Collaboration vs plagiarism in computer science programming courses

  • Authors:
  • Carolee Stewart-Gardiner;David G. Kay;Joyce Currie Little;Joseph D. Chase;John Fendrich;Laurie A. Williams;Ursula Wolz

  • Affiliations:
  • Kean University, Union, NJ;University of California, Irvine, CA;Towson University, Towson, MD;Radford University, Radford, VA;Illinois State University, Normal, IL;North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC;The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the thirty-second SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer Science Education
  • Year:
  • 2001

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Abstract

In some circles, all programming is collaborative, yet in many CS1 and CS2 courses, individual programming assignments are made, collaboration with other students is cheating, and tailoring a program found on the web is plagiarism. Many educators feel that collaboration belongs only in a very few upper division courses. Others have experience to show that early collaboration broadens the learning of students, to become more effective professional individuals. Most conclude that a blend of the two styles is best for students, and can reduce cheating/plagiarism.Does collaboration belong in programming classes? Where does collaboration end and cheating/plagiarism begin? What are the advantages, problems and techniques of allowing collaboration on programming assignments in CS1 and CS2? The moderator created six discussion questions. Each member of the panel has chosen the position they can strongly support from experience. This panel will discuss these questions in detail among the panelists and audience.