AtL and academic honesty

 What have the approaches to learning got to do with me?  How will the approaches to learning skills support me in completing the personal project?  Why is it important to use other people’s work in my academic work?  How do I give credit to other people for their work?  What are the consequences of academic dishonesty?

 Skills that the MYP seeks to develop in students across the curriculum.  By year 5 of the MYP (grade ten) you are expected to have developed these skills.  Support you in getting the project done.  Are assessed only by the personal project.  Relate directly to the assessment criteria of the project.

 Turn to the AtL section of your personal project guide (p29).  Which ATL skills are easiest or most developed for you? Highlight these skills.  Which do you think you will have the most difficulty with when completing the personal project? Highlight these too.  Which do you think will play the most important role in your completing the personal project? Discuss this with the person next to you.  Which are most important for all students to achieve the best possible mark for the essay. Work with your partner to highlight these.

 Delivering on the personal project and the essay within a given time frame.  Action planning and goal setting.  Taking the initiative with your supervisor.  Managing resources.  Check out criteria A, D, E, and G

 Considering (and giving credit for!) other people’s knowledge and skills.  Supervisor, experts – published or interviewed, parents, other teachers.  Criteria B, D, G

 Reading and research from a variety of sources.  How effectively to you transmit ideas and information in the project and essay?  How varied is this communication?  Criteria B, C, D,

 Finding information from a variety of sources.  Selecting and evaluating this information.  Referencing and academic honesty.  Criteria B, D, E,

 Process journal or blog.  Reflective engagement with supervisor.  Analysis of process in the essay.  Justification of decisions and changes.  Criteria A, C, F, G.

 Originality of thought in your project – is this reflected in the essay?  The creative process – action planning, brainstorming.  Applying knowledge.  Problems and solutions.  Criteria A, C, D, F

 Bringing knowledge and skills gained from the classroom, real life experiences, and research together.  A project that makes connections between different areas of knowledge.  Criteria B, D,

WHY USE OTHER PEOPLE’S WORK ANYWAY? WHY REFERENCE THIS WORK?  No-one expects all your thoughts to be original.  The greatest thinkers listen to other voices.  Existing work is used, cited, and paraphrased at all levels of the academic community.  Allows the reader to understand how you go there.  Allows members of the academic community to follow up on your work – saves time for you.  Acknowledgement.

 Putting your name to someone else’s work – intentionally or unintentionally.  Copying sections, words, or ideas from somebody else’s work.  Not putting quotation marks around a quote.  Failing to indicate where you have paraphrased someone else’s idea.  Changing someone else’s words or ideas.  Producing work that you know will be used dishonesty by someone else.

It is important for students to use a range of different sources in completing their personal project and to cite these sources. Under criterion B, it is suggested that: “students should select sufficient information and appropriate resources to substantiate all arguments and/or support the project. Students should also acknowledge their sources of information clearly in the body of their text through clear referencing.” (Student Personal Project Handbook, p12 ) It is clear that students must demonstrate high standards of information literacy and academic integrity to make the personal project a success.

The International Baccalaureate’s guide Personal Project guide stresses the importance of selecting information from a range of sources as well as citing these sources. To achieve a level four for criterion B, for example, students must include all sources in their bibliography as well as make references in the body of their essay (Student Personal Project Handbook, p12)

International School of Paris Student Personal Project Handbook. Paris: International School of Paris, Print. “What is Plagiarism?” plagiarismdot org, Web. 25 Nov What is Plagiarism? Basel: International School of Basel, Print. Plagiarism quiz. Basel: International School of Basel, Print.