Common Description:
Read the following scenario and answer the THREE questions that follow.
Comprehension: Sundaresan was a professor of Corporate Responsibility at a premium management institution. As a requirement of his course, students had to synthesize sustainability challenges, faced by thermal power companies and submit an assignment on them. Though it was an individual assignment, some students sought permission from Sundaresan to work on the assignment as a team. Sundaresan knew that collaboration fosters peer learning, and therefore, allowed them to work in teams. However, he mandated that a team should not exceed three members. While 15 students elected to work individually, another 15 formed teams of three each, and another 10 formed teams of two members each.
Sundaresan was going through the submitted assignments. Team 9, with three members, had impressive exhibits and charts. Later, he discovered that Team 13, with three members, also had the same exhibits and charts. He realized that one of the teams had copied from the other. Hence, he informed both the teams that he would award an F-grade(fail grade) to both the teams for copying.
Later that evening, Aashi from Team 9 called and admitted to sharing exhibits and charts with Aanvi of Team13. Further, she mentioned that Aanvi could not put enough efforts since she lost signi cant amount of time due to COVID-19. Therefore, Aanvi requested for help. However, Aanvi assured Aashi that she would not reproduce the shared content. Aashi requested Sundaresan to punish her and Aanviand spare others as they were not involved.
Which of the following actions by Sundaresan is the MOST appropriate?
E
Step-by-Step Solution
Key idea: This is a shared responsibility and academic integrity question, recognizable by a rule violation within a team setting and a plea for individualized exceptions.
Step 1: Identify the violation. Copying or sharing assignment content to the extent of reproduction is a clear academic violation, regardless of personal hardships or intent.
Step 2: Analyze the team dynamic. The assignment was submitted as a team effort. In academic and professional settings, a team submission implies collective responsibility for the integrity of the entire work.
Step 3: Evaluate the plea. Aashi's request to punish only herself and Aanvi ignores the fact that the submission was made under the team's name. Sparing other team members would be inconsistent and unfair to other teams who were penalized as a whole.
Step 4: Apply the consistency principle. Since the professor initially decided to award an F-grade to both teams for copying, and the violation occurred within the team's submitted work, the penalty must apply to the entire team to maintain fairness and uphold academic standards.
Answer: Punish both the teams by giving F-grades.