Section 20: Further Education Academic Malpractice Policy

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1 Sectin 20: Further Educatin Academic Malpractice Plicy FE Plicies and Prcedures Plicy Overview The purpse f the FE Academic Malpractice Plicy is t set ut hw BIMM intends t manage any incidents f malpractice by learners, staff r anyne invlved in the assessment f FE prgrammes. The Plicy The plicy aims t identify and minimise the risk f malpractice by staff r learners; facilitate a prmpt and bjective respnse t any incident f alleged malpractice; standardise and recrd any investigatin f malpractice t ensure penness and fairness; establish the range f apprpriate penalties and/r sanctins that may be impsed n learners r staff where incidents (r attempted incidents) f malpractice are prven; prtect the integrity f the centre and Further Educatin qualificatins. In rder t d this, BIMM will: Seek t avid ptential malpractice by using the inductin perid and the Student Handbk t infrm learners f the Cllege s plicy n malpractice and the penalties fr attempted and actual incidents f malpractice. Shw learners the apprpriate frmats t recrd cited texts and ther materials r infrmatin surces. Require learners t declare that their wrk is their wn. Ask learners t prvide evidence that they have interpreted and synthesised apprpriate infrmatin and acknwledged any surces used. Cnduct an investigatin in a frm cmmensurate with the nature f the malpractice allegatin. Such an investigatin will be supprted by Principal and all the persnnel linked t the allegatin. It will prceed thrugh the fllwing stages: Stage 1: infrmal investigatin by the Curse Leader r Head f Educatin, invlving an infrmal meeting with the student and/r member f staff cncerned t establish whether there are grunds fr a frmal hearing f the Academic Malpractice Cmmittee t be cnvened t cnsider allegatins f malpractice. The case will either be dismissed at this stage r prgress t Stage 2. Stage 2: frmal hearing by the Academic Malpractice Cmmittee, which will cmprise the Head f Educatin and a senir academic member f staff nt invlved in the delivery f the curse, t determine whether the allegatin f

2 academic malpractice shuld be upheld and t impse any sanctins/penalties as apprpriate in accrdance with the sanctins/penalties set ut belw. The student r member f staff against whm the allegatin has been made will have the right t be accmpanied by a friend/wrk clleague. A full written recrd f the hearing will be made and the utcme will be cmmunicated in writing t all parties within 5 wrking days f the hearing. Stage 3: appeal. The student r member f staff against whm an allegatin f academic malpractice has been upheld has the right t appeal in writing t the Principal (r nminee) within 5 wrking days f receiving ntificatin f the utcme f the Academic Malpractice Hearing. The Principal (r nminee) will cnvene an appeal panel hearing within 10 wrking days f receipt f the appeal. The panel will be chaired by the Principal (r nminee) and a senir academic member f staff. A full written recrd f the appeal hearing will be made and the utcme will be cmmunicated in writing t all parties within 5 wrking days f the appeal hearing. Where malpractice is prven, the Cllege will apply the penalties / sanctins as apprpriate utlined belw: I. issue a verbal warning t the student indicating the cnsequences f future miscnduct, a recrd f which t be entered int the student s file remvable after 6 mnths; II. III. IV. issue a written warning t the student indicating the cnsequences f future miscnduct, t be entered int the student s file remvable after 12 mnths; issue a final written warning t the student indicating the cnsequences f future miscnduct, t be entered int the student s file remvable three mnths after the cmpletin f the student s curse; suspend the student with immediate effect fr a fixed perid f time frm Cllege premises and/r services; V. permanently exclude the student with immediate effect frm Cllege premises and/r services. Definitin f Malpractice by Learners This list is nt exhaustive and ther instances f malpractice may be cnsidered by the Cllege at its discretin: Plagiarism f any nature. Cllusin by wrking cllabratively with ther learners t prduce wrk that is submitted as individual learner wrk. Cpying (including the use f ICT t aid cpying).

3 Deliberate destructin f anther s wrk. Fabricatin f results r evidence. False declaratin f authenticity in relatin t the cntents f a prtfli r cursewrk. Impersnatin by pretending t be smene else in rder t prduce the wrk fr anther r arranging fr anther t take ne s place in an assessment/examinatin/ test. Definitin f Malpractice by Cllege Staff 20 Imprper assistance t candidates. Inventing r changing marks fr internally assessed wrk (cursewrk r prtfli evidence) where there is insufficient evidence f the candidates achievement t justify the marks given r assessment decisins made. Failure t keep candidate cursewrk/prtflis f evidence secure. Inapprpriate retentin f certificates. Assisting learners in the prductin f wrk fr assessment, where the supprt has the ptential t influence the utcmes f assessment, fr example where the assistance invlves centre staff prducing wrk fr the learner. Prducing falsified witness statements, fr example fr evidence the learner has nt generated. Allwing evidence, which is knwn by the staff member nt t be the learner s wn, t be included in a learner s assignment/task/prtfli/cursewrk. Facilitating and allwing impersnatin. Misusing the cnditins fr special learner requirements, fr example where learners are permitted supprt, such as an amanuensis, this is permissible up t the pint where the supprt has the ptential t influence the utcme f the assessment. Falsifying recrds/certificates, fr example by alteratin, substitutin, r by fraud. Fraudulent certificate claims, that is claiming fr a certificate prir t the learner cmpleting all the requirements f assessment.

4 Guide fr Learners Plagiarism What is plagiarism? Plagiarism is using the wrk f thers withut acknwledging yur surces f infrmatin r inspiratin, thereby claiming it as yur wn. Any written wrk yu submit fr yur assessments must be in yur wn wrds, and nt cpied frm ther surces, unless it is prperly quted r referenced as such. This includes: Using wrds mre r less exactly as they have been used in articles, lectures, televisin prgrammes, bks, r anywhere else Using ther peple s ideas r theries withut saying whse ideas they are Paraphrasing what yu read r hear withut stating where it cmes frm Changing wrds r sentences yu have brrwed r putting them in a different rder - the result is still plagiarism. This means yu must nt cpy and paste frm the internet! Why is plagiarism wrng? It is fundamentally dishnest Learners wh cmmit plagiarism are seeking an unfair advantage ver ther learners Learners wh cmmit plagiarism are devaluing the value f the qualificatin they seek It is disrespectful t yur Assessrs, and a betrayal f their trust. BIMM takes plagiarism very seriusly. We use anti-plagiarism sftware that can detect any issues instantly, and all suspicius submissins are thrughly checked. Plagiarised wrk is usually detected by ur marking team quickly, as they have all been trained in hw t recgnise it. Wikipedia Wikipedia is an nline ppular encyclpaedia that is based n facts peple have surced nline, and public pinin. Wikipedia is pen surce infrmatin, nt frmally referenced. This means it can cntain errrs and infrmatin surces are nt always knwn. Therefre, it is nt an entirely trustwrthy surce. When researching a subject, Wikipedia is a useful place t start in rder t getting a basic understanding f a subject. There will usually be a number f credited surces at the bttm f each page that yu can visit, where yu can btain mre trustwrthy infrmatin. In ther wrds, it is unadvisable t use facts/qutes frm Wikipedia when writing yur essays. Yu shuld use it as a starting pint t begin understanding the subject in questin, and then cnfirm the infrmatin by backing it up frm anther surce.

5 Disciplinary prcedure If a piece f wrk is fund t be plagiarised, yu will be required t attend a cmpulsry disciplinary tutrial with the Exams Officer, Curse Leader and/r Head f Educatin. Disciplinary actin will depend n hw serius the malpractice appears t the investigatrs. In all cases where there is clear evidence f deliberate malpractice the relevant examining bdy will be infrmed. This is in accrdance with the examining bards requirements. The examinatin bdy will infrm the cllege and the candidate f the actin that they decide is apprpriate. Tips n hw t avid plagiarism Remember that referring t surces is a gd thing t d, as it shws yu have read up n it When reading, think abut what the authr is saying and yur reactins befre taking ntes Only cpy what yu intend t qute. Ensure that yu take full bibligraphic details, including the page number The rest f yur ntes shuld be in yur wn wrds. This will save time and wrry later If yu have any further questins cncerning plagiarism r hw t reference yur wrk prperly, yu shuld bk a tutrial with yur Head f Department r Curse Leader.