Available aids for home exams

The course's web based course description should include the course permitted aids. However make sure to also check Canvas for the permitted aids in each course, changes might occur due to the Corona-situation. Permitted aids should also be stated in the exam questions. 

You are responsible for keeping up-to-date on permitted aids for each exam and have these available for the exam. It is not allowed to use any aids other than those stated as permitted for the individual exam. Taking an exam at home might be quite different from taking your exam at campus. This also applies to the aids you have available during your exams and the possibility to get help from someone.

Please note that the same rules as always apply to plagiarism and cheating and the consequences of such actions. It is thus important that you familiarize yourself with what aids that are permitted for your exams and to make sure that you don't use any aids that are not permitted.

Cooperating with anyone is not allowed if this is not specifically stated as a permitted aid for your exam. 

During your exam, you should show what you have learned by answering the exam questions using your own words and formulations. You are not be tested in your ability to cut and paste from other sources. This is also important to keep in mind if you use notes that contain direct transcripts from lecture foils etc. or eg joint notes with other students and the like.

Make use of available online resources, see links, to learn more about writing academic text, referencing correctly and how to avoid plagiarism and cheating.

Tips for your exam!

• It is important that you familiarize yourself with what aids that are permitted for your exams and to make sure that you don't use any other aids
• It is also important that you learn how to write and cite correctly.
• We encourage you to read the information on this page about cheating and plagiarism. You can also find links to useful tools and digital resources.
• Cooperating with anyone is only allowed if this is specifically stated as permitted for your exam. You will find information about permitted aids in the course room in Canvas, the aids should also be stated on your exam questions.
• NMBU defines cheating as “any act aimed at giving the student an unwarranted study result or an unjustified advantage in evaluating the student achievement.” Any form of plagiarism is considered cheating under NMBU’s examination guidelines.
• Plagiarism can be directly copying or partially reproducing another person’s work or ideas and presenting these works or ideas as your own original work. The most common form of plagiarism occurs when you use another person's work or ideas without indicating the original source where you acquired this information from. When using information another person’s work (written or otherwise), it is important that you include both an in-text citation and a bibliographic reference to the original information source. The NMBU library provides manuals on correct citation and referencing styles and their standards where you can learn how to properly cite and reference.
• Reusing your own writing from earlier assignments and/or examinations also qualifies as plagiarism. This reuse of your own work is considered self-plagiarism, however you can avoid self-plagiarism by using new information sources to reformulate your written ideas. If you reuse any parts of your own text you must remember to cite your own work correctly.

Available aids for campus based exam

The course's web based course description should include the course permitted aids. Permitted aids should also be stated in the exam questions. Only aids that have been commonly used by the students in the course in question and that can be made available to everyone during the examination will be permitted.

Permitted aids for examinations or other form of assessment in a course must comply with the following codes:
- A1: no calculator, no other aids
- A2: no calculator, other aids as specified
- B1: calculator handed out, no other aids
- B2: calculator handed out, other aids as specified
- C1: all types of calculators, other aids as specified
- C2: all types of calculators, all other written aids
- C3: all types of calculators, all other aids – including digital aids.

Inspection of aids

For campus-based examinations where invigilators are used, all aids that the students bring with them will be individually inspected by the invigilators

The student’s responsibility – permitted and non-permitted aids

• You must bring permitted aids to the campus-based examination premises yourselves. This does not apply to examinations where NMBU provides the aids.
• You are not allowed to bring or have access to other aids than those specifically permitted for the examination in question.
• You are responsible for ensuring that the aids you bring with you to campus-based examinations do not contain unauthorised notes. Students are not permitted to borrow or lend aids during the examination.
• Any use of mobile phones or other digital aids containing communication equipment inside or outside the examination venue during a campus-based examination will be regarded as cheating. Exceptions are only made if the examination question paper or course description specify that aids containing communication equipment is permitted.
• Students are not permitted to communicate with each other or other persons during an examination, unless communication has been specified as a permitted aid in the examination question paper or the course description. This applies both to examinations held on campus and home examinations.
• For campus-based examinations, the aid 'all types of calculators', unless otherwise specified in the examination question paper or course description, means calculators that do not contain files, are not connected to the internet, a power supply or a printer, that do not communicate with other units, that do not make a noise and that only consist of a single object.

Dictionaries at campus-based examinations

Students whose first language is not Norwegian are permitted to bring a dictionary between their first language and Norwegian. The rule applies correspondingly if the examination is held in English (also applies to students with Norwegian as their first language for courses taught in English). The dictionary may not contain any own notes.

How to write academic text

Learn more about how to cite and wright correctly . Please also use the e-learning tool Write and cite.

What is cheating and plagiarism?

Cheating is any act aimed at giving the student an unwarranted study result or an unjustified advantage in evaluating the student achievement.

Examples of cheating are listed in this section. The list is not exhaustive.

• Breach of the exam regulations at NMBU may be cheating.
• Cheating may consist in acquiring knowledge of the exam questions prior to the start of the exam with the intention of taking advantage of the knowledge during the exam.
• Actions that on a false basis aim at giving a student benefits during the exam in the form of extended time or additional aids may be cheating.
• Cheating may be to manipulate the submitted exam answers for the purpose of obtaining a better mark.
• Cheating may consist in obtaining access to aids that are not permitted by NMBU's provided aid codes for the relevant written exam. This applies irrespective of whether the illegal aid consists of paper, mobile phone or other equipment, and regardless of whether the aid is in the exam room or other places where the candidate can obtain access to the aid during the exam.
• Cheating may consist in the fact that a submitted assignment has been prepared by another person than the one listed as the examinee.
• Plagiarism is cheating. Examples of plagiarism: Reproduction or quotes from books, articles, websites, own or others' assignments, use of images, graphs and the like without source reference, quotation mark or other acknowledgment in the text / picture / drawing showing where the material is taken from.
• Cheating may consist in the fact that a written answer has been used by the examinee himself for a previous examination, unless such use is agreed upon with the course responsible.

More examples of cheating and plagiarism

• Use of mobile phones or other electronic devices during your exam
• Answers/hand-ins copied from the Internet and completely or partially submitted as one's own work
• Answers/hand-ins that have completely or partially been used by another person at an earlier examination submitted as one's own work
• Answers/hand-ins that have completely or partially been prepared by another person submitted as one's own work
• Answers/hand-ins that have completely or partially been used by the student at an earlier examination without proper acknowledging the source
• Submitted practical or artistic work that has been produced by someone else than the student submitted as one's own work
• Reproduction/quotations from textbooks, other scientific books, other's exams/papers, texts published on the Internet, etc. that are presented without any source reference and without clearly indicating that the text in question is a reproduction/quotation.
• Non-permitted examination support materials used during an examination or test

Consequences of cheating and plagiarism

As a student, you are responsible for becoming thoroughly acquainted with the rules that apply to the use of sources and citations. The same applies to the use of examination support materials. If you are unsure about which rules apply, we encourage you to contact the course responsible or student advisor at your department.

The NMBUs appeals committee decides on the sanctions to be imposed for cheating. The Norwegian Act Relating to Universities and University Colleges of 1 April 2005, section 4-7 and relevant subsections under section 4-8 has provisions stating that cheating can lead to the annulment of examinations and the exclusion of the student.

How cheating and plagiarism can be detected

• By the examination supervisor during or in connection with the examination.
• Random sampling performed by employees in the Department of Accademic Affairs during the examination
• By the examiner when assessing an exam or assignment
• Use of Ouriginal/Urkund - a text recognition program that checks the student's electronically submitted assignment against other students' assignments and texts from the internet.