Collaboration Do's & Don'ts

Writing and submitting code written with the help of LLMs such as ChatGPT and Copilot is strictly prohibited in this class! 🥺

Not to worry though, you can collaborate with your peers in this class and get help from our course staff!

What does this mean?

High level discussion of code logic is permitted
You can use our Discord server (linked in the Home Page) to talk to your peers to help you get a nudge in the right direction (tutors are on there too 👀)
- Discord will not be the official way to seek help from our staff. We will only be there to monitor the discussions ongoing. If you need help from the staff, please visit office hours for conceptual questions or tutor hours for PA related questions.

Good Collaboration Example

In this case, Broadwell answered in a high level manner that gives Foreman a sufficient nudge in the right direction without giving away the answer completely.

Linking to a website that has pertinent information such as StackOverflow or Geeks for Geeks is also a good way to collaborate.

Referring someone to in-class examples is also a great way(perhaps the best for learning 👀 due to repetition) to collaborate.

Bad Collaboration Examples (what you should avoid)

In the above picture, Broadwell is being condescending. This is not conducive to learning and is an example of bad collaboration.

Also don't do the above! This outright violates Academic Integrity.

Also don't do this! Even if it is not on the shared server, this behavior outright violates Academic Integrity.

TLDR

In essence, don’t directly copy code from each other.

The work that you submit should be wholly original and authored by you.

Don’t send pieces of your code to others to get them to fix it for you and vice versa. However, high level discussion of code and sharing of code snippets to get out of ruts (we’ve all been there 😳) is totally fine.

NO! Any such submissions will be flagged as an AI violation and strict action will be taken.

Warning for using features beyond course curriculum!

Prompting the LLM to give you a piece of code to then copy it is not only strictly against the policy but is also very easy for course staff to detect. In this example, GPT used variable length arrays (VLAs) to implement the function (i.e., int arr[n]). The course curriculum does not cover variable length arrays as it is considered to be an advanced C topic and it doesn't work with all versions of C.

This not only applies to LLMs (which are not allowed) but also if you have previous background knowledge in C. Please only use C features that have been taught in the course.

Such implementations will be flagged and the staff will conduct an in person code review with the student. If the student is unable to explain their code thoroughly during the code review, then they will be reported to the academic integrity office.

FAQs

Can I talk to other students in the class in person and discuss assignments?
- Absolutely! We even encourage you to form study groups and work together on assignments as long as you are learning from each other and are not just copying and pasting code without understanding.

Can I use higher level concepts that we didn’t cover in this course if they still work correctly?
- Be weary of such implementations as in such cases you will be invited for an in person code review to explain your code. All problems in this class can be solved using in class concepts and such submissions will be flagged for Academic Integrity.

I tried everything but I still cannot figure out how to work out my problem.
- TA office hours and Tutor hours are by far the best tool to get out of such situations. Stop by anytime for help 😊

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