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The Honor Code in Science

GENERAL PRINCIPLES:

• If you are not sure what to do, ask your teacher.
• Support and respect other students.
• Never copy someone else's work. Your graphs, calculations and written answers must be your own.
• It is OK to help each other to understand things, but it is not OK to do work for each other.
• Never share information about tests, quizzes or exams. Do not discuss them outside class.
• If you have used information from another source, e.g. a book or website, give that source credit, using a proper citation.
• Never steal or vandalize the property of others, including Harvard Westlake's property. Treat lab equipment with respect.
• On all your work, your name affirms your honor. If you feel you cannot in good conscience put your name on your work, please talk to your teacher about it privately to make other arrangements.

TESTS AND QUIZZES: During the test/quiz, do not communicate with anyone except the teacher. Make sure you have your own calculator, pencil, eraser etc. After the test/quiz, do not discuss it with anyone, if there is even the slightest possibility of being overheard by a person who hasn't taken it yet.

OK: Fred and Wilma did a quiz, and weren't sure whether every person in their teacher's other classes had taken it yet. When Fred got home from school he called Wilma, and they compared answers to question 8.

NOT OK: Betty and Barney did a quiz. They knew their teacher's only other class had done it earlier that day, so they decided to compare answers to question 8 on the way to English class. They passed Sally, who said "did you guys do the quiz already? I was sick this morning so I have to take it tomorrow. What's it like?" Betty said, "most of it was OK" and Barney added, "we can't tell you anything about it, but hey, don't forget to practise your calculations!"

IN THE LAB: You can work with other students to get data, and you can discuss the questions to figure out how to solve problems, etc. However, you must turn in your own report, written in your own words. There is a big difference between collaborative work and copying!

OK: Fred and Wilma worked together in the lab. Fred wrote down the data, while Wilma worked the equipment. Later, Wilma copied the data from Fred, and they discussed the questions. Wilma explained what question three was about, then Fred went away and tried it himself. When they were done they compared labs, but they had different answers. Fred figured out it was because Wilma forgot a minus sign in question 5, so she fixed it.

NOT OK: Barney and Betty worked together in the lab. Barney did the experiment and collected the data, while Betty chatted with her friends. Later, Betty copied the data from Barney, and they discussed the questions. Barney couldn't do question three, so he copied Betty's answer, switching the words around a bit so it wasn't exactly the same. They worked through the questions together, line by line, and when Betty couldn't get question 5 to work, she wrote out Barney's answer.

HOMEWORK: There is a fine line between learning from people, and having other people do your work for you. Unless your teacher has told you otherwise, it is OK to discuss your homework with other people, but you have to actually do the work yourself.

OK: Fred told his parents all about his Astronomy project over dinner. His mom, who knew a lot about Astronomy, told him some really interesting facts, and showed him a website that related to the project. After his mom had left, Fred wrote his assignment, incorporating the things he had learned from his mom. He listed the website and "conversations with my mom" in his bibliography.

NOT OK: Barney told his parents all about his Astronomy project over dinner. His mom, who knew a lot about Astronomy, read through the questions and told Barney how to answer two of them. She showed him a website that related to the project, and Barney used it to answer more questions, changing the words a bit so he wasn't just copying.

OK: Wilma couldn't do the last three questions on the worksheet. She asked her friend, who explained the general principle, inventing a couple of similar questions as examples. When Wilma understood she went away and finished the worksheet.

NOT OK: Betty couldn't do the last three questions on the worksheet. She asked her friend, who showed her how to solve them. Betty didn't quite understand, but she memorized what her friend had written, then went away and wrote out the answers the same way.

TUTORS: The same expectations apply to tutors as in the "homework" examples above. Your tutor should teach you skills and facts, but should not do your work for you, or tell you step-by-step exactly how to answer particular problems.