Created with the help of the Berkeley International Office, academic expectations

1. Cultural Expectations

3. What are your experiences?

4. U.S. Academic Culture &
Expectations

5. Values & Priorities*
• Interaction, discussion
• Original thought
• Individual ownership of ideas and knowledge
• Analysis, synthesis of information
• Directness in oral and written communication (stylistic, vocabulary
differences by discipline)
• Freedom and choice
• Academic misconduct is very serious
* Adapted from U.S.
Culture Series: U.S.
Classroom Culture
January 01, 2004. Michael
Smithee, Sidney L.
Greenblatt, and Alisa
Eland

6. Cultural Differences in
Academic Context

7. Continuum of Educational & Cultural Differences
Thinking Critically……………………….........…... Rote Memorization
Interactive Classroom…………...……………….........…. Lecture Style
Self-selected classes…………...……………….. Pre-established classes
Competition………………………...............................…... Cooperation
Direct Communication…………...………….. Indirect Communication
Focus on Originality………….........……………….. Focus on Tradition
Focus on Individual………….............………….. Focus on Community
Citing………………………...............................................…... Copying

8. Additional Difficulties & Cultural
Differences
“Common knowledge” vs. individual knowledge
Collaboration vs. competition
Group focus of society vs. individual society focus
Reporting misconduct = betrayal vs. Reporting misconduct = honor
Equal access to resources vs. competition for resources
Academic/Cultural differences between UCB & prior education
Disciplinary/Course-specific differences in expectations
No one definition of Academic Honesty or Integrity
Changing rules, expectations
Financial, family pressure
Imposter Syndrome

9. Academic Honesty &
Common Mistakes

10. What is an Academic Honor Code?
• Rules (usually ethical or moral) which
guide a community or society
• Community or institutional expectations
• By being a member of the community-
you agree to abide

11. “As a member of the UC Berkeley
community,
I act with honesty, integrity, and
respect for others.”
http://asuc.org/honorcode/

12. Why is Academic Honesty important?
• Self-respect
• Making ethical choices
• Benefits to society
• Beliefs and values
• Trust, fairness, honesty, responsibility
• Integrity is fundamental to academics
• Genuine learning- that’s what learning is all about
• The “Real World” outside of academics- How would you feel if you knew
your doctor or attorney had been academically dishonest in their studies?
Had cheated or plagiarized in school? In a professional environment?

13. Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct is any action or attempted action that may
result in creating an unfair academic advantage for oneself or an
unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for any other member or
members of the academic community.
This includes a wide variety of behaviors such as cheating,
plagiarism, altering academic documents or transcripts, gaining
access to materials before they are intended to be available, and
helping a friend to gain an unfair academic advantage.
The Center for Student Conduct
http://sa.berkeley.edu/conduct/integrity/definition

14. Types of Academic Dishonesty
Cheating
Plagiarism
Course
Materials
Theft or
Damage of
Intellectual
Property
Alteration of
University
Documents
Disturbance
s in the
Classroom
or Lab
False
Information
or Alteration
of
Information
Unauthorize
d
Collaboratio
n
The Center for Student
Conduct
http://sa.berkeley.edu/
conduct/integrity/definition

15. Respect for authority 25.6 %
Language problem 20.9 %
Previous educational
experience on referencing
27.9 %
Cultural misconception
(Plagiarism does not matter)
20.9 %
Individual values
(Personality trait)
4.7 %
Source: Overcoming the cultural issues associated with plagiarism for
International students
Cultural factors that can impact understanding of plagiarism?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/
national/why-do-international-students-cheat/
article593033/

16. Common Mistakes
• Unauthorized collaboration- i.e. sharing test answers, notes, problem sets,
essays; Working together to complete an assignment without permission
• Using other’s ideas, phrasing, metaphors, without acknowledgement
• Citation problems- assuming something is common knowledge, failing to
cite sources properly, online content, poor selection of sources
• Using old exams to prepare for a test
• Paraphrasing problems
• Self-plagiarism- multiple submission, submitting old papers
• Time Management issues
• Study skills
• Not reading the syllabus or understanding course expectations

17. Academic Consequences
• Not knowing is not an acceptable excuse
• Consequences range from getting an F on a paper, to an F in the
class, to suspension, expulsion, dismissal
• Official conduct procedures & process
• Suspension, expulsion, dismissal all have consequences to visa
status
• Long term consequences- Grad School, employment,
recommendations, lacking necessary skills for success, failing to
achieve subject mastery

18. Resources

19. UC Libraries Guides & Research Help
Library Research Help: http://
www.lib.berkeley.edu/Help/
research_help.html
Citation Guides, Style Guides, & Avoiding
Plagiarism: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/
instruct/guides/citations.html
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Help/
guides.html

20. http://sa.berkeley.edu/cite-responsibly