Breaching academic integrity can have serious consequences. Read John's story to learn more.
Published Date 27/04/2026
John is studying a masters of IT at Monash. When he began working on an assignment about a particularly complex coding concept, he felt stuck. He decided to turn to an AI chatbot for advice. John didn't consider this to be cheating on his assignment because he was simply trying to learn more about coding.
However, John fell sick in the same week his assignment was due and he still hadn't quite grasped what he needed to in order to finish it. This is when panic set in. Rather than seeking an extension or continuing to work on the assignment on his own, John decided to ask the chatbot to generate the code he needed. He copy and pasted from the answer to the assignment and submitted it. What had begun as a genuine effort to build his coding skills with the help of AI had turned into cheating, without John even fully realising it.
What happened next?
It had turned out that multiple students in John's class had submitted answers very similar to his – answers which contained the same code formation and which had not been taught in the curriculum, but was easily found using generative AI. Thus, his teachers became suspicious and notified the Chief Examiner.
A few weeks later, John was surpised to receive a notice from the Chief Examiner of a suspected breach of academic integrity. With only five days to prepare a response, he was very panicked once again.
What did John do?
His friend and classmate, Amit, encouraged him to reach out to the MGA's advocacy service. Amit had found himself in a similar situation the semester prior and his advocate was able to help him through.
When John spoke to an MGA advocate a couple days later, they were able to help him prepare a response. The advocate guided John through the nature of the breach and the process involved in responding to the University, encouraging him to explain his circumstances and ask for leniency.
Although John was unable to avoid facing any consequences for his actions, the Chief Examiner did partially accept his response to be a minor breach of academic integrity rather than a case of academic misconduct. He was permitted to resubmit the assignment for a maximum grade of 50%, enabling him to pass the unit.
Had he not received advice from an MGA advocate, the consequences may have been much more severe.
If you're facing a suspected breach of academic integrity, act now and contact our advocacy service! Email us at mga-advocacy@monash.edu.