One of the ways to be successful ākonga at UC is through academic integrity: acting honestly, ethically, fairly and respecting others.  

A good understanding of academic integrity is crucial in supporting you to take charge and know how to avoid mistakes, especially during exams and end of term assessments.  

You can learn more about how to approach your work with academic integrity, here – in the meantime, here’s the headlines:  

Cheating
Breaking the rules for assignments or exams is treated very seriously, so it’s important to know what you can bring with you, how they will run and whether you can use equipment (like calculators), which may need to be authorised by UC in advance.  

Check out the exam instructions for more on what you need to do (or not do!): 

Do –
 – Give revision notes or other unauthorised material to a supervisor immediately, if you’ve accidentally taken them into the exam room with you. 

Don’t –  
 – Look at other students’ answers.
 – Talk or communicate in any way with other students. 

The above could result in disciplinary action. It’s just not worth it. 

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is copying materials from another source (whether it’s a quote or data) without a clear acknowledgement of where it originated. 

It’s important to properly reference your work, as your assignments are checked through Turnitin, UC’s anti-plagiarism software. Turnitin recognises and highlights where students have copied and not cited other authors’ work. 

Top tips:  

• Using quotation marks to quote someone is not plagiarism, as long as the source is acknowledged. 
• Check on AKO | LEARN to see which style of referencing your lecturer would like you to use for each assignment. This will inform how you cite your references and avoid plagiarism. You can read style guides for referencing here> 
• If you’d like specific advice, you can also make a one-on-one consultation with a learning advisor at Te Pokapū Pūkenga Ako |  Academic Skills Centre here> 

Artificial Intelligence
While AI tools like ChatGPT and CoPilot are becoming readily available, their use is strictly monitored at UC and depending on your course, may not be allowed.  

If you’re unsure whether you are able to use artificial intelligence tools for your assessments, please reach out to your Course Coordinator.  

When we work together to act honestly, ethically and respect each other and our work, we get the most out of our studies. You can learn more about academic integrity here> 

Good luck with your exams!