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Academic integrity is a vital part of the IB program. The IB defines academic integrity as "a guiding principle in education and a choice to act in a responsible way whereby others can have trust in us as individuals. It is the foundation for ethical decision-making and behaviour in the production of legitimate, authentic and honest scholarly work".
Students, teachers, and schools are expected to engage in authentic and ethical academic behaviour so that the outcomes of any IB assessments truly reflect each student's goals and learning outcomes. This post will discuss the importance of academic integrity in the IB program, along with the consequences of academic misconduct when it is discovered.
Academic Integrity in the IB
Why is Academic Integrity Needed in the IB?
The IB outlines the following reasons for maintaining academic integrity:
To maintain fairness – Exams and internal assessments can only be fair if all students are given equal opportunity and their results accurately reflect their own work and achievements. If some students use unauthorized aids (e.g. cheat sheets on exams, bringing a calculator to a non-calculator test), it can give them an advantage over other students who follow the rules. This is unfair and can result in the students who took the exam honestly receiving a lower grade than those who had help from unapproved aids.
To maintain trust and credibility – The IB is a well-known organization, and its qualifications are recognized globally. The value of IB diplomas depends on the credibility of the grades awarded. IB grades are looked at by thousands of colleges and universities in the world. If the grades on an IB Diploma are not representative of a student's true academic capabilities, the IB's global image and credibility could be damaged. Therefore, students need to stay credible and ensure their IB grades reflect their true academic potential.
To develop respect for others – IB students should learn how to appropriately acknowledge others’ ideas, use proper referencing, and use technology and AI responsibly. This shows respect for others' work as credit should be given where it is due. Students should also learn responsible use of GenAI tools and understand that all internal assessments and exams must be their own work and not done using AI.
Who is Responsible for Academic Integrity?
Many stakeholders within a school environment are responsible for academic integrity, such as teachers, students, and parents. The IB policy identifies the following groups with specific responsibilities concerning academic integrity:
School leadership team – School leaders such as the principal or directors should ensure that the school’s academic integrity policy is well-communicated, regularly reviewed, and easily understood by both students and teachers. The school leadership team is responsible for maintaining academic integrity at their respective school and ensuring teachers and students follow the appropriate protocols.
Program coordinators – IB program coordinators should oversee the teaching and learning that goes on at their school to ensure it aligns with the IB's guidelines on academic integrity. They must support teachers, students and parents, ensure workloads are manageable enough so students are not tempted to cheat, and handle reports of misconduct or maladministration.
Teachers and non-teaching staff – IB teachers must have a strong understanding of academic integrity expectations, space out assignments so students can effectively work on them without using unauthorized aids, give appropriate feedback without providing excessive help on tests or assignments, and monitor student work for copying or plagiarism. Teachers are responsible for reporting any academic integrity issues when they arise.
Students – Students are expected to understand both their school’s policy and the IB regulations, submit work honestly, give credit to sources, refrain from using or providing unauthorized assistance, act responsibly in exams and online (including abiding by the 24-hour rule around discussing exams) and report any misconduct they observe.
Parents and legal guardians – Parents and legal guardians are encouraged to support their children’s understanding of academic integrity and to avoid giving unauthorized assistance, for example, in editing or writing their child's work.
Misconduct vs Maladministration
The IB academic integrity policy differentiates between student academic misconduct and school maladministration.
Student academic misconduct – This refers to behaviour by a student (intentional or not) that may give an unfair advantage to them or unfairly disadvantage another student. Examples include cheating on tests, using paid services to write IAs, using unauthorized translation aids on language acquisition exams, etc.
If students are caught, academic penalties can range from receiving a zero on the assignment/exam to a notation on the transcript or a ban from receiving the IB Diploma, depending on the severity and frequency of the offence. For example, a student caught in a one-time case of accidental plagiarism (i.e. forgetting to cite a source) will have a less harsh punishment than a student who has been caught cheating on multiple tests or IAs.
School maladministration – This refers to actions by the school or its staff which breach IB rules and threaten the integrity of IB assessments. Examples include leaking exam papers, showing certain students solutions to test questions, giving students more than one round of feedback on their IAs, not supervising students during bathroom breaks, etc.
If a teacher is caught in maladministration, the IB can request the IB World School not to allow that teacher to continue teaching the IB program in the future. The IB World School can decide whether to continue that teacher's employment (i.e. if the school offers multiple curricula, the teacher may be allowed to teach A-levels or AP courses, but will not be able to teach IB classes). However, if the school chooses to still employ the teacher, the IB will take this into account when considering whether the school should be allowed to continue offering IB programs in future.
We hope you found this post helpful in learning more about academic integrity in the IB. For a more in-depth view into IB academic integrity, check out the official IB academic integrity policy here. For more useful materials associated with the IB, check out the wide variety of IA, EE and TOK exemplars available at Clastify and other guides available on our blog.
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