Plagiarism and Cheating Policy and Procedure
SCOPE
This policy applies to College of Health and Fitness students and all College of Health and Fitness staff and contractors who deal with matters concerning courses delivered by The College of Health and Fitness.
POLICY
The policy is intended to promote honesty in learning and assessment and respect for the work of others. Contravention of this policy will result in students being penalised as per our student code of conduct.
Plagiarism involves using the work of another person and presenting it as one’s own. You are expected to acknowledge the intellectual property of others used in the preparation of projects and assessment tasks.
Plagiarism is the copying of another person’s ideas or expressions without appropriate acknowledgement and presenting these ideas or forms of expression as your own. It includes not only written works such as books or journals, but data or images that may be presented in tables, diagrams, designs, plans, photographs, film, music, formulae, web sites and computer programs.
The College of Health and Fitness regards plagiarism as an extremely serious academic offence. The penalties associated with plagiarism are severe. Students who submit work identified as plagiarised will be penalised. The penalties are outlined later in this document.
The penalty will depend on the severity of the plagiarism, whether the student is a repeat offender, whether there is evidence of deliberate deceit and whether another student has been coerced into participating in the plagiarism.
PROCEDURES
1. A Trainer or Assessor who suspects plagiarism must report this to the Manager, the College of Health and Fitness.
2. The Manager will decide whether the plagiarism amounts to cheating. In other words, the Manager will determine whether it is more likely than not that the plagiarism was done with the intention of gaining an unfair advantage. This determination will be either:
a. The Manager decides there was no Plagiarism/ Cheating
If the Manager decides that there is insufficient evidence of cheating, the Manager will then ask an assessor to mark the work appropriately. In some cases the Manager may require the Trainer/Assessor to speak with the student about plagiarism and cheating. If this occurs the Manager will send a Student Warning Letter to the student in the appropriate form. A copy of the Warning Letter is to be placed on the student’s personal file.
b. The Manager decides there is a possible case of Plagiarism and Cheating.
If the Manager reaches the conclusion that there is evidence that the student intended to obtain an unfair advantage, the Manager will give the student an opportunity to respond before making a final determination. In addition to more obvious cases of plagiarism (e.g. copying large slabs of information from the Internet), this situation could arise where two students, contrary to instructions, submit substantially the same work.
c. The Compliance Officer or Senior Management decides that Plagiarism and Cheating has occurred
If after giving the student an opportunity to respond, if they then decide that the student has acted with an intention to obtain an unfair advantage, they will disallow a Competency for that unit of competence and;
• inform the student in writing that the marks have been disallowed and advise the student that he/she has a right to appeal as per the College Complaints and Appeals procedures; and
• ask the Administration staff to place a copy of the letter in the student’s personal file.
d. The Manager decides that Plagiarism and Cheating has not occurred
If, having heard the student’s explanation, the Manager decides that the student’s conduct did not amount to Plagiarism and Cheating, the Manager:
- Will treat the case as one of unsatisfactory academic work and ask an assessor to mark the assessment appropriately (i.e. not yet competent); and
- May, if it is deemed necessary, advise and counsel the student about the rules relating to plagiarism cheating.
If it occurs, Manager will determine whether it is necessary to send a warning letter to the student. If a Warning Letter is sent to the student, the Manager will ask the Administration Staff to place a copy on the students’ individual file.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
Students may not utilise artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to augment their assessment response. The College of Health and Fitness’s assessment system is specifically designed to assess students’ own understanding and knowledge of the required competencies. Assessment responses should reflect the “transfer of learning” achieved through the training program. Students are expected to demonstrate their skills and knowledge at the required depth and breadth, aligning with the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) level, without incorporating AI chatbot assistance.
The College of Health and Fitness has implemented measures to identify any responses that may have been generated by AI. In cases where a questionable response is detected, the Plagiarism Policy outlined in The College of Health and Fitness student handbook may be applied. Repeated incidents may lead to the application of The College of Health and Fitness Discipline Policy. Additional steps to ensure the student’s course progress is maintained may also be introduced.
It is crucial to adhere to these guidelines to maintain the integrity of the assessment process and ensure that students’ capabilities are accurately assessed based on their own understanding, knowledge, and learning. AI chatbots, including but not limited to: ChatSopt, ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, Jasper Chat, Perplexity, Tidio Lyro, Kommunicate, Drift, Infobip, and LivePerson, are examples of AI chatbots that students may not use.
Penalties of Plagiarism and Collusion
1. Students who are found cheating or guilty of plagiarism on any form of assessment will be deemed Not Yet Competent for the relevant Unit of Competence. The student will then need to re-submit or resit assessment either in part or in full.
2. Students who are found cheating or guilty of plagiarism for a second time will need to repeat the entire Unit of Competence and pay a fee of $50.00*.
3. Students who are found cheating or guilty of plagiarism for a third or subsequent time, will be fined $100*, will need to repeat the entire Unit of Competence and will be required to provide a written explanation for their actions.
4. Students will also be issued an official written warning which will be placed in the students’ file.
5. Continued behaviour of this kind may result in students being expelled from the College.
*These Fees are charged to help defray the significant costs incurred by the College in identifying cheating and plagiarism, contacting the parties concerned and re-assessing resubmitted material. Failure to pay these fees will result in the student being deemed Not Yet Competent and they will be ineligible to receive their qualification.