CS 422 @ UIC
User Interface Design and Programming

Spring 2015
Instructor: G.Elisabeta Marai (gmarai@uic.edu)
Mon Wed Fri 10am-10:50am
BSB 319

We stick to the University's basic Academic Code, interpreted as follows:

All written work must be your own.

The basic premise is that you should do your own thinking, your own design, and your own coding. You're allowed to talk to other students about the content of class meetings and of the textbooks, and about high level problems and concepts. A written record should never be made. If you can come to understand a challenging concept with the assistance of a peer, then you should be able to work through it again on your own. You can answer questions from other students about packages used for assignments, as long as the problem is a technical issue and not a question that concerns the problem-solving process at large.

The most blatant violation that can occur is code-copying, and this will absolutely not be tolerated. We keep copies of every assignment solution ever submitted to this course (although assignments change significantly from year to year), and we run the automatic Moss (Measure of Software Similarity) system on all the code we receive. We also reserve the right to do a "wire-pull test" (i.e., ask you to explain any aspect of your program), just to make sure you truly wrote the code; and again, we will be routinely comparing your code to that of other students for undue similarity.

In order to circumvent the code-copying problem, we require that all students maintain appropriate permissions on their coursework. Other students should not be able to access, view, or copy your files, be they on a machine, printouts, or on a USB key. If you don't know how to do this, please see truecrypt.org, or ask a TA. Furthermore, if your work is lost or stolen, you need to report the incident immediately to the TA. If another student copies your work, per the departmental policy you will be charged for "negligence" (for the first time offense; "cheating" penalties apply for repeat incidents). Penalties for cheating also apply retroactively; even when the offender has previously received a grade in this course.

We believe that this policy is explicit enough to guide your judgment and that we have not left you much gray area. If you are ever in doubt about the legality of your actions, be sure to clear them with a TA, even after the event has already occurred. When we confront a student with a case of suspected violation, an answer of "I didn't know that this is wrong" will not be met with sympathy. Suspected cases of disallowed collaboration will be referred to the Deans and typically result in an immediate F for the class as well as parental notification.