1. Academic Ethics Teaching and Learning Graduate Student Orientation August 21, 2007 Thomas F. Wolff, Ph.D., P.E Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies www.egr.msu.edu/~wolff

2. Teaching n Teachers and students have rights and responsibilities - you might be both! n You may be a teaching assistant n If you are on a research team working with undergraduate student assistants, you are “teaching” them n You are definitely a student who will be taking classes n The best overall web site regarding rights and responsibilities at MSU is that of the University Ombudsman n What’s an Ombudsman?? n www.msu.edu/unit/ombud l Code of Teaching Responsibility l Classroom disruption l Classroom myths l TA / student conflicts

3. Teaching n Code of Teaching Responsibility l http://www.msu.edu/unit/facrecds/FacHand/code.html (also linked from Ombudsman’s site) l Instructors must inform students of their method of determining grades. – They have very wide latitude in how they grade, but they must inform students. Must be reasonable, but not necessarily precise. l Exam questions belong to the instructor (unless they wish to release them), but students have a right to view their exams l Other items (papers, projects, etc.) belong to the student l Instructors must meet their classes and hold regular office hours l Instructors with TAs are responsible to acquaint them with CTR and monitor compliance

4. Teaching n Disputes l First -- informal discussion with instructor l Second -- informal discussion with Chairperson l Third -- written request for formal hearing board l Associate Dean and Ombudsman may be resources for both sides, but do not adjudicate n Plagiarism and Cheating l Is taken seriously, and may have very serious consequences l See the Ombudsman’s web site again l A good definition of plagiarism is representing someone else’s work as your own

5. Teaching and Learning l If a Teaching Assistant, you may find yourself teaching for the first time – If not, you may sooner than you think – In your thesis defense, you will actually be teaching l An excellent set of resources for teachers of engineering is at the web page of Rich Felder, professor emeritus of Chemical Engineerng at NCSU – http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/RMF.html – We may be experts on content, but must learn to be experts on teaching it. My own essay to MSU engineering freshman includes some notes on professionalism, accreditation, Bloom’s taxonomy, being a learner, etc. See Engineering is Hard at www.egr.msu.edu/~wolff