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My question revolves around "understanding of plagiarism concepts in and around the gray area of academic programming"

Suppose there is an assignment "A" which asks for a distributed application , say from .net . There are at max "2 correct solutions" for every task. so a student "A" decides to help is class-mate and the other student "understands" the solution and implement the same , Does it count as plagiarism or tutoring . Student B does NOT write in his submission that student A helped him.

Suppose student A does not know how to code in a particular "language".He deduces the logical steps required for the code (himself). he discusses these steps with a "person who is good at coding". the person tells him the libraries to use and discussions(no coding) . He does all that and takes his help for "debug" "when he got stuck" and writes in his own words but did not mention the NAME of this friend who helped him.

Is all well here?

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    This does not seem to be plagiarism - as it seems that no actual written material was copied - this is just to my understanding, am not quite clear though.
    – user70612
    Commented Apr 28, 2017 at 10:48
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    Plagiarism is just one form mm of academic misconduct. This doesn't sound like plagiarism, but could violate other rules depending on what the instructions on th assignment were.
    – StrongBad
    Commented Apr 28, 2017 at 12:01
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    @StrongBad I agree . Aren't we all there to learn in a university?. Till the point it is mentioned that one cannot take tutoring , guidance -- should be fine i guess. ONE HAS TO LEARN STUFF FROM SOMEWHERE
    – confused887
    Commented Apr 28, 2017 at 12:16
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    STOP SHOUTING AT US!
    – Uwe
    Commented Apr 28, 2017 at 12:42
  • @Uwe , Saturnus - I am not shouting . i just meant to emphasize the point. sorry if it was against the forum rules . I appreciate everyone who takes out their time to reply
    – confused887
    Commented Apr 28, 2017 at 13:13

1 Answer 1

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As mentioned in my comment, this does not seem like plagiarism (as described here) - as no written material has been copied between the students.

Specifically:

student "A" decides to help is class-mate and the other student "understands" the solution and implement the same

Student A tutored the other student. At the very most, student A could have been acknowledged, but really is not necessary.

he discusses these steps with a "person who is good at coding". the person tells him the libraries to use and discussions(no coding) . He does all that and takes his help for "debug" "when he got stuck" and WRITES IN HIS OWN WORDS

This is also really tutoring.

Both are rather nice examples of sharing knowledge and skills.

It is probably a case that the students helping out did so because they are just simply happy to help.

One major thing to consider, these examples show classmates collaborating - drawing on each other's strengths. Each person in those interactions already benefit. This is also touches on a transferable skill - collaborative work.

But whether or not the level of collaboration is within the rules there is another matter (but really should be checked).

Not everything needs to result in a person's name in lights. These are not really examples of plagiarism, but to be absolutely certain, it would not hurt to read up on the institution's plagiarism policies.

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  • I thought so too . I was student A sometimes and sometimes student B , during my master's time(i got 3.7/4 for final project). I followed this , but one of the other professor(not my adviser) hinted to me you had a "interesting approach" . Actually i delayed joining for a job offer(where i could have wrapped up earlier) , if i had to be dishonest i could have easily get the coding done in a day .It really hurts when someone sacrifices yet the uni staff acts sleazy. I was just confirming whether i was correct or not
    – confused887
    Commented Apr 28, 2017 at 13:20
  • No problems at all to check - if it helps, look at your institution's plagiarism policy (should be on their website) to absolutely sure.
    – user70612
    Commented Apr 28, 2017 at 13:29
  • The website says the normal "cite the source". I think it I am fine , guilt is with the professor for not coming up with the terms . In a university people go to study , they are expected to do their thing. If someone does not know -- he need to learn it from somewhere , be it from a student , some tutor . Drawing conclusions on learning process is bad for a professor and I will not go to him to explain (it is below my dignity) , anyhow my adviser already graded me "A" grade.Any person who works from scratch "it reflects in work" "bought work would be far more professional"
    – confused887
    Commented Apr 28, 2017 at 13:46
  • Congratulations on the A!
    – user70612
    Commented Apr 28, 2017 at 13:47
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    @TobiasKildetoft -- There is a gray area but I believe in "seeking one single truth and then go onto sleep". I am not concerned about the gray area as far as i am truthful with myself. "we have to learn something from somewhere"and not "Learn to cheat from somewhere". There is no gray area if you "discuss" "take neutral classes" and be socially active in class in terms of knowledge sharing. This sits well with me as far as "no one copies" "steals idea" "take a different perception"-- assignments are always open ended as far as they understand what is being asked
    – confused887
    Commented Apr 28, 2017 at 14:37

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