I would suggest what others have already suggested. Firstly, disregard anything dazarobbo says. If you're looking for logic, you won't find it there. Secondly, find out exactly what your teacher thinks you did and calmly discuss it with him.

If you didn't cheat then you have nothing to worry about.

Have you made your decision yet? Were you able to contact someone from what you said earlier it seemed the professor was avoiding you were you able to reach him?

Is it independent work you're supposed to be doing? Because if it is, you're guilty.

I've read through a lot of the other replies and conversations, so I have a pretty good idea of what's going on here. First off, don't listen to dazarobbo; working with other students is not immediately collusion. Collegiate students are more than welcome to use resources to [i]assist[/i] them in their work, such as researching how to perform a problem, and this can be with peers. You run into trouble when your answers are not your own, such as if you had pulled them from your peers' work. If you sat down with your peer and you both worked to figure out [b]how[/b] to solve a problem - which, as a recent Electrical Engineering grad, I [i]entirely[/i] understand - then I believe you should talk to the professor and explain your case; explain how you and your friend's answers are each your own and your only interaction was assisting each other in being sure you approached the problem the correct way. Before you do that, though, get more information from the professor. You should make this as personal as possible, as the "Student Ethics Board" is only going to see a piece of paper that says you and a friend cheated, and that does not bode well for you. Have the professor tell you, in his own words, what he believed happened and work to argue just that point. You can end up digging yourself deeper if you get upset with him or show too much of your hand. Information is power, in this case, and the more you have on the situation the better chance you will have. Go to the academics office that would handle these issues and inquire on the matter. Do not waste their time trying to prove your innocence or trash talking your professor; that would only hurt you. Instead, ask them what kind of actions wold constitute "[i]Fraud, deceit, or dishonesty in an academic assignment, or using or attempting to use materials, or assisting others in using materials that are prohibited or inappropriate in the context of the academic assignment in question.[/i]" With that, you can start making your case to the professor on how your behavior with your homework does constitute fraud or cheating. The important thing is to keep calm and not to pick fights. Your professor is just trying to do his job and you just happen to get caught up in all this. Maintaining a level head and strongly avoiding yelling, threats, or anything on the lines of "OMG, this is so stupid! I didn't cheat you're just being a giant ass!" is only going to make him laugh and make sure you get the full length of the academic conduct dildo.

How do they actually prove that you're guilty in these situations.

From the Syllabus it self!!! • Although students are encouraged to work with a study group, work submitted by a student for credit must represent that student’s individual effort and his or her own work.

Are you allowed to respond with, "[url=http://conduct.ucr.edu/LEARNPOLICIES/Pages/AcademicIntegrity.aspx]Under UCR's Academic Integrity Policy and Procedures[/url], I am not guilty of Cheating, as there was no fraud, deceit, dishonesty, or inappropriate use of materials pertaining to the academic assignment in question. This situation would more aptly be attributed to the University's policy of 'Unauthorized Collaboration'. So kindly get your -blam!-ing facts straight you pretentious, dimwitted cocksucker of a douche-bag. - Regards, ME - 10 " ? Suppose that you were to mention this discrepancy, I'd also recommend questioning whether your professor [b]explicitly forbade[/b] you students to collaborate on this assignment, or not. And while someone might argue that even if your professor did [b]not[/b] explicitly forbid you from collaboration, then that doesn't actually give you [b]permission[/b] to collaborate with another student, it is still 1) ridiculously poor protocol by your professor for not making his/her intentions clear, and 2) Collaboration and [b]Initiative[/b] ((a.k.a not sucking your thumb like a -blam!-ing dumbass because you can't figure something out)) SHOULD be encouraged, as team-work and synergy is an EXTREMELY beneficial attribute in a human being, and most ESPECIALLY for a civil engineer. *** better to ask for forgiveness than permission . . .( like performing a life-saving emergency medical procedure?)