1.8: Collaboration and Integrity
- Page ID
- 49177
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This is a team-based course. Every chapter, every milestone, and every decision is designed to be approached collaboratively. Your success will not be determined by what you can do alone—but by how well you can work within a team, share accountability, and build something better together.
Collaboration is not a side feature of this course—it is the engine of learning.
At the same time, integrity matters. Your work must reflect authentic thinking, open communication, and shared effort. In a PBL environment, cheating doesn’t look like copying an answer key—it looks like hiding behind others, faking participation, or delivering something you didn’t contribute to.
What Collaboration Looks Like
Successful collaboration includes:
- Dividing roles intx transparently
It also means giving credit where credit is due. If a teammate develops a model or design that becomes core to your deliverable, acknowledge it.
Our Commitments to Each Other
In this course, every team is expected to uphold a Team Compact—a shared agreement about how you will work together. It might include:
- Communication norms (frequency, method)
- Expected time commitment from each member
- What happens when someone misses a deadline
- How you’ll resolve disagreements
- How you’ll rotate or assign roles
- How you’ll make decisions as a group
You’ll be given a tool to help draft this compact in Chapter 1. Your instructor may collect or approve it—but even if not, treat it as your team’s social contract.
What Violates Academic Integrity in This Course?
In a project-based course, academic dishonesty can take subtle forms. The following are considered violations:
|
Action |
Why It's a Violation |
|
Submitting deliverables written by someone else |
Misrepresents authorship and learning |
|
Copying previous team work without attribution |
Ignores your own team’s responsibility to learn |
|
Letting one team member do all the work |
Exploits the grading structure |
|
Falsifying data or assumptions |
Breaks professional and ethical standards |
|
Withholding collaboration from your team |
Undermines team learning and trust |
If in doubt, ask your instructor. The goal here is to build professional trust, not play “gotcha.” You will be treated like an adult—so act like one.
Integrity Is Leadership
People often think of integrity as a set of rules to follow. In this course, we treat integrity as a leadership trait.
When you speak honestly, meet deadlines, ask for help, and take responsibility—you build trust. And in project work, trust is currency. Without it, nothing moves.
So be generous with your collaboration. Be transparent with your questions. And take pride in the fact that what you submit is a product of shared effort, shaped by thoughtful choices, and built with integrity.

