Aust-Lofoten Upper Secondary School mission statement
Our students shall:
- Experience well-being and safety at school
- Experience a positive school environment free from harassment and offensive behaviour
- Experience the feeling of belonging
- Be strengthened academically and socially
- Experience that a good social environment is everybody’s responsibility, both the students and the employees at school.
Aust-Lofoten Upper Secondary School pedagogical platform is based on our slogan:
Take the leap – create your future with us!
At our school, students should experience being motivated, engaged and included.
Aust-Lofoten Upper Secondary School has a diverse body of students, and there are situations where students have special needs that the school must adapt to, this to give all students the possibility for the best results possible.
Academic lntegrity
The following attribute from the IB learner profile is central to academic integrity: We act with integrity and honesty, with a streng sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences (IBO, ibo.org, 2013).
At Aust-Lofoten vgs we focus on teaching our students to be honest, as an example every student needs to understand the concept of values and skiIIs that is related to being academically honest. In practice this means that they must respect ideas and thinking as something of an intellectual property. These borders are blurred, and students aften do not know who owns the information for example on the internet. Therefore, our students are trained in every course and by all teachers on how to cite, make references, source evaluate and do critical thinking. The teachers do authenticate checks by using different methods of plagiarism control such as the plagiarism function in our learning management system (LMS) to check all written work submitted, currently we use itslearning. The students are informed of the consequences of misconduct both those according to IB rules (IBO, ibo.org, 2023) and those according to regional and national rules in Norway that is taken into consideration when attitude and behaviour grades are awarded.
Our students use APA 7th as a referencing and citation style.
Academic Misconduct
The IBO and Aust-Lofoten vgs defines academic misconduct as deliberate or inadvertent behaviour that has the potential to result in the student, or anyone else, gaining an unfair advantage in ane or more components of assessment. Behaviour that may disadvantage another student is also regarded as academic misconduct.
The IBO and Aust-Lofoten Upper Secondary school define the following as academic misconduct:
- Plagiarism as the representation, intentionally or unwittingly, of the ideas, words, or work of another person without proper, clear and explicit acknowledgement.
- Collusion as supporting academic misconduct by another student, for example allowing one's work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another.
- Duplication of work as the presentation of the same work for different assessment components and/or Diploma Programme requirements.
- Any other behaviour that gains an unfair advantage fora student or that affects the results of another student, for example shadow writing (student receives help to write the text or get someone to write it for them) and the misuse of translation programs and Al.
Examinations
The conduct of examinations according to IB regulations will be discussed prior to Diploma exams. Guidelines regarding approved materials will be provided befare all examinations. Bringing unauthorized materials into the examination rooms will result in sanctions in accordance with IB rules and practices.
Responsibility for Academic Integrity
- The IB Diploma Coordinator must ensure that all students, parents/legal guardians and teaching staff are briefed and understand the meaning of academic integrity and the consequences of academic misconduct. The school librarians have a key role in briefing the students and will support the DP Coordinator and teachers.
- The IB DP Coordinator must provide advice and recommend appropriate penalty in line with the school policy and maintain any files and documents associated with each case for future references and precedents.
- The IB DP Coordinator and staff must adhere to all lB requirements to prevent academic misconduct by students and maladministration by the school and implement necessary measures in case such incidents occur.
- All teachers must be vigilant plagiarism, collusion, duplication of work and unfair advantage. Teachers will use the plagiarism control function in the schools LMS, currently we use itslearning.
- All students are responsible and must make sure that all sources are acknowledged and that their work is authentic.
- It is the responsibility of all lB teachers, the IB coordinator and IB examiners to report to the IB cases of academic misconduct.
Academic Misconduct; Actions and Consequences
The assessment of the students' work is essential for grading. The grading is an important tool to measure the student's knowledge and is used when students enter university, therefore the grading
needs to be fair and reliable. Monitoring student work to ensure it complies with regulations, detecting malpractice and unfair advantages is important sa that neither aur grading nor conduct are compromised.
In case of maladministration, the 1B will take actions to ensure that correct procedures are implemented at aur school, including practices to ensure the quality of work completed by aur students in coursework and examinations. Appendix 1 of the Academic lntegrity Policy (IBO, ibo.org, 2023) lists several actions and sanctions that the 1B may choose to take in response to maladministration at a school. One example of such actions is session monitoring, which involves monitoring schools that offer the 1B program to ensure that they fellow 1B standards and practices.
During two consecutive sessions, the 1B may choose to monitor aur school, which may include actions such as:
Quality assurance checks of all available pieces of work in 1B systems for plagiarism.
Quality assurance checks of all available pieces of work in 1B systems for overlap in content. Check of response patterns to examination papers, including multiple-choice questions.
lnternal sanctions
When teachers suspect academic misconduct as defined above, relating to homework, classwork and other internally assessed work that do not involve final work submitted for the 1B the student can be allowed the opportunity to revise and resubmit work according to the following:
1st offence: The student is required to re-do the work and reminded of Aust-Lofoten vgs academic integrity policy. For students under the age of 18 parents/legal guardians are informed anda misconduct is noted in Visma lnSchool.
If there are a:
2.nd offence or more: The student is given zero for the work. For students under the age of 18 parents/legal guardians are informed and a misconduct is noted in Visma InSchool. Student receives disciplinary consequences and may receive no credit for the relevant course.
External sanctions
If academic misconduct is identified by the school after the work has been submitted to the IB, the
DP coordinator will inform the IB as soon as possible.
In instances of academic misconduct is revealed related to work that counts towards the final
Diploma there will be misconduct investigations and external sanctions according to IB rules.
The school is required to provide the IB with statements from all parties involved and any other
relevant documentation pertinent to the case. Each case will be judged based on the evidence
available, and any sanction applied will be based on the penalty matrices explained in Appendix 2.2
of the Academic Integrity Policy (which is attached to this document). If the evidence is not
conclusive, sanctions will be applied using the balance of probability approach in accordance with IB
rules and practices. The IB will make the decision regarding whether the student has breached
regulations:
- Will be allowed to retake their examinations or coursework and when such retake could take
place. - Will not be eligible for the full IB diploma.
- Will be permanent disqualified from the DP programme, awarded no grade in any subject
and no retake session allowed.
This policy has been created by the DP coordinator together with the school9s leadership team and is subject to annual revision by the IB staff and leadership team.
Revised 01.03.2024.
References
IBO. (2013). ibo.org. Retrieved from IB learner profile:
https://ibo.org/contentassets/fd82f70643ef4086b7d3f292cc214962/lea rner-profile-en.pdf
IBO. (2023, March). ibo.org. Retrieved from Academic integrity policy:
https://ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/programmes/shared-resources/pdfs/academicintegrity-
policy-en.pdf
2.2 Penalty matrices
Written and oral coursework and examinations
Level 1 penalty
Methodology section misrepresents or overstates the rigour with which the data was gathered.
Level 2 penalty
Data is selected or discarded to enhance the conclusions of the work, creating a deliberately biased set of findings.
Level 3a penalty
Data is fabricated or data gathered - by other people is presented as gathered by the student.
Level 3b penalty
Not applicable
Level 1 penalty
Minor offence - see note 5
Level 2 penalty
Moderate offence - see note 6
Level 3a penalty
Major offence - see note 7
Level 3b penalty
Major offence
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Between 40 and 50 consecutive words (copied verbatim, or paraphrased, or containing additional or substituted words) without full in-text citation of the source.
Level 3a penalty
More than 51 consecutive words (copied verbatim, or paraphrased, or containing additional or substituted words) without full in-text citation of the source4see note 3.
Level 3b penalty
Not applicable
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Student submits work heavily edited bya third party to circumnavigate the rules on teacher support. A penalty will be applied for any student in the same or different school providing the service or - facilitating work.
Level 3a penalty
Student submits work that was entirely produced or edited bya third party. A penalty will be applied for any student in the same or different school providing the service or facilitating work.
Level 3b penalty
Applicable for a student in the same or different IB World School providing the service.
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Presentation of the same work for different assessment components or subjects. Partial reuse of materials; penalties will be - applied to both subjects with reused materials.
Level 3a penalty
Presentation of the same work for different assessment components or subjects. Complete reuse of materials; penalties will be - applied to both subjects with reused materials.
Level 3b penalty
Not applicable
Level 1 penalty
Student took minimal steps that were clearly insufficient to prevent their work being copied.
Level 2 penalty
Student took no steps to prevent their work being copied and shared it toa forum from where it was likely to be copied.
Level 3a penalty
Student permitted the copying of their work, or tried to sell or exchange their work on a forum where it was likely to be copied and submitted by others. Note that
Level 3b penalty
Student actively tried to sell, or exchange, the work of third parties to be _ submitted by - others.
- All students must submit individual and unique work for IB assessment, even when data collection etc. is permitted by the subject guide to be done as part ofa team. Collusion covers those cases where students have used a common write-up fora group rather than written their own
Level 1 penalty
Work of students shows close similarity
Level 2 penalty
Between 40 and 50 consecutive copied words (exact or substituted) without full intext citation of the source.
Level 3a penalty
More than 51 consecutive copied words (exact or substituted) without full intext citation of the source4see note 3.
Level 3b penalty
Not applicable
Conduct during an examination
Level 1 penalty
In candidate's possession but surrendered or removed during the first 10 minutes of the examination.
Level 2 penalty
In candidate's possession but no evidence of it being used during the examination.
Level 3a penalty
In candidate's possession and evidence of it being used during the examination.
Level 3b penalty
Not applicable
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Non-compliance with the invigilator's instructions during one component.
Level 3a penalty
Repeated noncompliance with the invigilator's instructions during one examination or non-compliance during two or more examinations. Penalties could be applied to multiple subjects if incidents happen during the completion of different subject papers.
Level 3b penalty
Not applicable
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Candidate attempting to remove secure materials but identifyed by investigators before leaving examination room
Level 3a penalty
Candidate successfully removing secure materials from the exsamination room.
Level 3b penalty
Not applicable
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Not applicable
Level 3a penalty
For both candidates allowing or conducting an impersonation
Level 3b penalty
For the candidate conducting the impersonation. lf the impersonator is not an IB student, the IB will try to establish their identity and inform the relevant awarding body that impersonator is or was registered for. lf the impersonator is an IB graduate, the IB will apply penalties _ retrospectively
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Not applicable
Level 3a penalty
When student is aware of the act of misconduct but decides not to report it to their school administrators.
Level 3b penalty
When student is aware of the act of misconduct but decides not to report it to their school administrators.
Conduct that threatens the integrity of the examination
Level 1 penalty
If the candidate immediately reports they are in possession of live examination content, the IB will consider this as a “mitigating circumstance” See note 11 “Mitigating circumstance”
Level 2 penalty
Candidate in possession of partial or complete live examination content.
Level 3a penalty
Not applicable
Level 3b penalty
Not applicable
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Not applicable
Level 3a penalty
Candidate sharing partial or complete live examination content through any means- including but not limited to, email, text messages and the internet-even when shared information is general.
Level 3b penalty
Assisted the sharing of partial or complete live examination content.
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Not applicable
Level 3a penalty
When student is aware of the act of misconduct but decides not to report it to their school administrators.
Level 3b penalty
When student is aware of the act of misconduct but decides not to report it to their school administrators.
Interfering with an academic misconduct investigation
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Not applicable
Level 3a penalty
When a student shows any of these behaviours and/or refuses to submit a statement.
Level 3b penalty
When a student shows any of these behaviours and/or refuses to submit a statement.
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Not applicable
Level 3a penalty
Not applicable
Level 3b penalty
Not applicable
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Not applicable
Level 3a penalty orLevel 3b penalty
When a student shows any of these behaviours and/or refuses to submit a statement.
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Not applicable
Level 3a penalty orLevel 3b penalty
When a student shows any of these behaviours and/or refuses to submit a statement.
Forgery or falsification of IB grades or certificates
Level 1 penalty
Not applicable
Level 2 penalty
Not applicable
Level 3a penalty
Students may receive additional sanctions depending on the number of subjects affected.
Level 3b penalty
Not applicable
Explanatory notes:
- Level 3a penalty4this depends on the seriousness of the incident; the penalty can be extended to
several or all subjects of the session. - Level 3b penalty will be applied to IB students involved in a form of misconduct that benefits
another student rather than themselves. - As approved by the Final Award Committee in November 2013, the level 2 penalty is not applicable for extended essays (EEs). Due to the nature of the EE (only one assessment component) the level 2 and level 3a penalties have the same outcome on the candidate's final result, the non-award of the diploma. Therefore, plagiarism cases in EEs will only be considered when more than 100 consecutive words lack the proper reference.
- Submitting work commissioned, edited by, or obtained from a third party. This list includes, but is not restricted to:
- friends, family members, or other students in the same or different school, college or university
- private tutors
- essay Writing or copy-editing services
- pre-written essay banks
- file sharing sites.
- 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.
- Moderate offence may include but are not restricted to:
- conducting field experiments or investigations that inflict pain or risk 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.
- Major offencec may include but are not restricted to:
- producing any work that denigrates personal, political and/or spiritual values, and/or contains 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 that could be considered or perceived offensive by others.
- Unauthorized materials or items may include but are not restricted to:
- mobile phones
- notes
- study guides
- candidate's own rough or scratch paper
- non-permitted dictionaries
- other prohibited electronic devices such as smart-watches or smart-glasses.
- Misconduct during examinations may include but is 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.
- Social media or messaging/communication platforms and tools.
- Mitigating circumstance
- In this specific context, if the candidate in possession of live examination content reports it to their school administrators at the earliest possible opportunity, the IB will consider not applying a penalty for academic misconduct.
- Assisting other student(s) in committing an act of misconduct may include but is not restricted to:
- facilitating information to other candidates during the completion time of the examination
- distributing live examination content before, during or after the scheduled time of that examination through any means.
2.3 Precedents
This section provides examples of breaches of the IB academic integrity policy, and the subsequent
outcome for students. The list is not exhaustive and is meant to provide real-life guidance on a range
of issues and how they were dealt with.