Learning in any context - in-person, remote or hybrid - is not easy. There are many more stressors and forces shaping our behaviors and influencing our choices.
Any type of external stress or force can increase temptations to cheat, especially when there are increased opportunities (e.g., online exams; out-of-class assignments), when students think that "everyone else is doing it", when there is decreased intrinsic motivation for learning, low self-efficacy, and temptations in the form of artificial intelligence and contract cheating websites.
This means that even good students - even you - might be tempted to cheat.
Only you can stop cheating from happening.
Although it's up to you, the AI Office is here to support you!
The AI Office has developed and compiled some resources to help our UC San Diego students learn and thrive with integrity.
Tip 1. Understand How to (and how you) Learn
- Watch the Video on their site for 3 keys to success: how to learn from video lectures, how to study for online/remote exams, and understanding the pass/no pass option
- identify your learning spaces
- know your course
- stay organized
- build your learning community
- stay engaged
Tip 2. Use UC San Diego Resources
- Your course instructor and IAs. They are your first resource. So many instructors and IAs mention that students don't take advantage of their assistance - whether in "office hours" or by appointment/request. Reach out to them first if you're struggling
- Personalized Learning Strategies Tutoring - available virtually through the Commons
- Learning Strategies Workshops - available virtually through the Commons
- Content Tutoring - available virtually through the Commons
- Supplemental Instruction & Study Groups - available virtually through the Commons
- Writing Consultations & Workshops - available virtually through the Commons
- Student Success Coaching - available virtually from the Student Success Coaching Program
- OASIS 1:1 Mentor Sesssions & Academic Resource Workshops - available from OASIS
- Check with your academic department for any online/virtual tutoring options available
Tip 3. Remember Your Values
Tip 4. Focus on Learning
It is tempting to focus solely on passing a class or getting a degree while you are in University. After all, grades matter. However, grades and degrees only matter, they only have value in society, because they are meant to be SYMBOLS of something else - something more fundamental: learning, knowledge, skills, qualities, and capabilities. Without these underlying fundamentals, grades and degrees are empty and meaningless.
Instead of focusing on your grades, focus on LEARNING and on mastering the content and the skills you can gain while being a student (e.g., time management, self-discipline, organization, communication, teamwork, written communication, oral communication).
If you focus on learning, you will:
- resist the temptation to use artificial intelligence or to reach out to online sites/outside services that promise things that are too good to be true (e.g., We promise to get you an A! We will help you write your paper and pass your course! Tell us your assignment and we'll get it done for you in 24 hours!)
- reach out to your Instructor and/or IAs when you are struggling because they know the content and assessment standards best
- use the UC San Diego resources established to help you learn and help you develop learning strategies
- be satisfied with your successs and your failures, and not so focused on every single grade point
- be less tempted to cheat to get that one more grade.
Tip 5. Know your Limits & Communicate
You are not a super hero - you are human.
So, know your limits. Attend to self-care. Tune into what your mind and body are telling you. Build in leisure and stress-reducing activities. Again, UC San Diego has you covered!
- Check out UC San Diego Recreation's The Playground! You can sign up for daily reminders to breath and stretch, as well as take advantage of their online recreational instructional videos.
- you can also start working out in person again!
- Check out The Zone - they are offering in-person and virtual programs to help you de-stress
- Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) is always available for you.
Know your limits and communicate to your Instructor and your IAs.
- If you need to, ask for an #integrityextension - it's better to ask for an extension to complete an assessment than to cheat to get it done on time.
- reach out to admit you are struggling and ask for help - we know it can be difficult to do this, but it is better to ask them for help then to go to non-UCSD services (that might lead to you being alleged with an integrity violation)
Remember that a "bad grade" earned honestly is much easier to overcome than a "bad grade" earned by cheating.
Tip 6: Know What Is and Isn't Cheating
It is YOUR responsibility to understand what is, and isn't, cheating in each and every one of your classes. NOTE: the rules might be different from class to class and even assignment to assignment.
- Read the syllabus and course page(s) very carefully. Note what the Instructor tells you about cheating, plagiarism and integrity and ASK QUESTIONS if it isn't clear
- Get a refresher on the values of UC San Diego. Take the Integrity Tutorial that you took in your first quarter here.
- Remind yourself about proper citation and attribution practices when writing. Take the Library's Plagiarism Prevention Tutorial
- Not sure how to collaborate with integrity? Take the Collaboration with Integrity Tutorial offered by the Academic Integrity Office.
- Still not sure? Don't ask Reddit or WeChat or any other social media site. Ask us! You can always ask AI Office - no judgement. We're happy to give you advice. Just email us at aio@ucsd.edu or "walk into" our virtual front desk at https://ucsd.zoom.us/j/476444527
Tip 7. Create Boundaries & Rules for your Study Groups
- we will not share our assignments, exams, essays, homework, or answers to any assessment with each other
- we will not complete assignments or exams together when we were asked to complete them individually
- we will be fully transparent with our professors and communicate to them who are study group mates are so they can check for themselves that we worked together with integrity
- we will teach each other the material and we will share our knowledge, but not about the specific assignment or exam questions (unless we are allowed to collaborate, and then we will be transparent about that collaboration with our instructor).
Tip 8. Stay Away from Online "Help" Sites
We already said this above under Tip #2 but it bears repeating - stay away from onine sites like Quizlet, StudyBlue, Chegg, CourseHero, Studypool, etc., etc. Any site that offers you a platform for sharing material that isn't yours to share (e.g., professor's lectures, homeworks, assignments or exams; textbook solutions; article or book chapters) or "tutors" who will "help" you complete your academic work, is BAD FOR YOU. Not only do they not help you learn, but they can result in an academic integrity violation. Hundreds of students have been reported for using these sites. In addition, students reported to the AI Office that they felt cheated by their own classmates who used these sites and thus bent the curve, negatively impacting every honest student's grades.
Do not let your temptation for a "good grade" negate your values and your focus on learning. Please stay away from these sites.
Tip 9: Use the 4 Tests for Making Decisions
- Gut Feeling – do you feel, in your gut, that the action you are about to do is an ethical one?
- Values Test – would honesty, respect, responsibility, trustworthiness and/or fairness be upheld by your action?
- Standards Test – would the action in the situation uphold the Policy on Integrity of Scholarship or the Instructor's course integrity standards?
- Exposure Test – would you be okay if your action was exposed to the professor, the IA, your parent or the AI Office?
If the answer to any of these questions is "NO", then it might be an unethical choice and you should reconsider engaging in it.
Tip 10: If You See Something, Say/Do Something
Don't let your friends get themselves into trouble by engaging in an integrity violation. If you see something about to happen, say something and try to stop it. You can do this by:
Recognizing the Ethical Issue (using the 4 tests in Tip 9)
Assess (All the possible IDEAs for Acting)
- Interrupt – the behavior to stop a potential academic integrity violation from occurring
- Direct – those involved to alternative actions that will allow them to excel with integrity
- Engage – others (e.g., other students, Tutors/IAs, &/or the Instructor) to discuss options or to respond
- Authorities – report the behavior to your supervisor, the Instructor &/or the Academic Integrity Office
Decide (on the best IDEA for acting in your particular situation by reapplying the 4 tests)
- Gut Feeling – which IDEA feels like it is the right one?
- Values Test – which IDEA upholds honesty, respect, responsibility, trustworthiness and/or fairness?
- Standards Test – which IDEA upholds course, professor or institutional standards?
- Exposure Test – which IDEA would you feel comfortable sharing with the Academic Integrity Office?
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If you need help or would just like to talk to someone about your integrity struggles, contact us please. You are welcome to visit us in our Virtual Front Desk - https://ucsd.zoom.us/j/476444527 - or email us at aio@ucsd.edu.
Take care and remember to always #chooseintegrity