If you copy someone else's work, without acknowledging the source of the information, it is PLAGIARISM which is ACADEMIC FRAUD. Wilfully copying is outright cheating. Forgetting to list the books you looked up in the library is inept. Both types of plagiarism are unacceptable. Read the warning from the College, set out below.
We do encourage you to collaborate with other students,
to discuss your work and to be active in testing out ideas. We want you to read
widely and to show the results of your reading in your coursework. How can you
do this without "copying"? How do you know when you must give a reference
to the source of your information? You will discuss these issues in Engineering
in Context 1 in your first term and practise it in coursework.
Meanwhile, bear in mind these points:
| Read the Warning from the Registrar
of the University of London on the next page. |
'You are reminded that all work submitted as part of the requirements for any
examination of the University of London must be expressed in your own words
and incorporate your own ideas and judgements.
Plagiarism -that is the presentation of another person's thoughts or words as though they were your own - must be avoided, with particular care in coursework and essays and reports written in your own time. Note that you are encouraged to read and criticise the work of others as much as possible. You are expected to incorporate this in your thinking and in your coursework and assessments. But you must acknowledge and label your sources.
Direct quotations from the published or unpublished work of others, from the internet, or from any other source, must always be clearly identified as such by being placed inside quotation marks, and a full reference to their source must be provided in the proper form. Remember that a series of short quotations from several different sources, if not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as does a single unacknowledged long quotation from a single source. Equally, if you summarise another person's ideas or judgements, figures, diagrams or software, you must refer to that person in your text, and include the work referred to in your bibliography. Departments are able to give advice about the appropriate use and correct acknowledgements of other sources in your own work.
The direct and unacknowledged repetition of your own work, which has already been submitted for assessment, can constitute self-plagiarism. Where group work is submitted, this should be presented in a way approved by your department. You should therefore consult your tutor or course director if you are in any doubt about what is permissible. You should be aware that you have a collective responsibility for the integrity of group work submitted for assessment.
The use of the work of another student, past or present, constitutes plagiarism. Where work is used without the consent of that student, this will normally be regarded as a major offence of plagiarism.
Failure to observe these rules may result in an allegation of cheating. Cases of suspected plagiarism will be dealt with under the College's Procedure for Dealing with Examination Offences and may result in a penalty being taken against any student found guilty of plagiarism.
To remind you of your responsibility in this important matter, you are required to sign the declaration on the cover sheet, example overleaf, for each coursework presentation made solely in your own name.
Undergraduate Coursework Cover Sheet
To download Undergraduate Coursework Cover Sheets click
here for Year 1, Year
2, Year 3, Year
4.
Structure the Report (normally as follows)
| Contents | Introduction | Discussion (include objectives) |
| List of Figures | Objectives | Conclusions (often with Recommendations) |
| List of Tables | Method/Equipment used | References |
| Nomenclature | Results/Data (These may be repeated) | |
| Summary | Analysis (for each part of a study) |
The day-to-day activities of a practising civil engineer have more in common with coursework than with examinations and for this reason the coursework mark contribution to the total has been assigned a value of 40%. You must clearly understand the following points about coursework.
• Coursework must be submitted on time and via the Coursework Boxes next to the Student Letter Racks on Level 2, (unless otherwise specified).
• The Coursework Boxes are cleared at 10.00 a.m. each working day when the previous day's date is stamped on the cover page of your work. Your submission, and submission date, is recorded in a central register. It is then directed to those who will assess it.
• In order to facilitate prompt and correct transmission of your coursework to the markers, you are required to place a Coursework Cover Sheet on the front of your submission. You must put the submission date of the coursework assignment that was set by the coursework setter, i.e. if you were asked to submit a piece of coursework no later than 6 December, you should write 6 December as the submission date on the cover sheet. Any coursework submitted before the submission date will be date-stamped on the day it was submitted in the Coursework Boxes.
• This sheet must contain the Declaration on Plagiarism.
• You must sign the "Declaration" as your own work.
| Failure to follow this procedure
may result in you obtaining no credit |
During times where there may be difficulties arising from unavoidable bunching of coursework, you are asked to speak with your Student Representatives who will communicate with your Year Co-coordinator. S/he will liaise with the Subject Co-ordinators concerning the possibility of extending the coursework deadline. Any modifications to the deadlines of coursework submissions must be communicated to the Undergraduate Office.
Late coursework must still be submitted via the Coursework Boxes . A penalty for lateness will be applied in every case and the penalty is absolute:
a. For a submission which is date-stamped up to seven
days beyond the deadline, your recorded mark will be the assesssor's mark
for your work less 0.1 x the total mark available.
b. For a submission which is date-stamped up to fourteen days beyond
the deadline, the reduction factor will be 0.2 of the total mark available.
c. You will be given no mark for work which is submitted more than fourteen
days beyond the deadline.
A failure in coursework is potentially more serious than a failure in examinations.
Coursework can only be repeated by a full year's attendance at the College, and in the case of First Years you would be denying a place to a Fresher. Since there is little excuse for failure in coursework, the Departmental policy is, in general, not to allow such repetition.
| Therefore students who do not
pass in coursework may be asked to leave Imperial College! |
If are unable to meet the deadline for a coursework submission for medical reasons, you must provide the Senior Tutor with a letter of explanation and, where appropriate, a doctor's certificate. A note from your Personal Tutor may also be helpful, so please ensure that you inform him/her. Under these circumstances, the coursework must still be submitted via the Coursework Boxes. Please write a brief not on your coursework giving the reason for the late submission. Any confidential certificates/letters should be submitted direct to the Undergraduate Office.
The same guidelines apply as with Illness. Please keep you Personal Tutor or the Senior Tutor informed.
| Any correspondence pertaining
to illness or personal issues is treated in the strictest confidence. |
Projects form an important component of our degree courses, and the two major projects are seen as particularly important. This is reflected in the marks attached to their completion, click here to view the marks allocated to major projects.
We believe that project work is important to develop:
· The ability to assemble detailed factual information to arrive at a
rational conclusion.
· Time and project management skills.
· Team working skills.
You will be completing two major projects, which will be marked to the Criteria for the Marking of Projects and Related Coursework Exercisies. The first in Part III, when students are required to undertake a Group Design Project. This is organised as a 5-week block of time following your examinations, allowing you to concentrate solely on the project work.
| The second major project, undertaken in Part IV, is research-based and carried out individually. You will be offered possible project titles late in Part III at which time you must choose a suitable title with the relevant member of staff. You will be expected to make progress on the project throughout the year, and submit an Interim Project Report during the first two weeks of the spring term. This report carries 10% of the overall weighting of the project, and comprises a brief review of the subject area, a preliminary table of contents of the project and a short oral presentation to the project supervisor. The interim report must be bound into the final report prior to submission. As in Part III, a full-time 5-week period will be available to complete the work following the examinations. You will receive a full set of all papers referring to the Individual Project during the first week of your Part IV Autumn Term. |
As a Quality Assurance mechanism, all projects undertaken by both Year 3 and Year 4 students are approved by Moderation Panels, to ensure that they are of an appropriate and comparable standard. All projects are reviewed by the External Examiners at the end of year meeting of the Board of Examiners for Civil & Environmental Engineering.
The Project Moderation Panels operate under the aegis of Professor Wheater, the Chairman of the Board of Examiners in Civil & Environmental Engineering.
Year 3 Group Design Project Moderation Panel
This Panel is made up of three academic staff led by the Professor of Civil Engineering Design. The panel is responsible for approving or amending project proposals received from supervisors. All members of the panel attend the weekly timetabled critical review sessions between student groups and their supervisors and contribute to the supervisors' marking of these sessions.
After the final presentation of each project and its marking, the panel reviews the assessment of each phase of each project and of the relative contributions of individual students within each group. The main purposes of the moderation are to ensure consistency of assessment between disparate projects and normality of marks in relation to the guidelines set down for this purpose.
Year 4 Individual Project Moderation Panel
The membership of this panel for the moderation of final year projects is drawn mainly from the Professoriat of the department. Membership of this 4-person panel is for a term of three years, the final year as Chair.
Project proposals are collated by the Year 4 Coordinator and circulated to the panel for approval. They are then returned to the Year 4 Coordinator, who actions any changes for re-approval by the Chairman of the panel. The proposals are then made available to students in electronic form.
The panel re-convenes for three to five days prior to the External Examiners' visit to moderate the projects and assess supervisors' reports, the latter including marks awarded by the supervisor and the second marker, as well as comments on the work.
In the moderation process all projects are reviewed by two members of the panel and, in cases of concern, by all four. Where a mark adjustment of more than 3% is proposed, the panel discusses the work with the supervisor(s) of said project(s).