnazija Sarajevo strives to align its school philosophy and principles to be consistent with those instated by the IBO, as described in all official IB documents. It is our responsibility as a school to prepare our students to be principled and to act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere (Diploma programme: From principles into practice (2015)).

The purpose of this academic integrity policy is to support learners by creating a culture of self-respect and respect for others. IB students must understand academic integrity and avoid any form of academic misconduct (Diploma programme: From principles into practice (2015) and IB learner profile (2013)).

Maintaining academic integrity is a shared responsibility between the IB, IB World Schools and all stakeholders involved in IB education.

 

Key terms

It is very important to understand terms that are going to be used in this document.

Academic integrity is a guiding principle in education and a choice to act in a responsible way whereby others can have trust in us as individuals.

School maladministration is an action by an IB World School or an individual associated with

an IB World School that infringes IB rules and regulations, and potentially threatens the integrity of IB examinations and assessments.

Student academic misconduct is deliberate or inadvertent behaviour that has the potential to result in the student, or anyone else, gaining an unfair advantage in one or more components of assessment. Behaviour that may disadvantage another student is also regarded as academic misconduct. It also includes any act that potentially threatens the integrity of IB examinations and assessments that happens before, during or after the completion of the assessment or examination, paper-based or on-screen.

 

Responsibilities

The school

In order to avoid any form of misconduct or malpractice and to develop the culture of fairness and respect the school must ensure that all members of the school community must understand the principles of the academic integrity and must be aware of their responsibilities and roles within it.

Creating and maintaining the academic integrity culture requires a school-wide strategy with the following key elements:

  • Embedding the policy into the school community by contextualizing the objectives of the policy and developing the skills needed, for all members of the community, to be able to meet the required expectations.
  • Providing the guidance for teaching and non-teaching staff in order to provide consistencies in teaching strategies and pedagogical practices but also avoiding any kind of malpractice.
  • Communicating the principles of academic integrity to parents and legal guardians
  • Ensuring that all members of the school community understand their responsibilities and possible consequences for those that engage in student misconduct and school maladministration.
  • Ensuring that students are held accountable when involved in an academic misconduct incident
  • Ensuring that teachers and school administrators are held accountable when involved in a maladministration incident
  • Notifying the IB of any breach of regulations
  • Supporting the IB in any investigation into possible breach of regulations.

 

Programme coordinator

As a pedagogical leader school coordinator is responsible for maintaining an overall supervision of all activities related to the teaching and learning process at the school, but also to ensure excellent communications with the members of the school community.

Focusing on process of maintaining the culture of academic integrity the coordinator is responsible for:

  • Planning and organizing meetings with subject teachers, homeroom teachers, librarians, counsellors and other staff members to explain the academic integrity policy whenever the policy is under review or when some new staff members join the team
  • Appointing a staff member responsible for academic integrity in the school
  • Organizing meetings, in collaboration with academic integrity designated person, for students and parents to explain academic integrity policy and respond to any questions that may arise
  • Ensuring compliance with secure storage of confidential IB materials policy and the conduct of IB examinations
  • reporting student academic misconduct and school maladministration to school administration and/or the IB

 

 

Teaching staff

Teachers are the most important agents of academic integrity in the classroom so they must understand expectations of the school’s academic integrity policy, so they are responsible for:

  • Ensuring their conduct sets an important example to students so their acts must reflect the academic integrity culture
  • Emphasizing that the purpose of education is not only the attainment of high grades, but to acquire knowledge and develop skills for the future
  • Including the topic of academic integrity at the beginning of the studies and continuing with it, providing examples, as students’ studies develop
  • Giving valid and contextualized feedback to students according to relevant subject guides
  • Ensuring students are not provided with multiple rounds of editing as it can be regarded as school maladministration
  • Collaboratively planning realistic workload so students can effectively produce work according to the IB’s expectations
  • Confirming, to the best of their knowledge, the authenticity of students’ coursework, where teachers are strongly advised to make use of Turnitin
  • Ensuring that all student work is submitted to the IB on time without any labelling errors
  • Responding to student academic misconduct or maladministration accordingly

 

The student

Our students are expected to be principled with high responsibility for their actions that all should be authentic and reflect their personal levels of achievement.

All IB students at Druga gimnazija Sarajevo should embrace the academic integrity culture and therefore are expected to:

  • Understand the principles of Academic integrity policy
  • Be aware of consequences of student academic misconduct
  • Attend all information meetings concerning academic integrity and conduct of exams
  • Respond and report any form of academic misconduct or school maladministration
  • Be responsible for acknowledging all sources and ensure all work submitted is their own
  • Be ultimately responsible for the authenticity of their coursework
  • Respect school deadlines in an honest manner and to the best of their abilities
  • Abstain from receiving non-permitted assistance from friends, relatives, peers, tutors etc.
  • Abstain of giving non-permitted assistance to peers in completion of their work
  • Plan and allocate the time effectively to avoid any form of misconduct

 

Parents and legal guardians

Although they are not directly involved in daily tasks at school, parents and legal guardians are able to collaborate with the administrative and teaching team in the activities carried out by the school to promote academic integrity while encouraging their children to observe the rules and complete all work according to the expectations (Academic integrity, IBO, 2019).

In order to respect and support the culture of academic integrity at Druga gimnazija Sarajevo, parent and legal guardians are expected to:

  • Read and understand the academic integrity policy and different forms of misconduct and maladministration
  • Support their children in understanding of IB policies and school policies
  • Support their children in planning manageable workload so they can allocate time effectively and avoid any forms of misconduct
  • Understand the school procedures that safeguard the authenticity of their children’s work
  • Understand the consequences of academic misconduct or maladministration
  • Report any potential cases of student misconduct or school maladministration to the school coordinator
  • Understand that their children cannot be provided with multiple rounds of editing as it can be regarded as school maladministration
  • Abstain from giving or obtaining assistance in the completion of work to their children
  • Submit only genuine and authentic evidence to support a request for inclusive access arrangements or adverse circumstances considerations for their children.

 

Measures taken to provide education and support

As it is the responsibility of the school to introduce students, parents and new staff members to IB and school policies, Druga gimnazija Sarajevo offers the following:

  • IB coordinators present the program requirements to interested parties
  • The school programme guide is available for further information on IB policies and programme requirements
  • Homeroom teachers present the requirements of IB policies to parents and students in order to ensure better understanding
  • Subject teachers continually present concepts of IB policies to students in contextualized manner to ensure better understanding
  • School librarian provides guidance for the use of different citation styles
  • Personal project/ Extended essay/Theory of knowledge supervisors

 

Procedures—reporting, recording and monitoring

All types of possible student academic misconduct should be reported to the IB by examiners or moderators during the review of examination papers or samples of work and by the school coordinator if identified prior by the school.

 

Cases identified by the school 

Teachers who suspect that a student has committed any form of the misconduct should collect valid evidence for any wrongdoing.

 

 

Incidents related to Coursework

When the subject teacher identifies issues with a piece of work during the two-years course of study or before the IB submission deadline, the situation will be resolved as follows:

  • teacher reports the incident to the student’s homeroom teacher and program coordinator with evidences provided;
  • homeroom teacher files the incident in the students’ school file and informs parents;
  • incident of any malpractice should be clearly indicated in the students term report by the teacher;
  • if a student commits an act of malpractice during the two-years course of study a meeting attended by the student with/without parents, subject teacher and homeroom teacher must be convened;
  • both, the student suspected of academic misconduct and the teacher, should provide the statement so the school can judge based on the evidences provided;
  • if a student commits an act of malpractice, penalties will be based on the evidences provided and the school penalty matrix available (see consequences);
  • if a student commits an act of malpractice several times the students’ status in the DP will be discussed.

When the subject teacher identifies possible academic misconduct after the official IB submission the school  coordinator must inform the IB as soon as possible.

 

Incidents related to examinations

When the teacher or invigilator identifies issues during the subject tests or mock examination, the situation will be resolved as follows:

  • teachers/invigilators are allowed to remove the student from the examination room;
  • teachers report the incident to the student homeroom teacher and program coordinator with evidences provided if available;
  • incident should be clearly indicated in the students term report by the teacher;
  • the student will be invited to a meeting with the coordinator where he/she can provide the statement;
  • parents will be informed by the homeroom teacher;
  • penalties will be based on the evidence provided and the school penalty matrix available (see consequences).

When the invigilator identifies an act of misconduct during the final IB examination, the situation will be resolved as follows:

  • The coordinator must report the incident to the IB immediately;
  • Student should be allowed to finish the examination in question, unless his/her presence is disruptive to other students
  • Students’ script will be submitted as usual
  • The school will follow further instructions from the IB and dedicate full support for the investigation required by the IB.

 

The rights of the student, if suspected of a breach of academic integrity

In order to ensure consistency and fairness, the student that was suspected for any form of academic misconduct has the right to:

  • Immediately inform parent/legal guardians about the issue;
  • Request the presence of peers or parents/guardians during the official meetings in the school;
  • Provide his/her own evidence and the statement about the incident;
  • Be informed about the ongoing investigation in the school.

 

Consequences

When an act of misconduct by the student is confirmed by the IB then the IB decides on the penalties based on the evidence and the type of the misconduct. The possible consequences could include:

  • Retake in 6/12 months allowed
  • Change of the category could be requested (to the course candidate) where the student will be given the opportunity to retake the subject but not to be eligible for the full Diploma
  • Permanent disqualification from the current or different programmes.

 

School penalty matrix

Each case of academic misconduct during the two-years course of study will be judged on the evidence available and sanction applied will be based on the school penalty matrix available below.

 

Written/oral coursework, subject tests and examinations during the two-years course of study

 

Infringement

Level 1 penalty

Warning letter o the student

Level 2 penalty

Zero marks for component and resubmission allowed

Level 3a penalty

Zero marks for the component

Level 3b penalty

Students’ program status in question

Plagiarism

Copying external sources

Not applicable.

Between 40-50 consecutive words and incomplete acknowledgment of copied sources- note 1

More than 51 consecutive words and no acknowledgment of copied sources- note 2

Not applicable

Peer plagiarism

Copying work from another student.

Not applicable.

Between 40-50 consecutive words   with no acknowledgment of copied sources-

More than 51 consecutive copied or submitting somebody else’s work as one’s own.

Not applicable

Peer plagiarism

Student lending or facilitating their work

Student took reasonable steps to prevent their work being copied.

Student took no steps to prevent their work being copied.

Student actively tried to sell their work to be submitted by others.

Student actively tried to sell the work of thor parties to be submitted by others

Collusion

Coursework only and when working collaboratively

Work of students show close similarity.

Work of students has similarities - less than 30% - and/or identical sections.

Work of students has extensive similarities - more than 31% - and/or identical sections.

Not applicable.

Submitting work edited by,or obtained from a tird party - note 3

Not applicable.

Student submits work heavily edited by a third party to circumnavigate the rules on teacher support.

Student submits work that was entirely produced or edited by a third party.

For a student in the school providing the service.

 

Infringement

Level 1 penalty

Warning letter to the student

Level 2 penalty

Zero marks for component and resubmission allowed

Level 3a penalty

Zero marks for the component

Level 3b penalty

Students’ program status in question

Inclusion of inappropriate material

Minor offence - note 3

Moderate offence - note 4

Major offence - note 5

Major offence.

Duplication of work

Not applicable

Presentation of the

same work for

different

assessment

components or

subjects (partial reuse).

Presentation of the

same work for

different

assessment

components or

subjects (complete reuse).

Not applicable.

Falsification of data

Not applicable.

Presentation of work based on false or fabricated data.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Possessing unauthorized material in the examination room - note 6

In candidate’s possession but surrendered or removed during the first 10 minutes of

the examination.

In candidate’s

possession but no

evidence of it being

used during the

examination.

 

In candidate’s

possession and

evidence of it being

used during the

examination.

Not applicable.

Exhibiting

misconduct or

disruptive

behaviour during

an examination - note 7

 

Not applicable.

Non-compliance

with the

invigilator’s

instructions during

one component.

Repeated noncompliance

with

the invigilator’s

instructions during

one examination or

non-compliance

during two or more

examinations.

Not applicable.

Exchanging,

passing, obtaining

or receiving verbal

or written

information from

other students

during the

examination

completion time—

or attempting to

 

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

When candidates

try, successfully or

not, to share

answers and/or

examination

content with others (applied for all candidates participating).

 

Not applicable.

 

Note 1 - Level 2 penalty applicable only if the student plagiarises for the first time. If the student repeats the malpractice then the penalty level moves to 3a/3b. This applies to all of the listed infringements.

Note 2 - Plagiarism cases in EEs will only be considered when a considerable amount (more than 100) of consecutive words lacks proper reference.

Note 3 - Minor offences may include but are not restricted to:

  • Conducting research without permission of the participants
  • including offensive or obscene comments or graphic materials in any assessment component
  • inclusion of materials with excessive or gratuitous violence or explicit sexual content or activity that could be considered or perceived offensive by others.

Note 4 - Moderate offences may include but are not restricted to:

  • conducting field experiments or investigations that inflict pain or risks the well-being or survival of live organisms
  • conducting research or fieldwork that damages the environment
  • including offensive or obscene comments or graphic materials in any assessment component.

Note 5 - Major offences may include but are not restricted to:

  • producing any work that shows disrespect of personal, political and/or spiritual values, and/or contain offensive remarks about race, gender, or religious beliefs
  • falsification or fabrication of data in producing any work
  • inclusion of materials with excessive or gratuitous violence or explicit sexual content or activity.

Note 6 - Unauthorized materials or items may include but are not restricted to:

  • mobile or cellular phones
  • Notes
  • study guides
  • own rough or scratch paper
  • other prohibited electronic devices such as smartwatches or smartglasses.

Note 7 - Misconduct during examinations may include but are not restricted to:

  • failing to abide by invigilator instructions
  • disruptive behaviour
  • attempting to remove examination materials from the examination room
  • leaving the examination room without permission.

 

School year 2020/2021

DGS policy revision team

 

Bibliography:

Diploma programme: From principles into practice (2015)

IB learner profile (2013)

Academic integrity (2019)