Plagiarism Across Generations
When I first caught students who were plagiarizing papers/essays/reports I was distressed and angry. To me the concept of academic integrity is one every institution and instructor should emphasize. When I spoke to my students, I started to realize some of them, especially the younger students, really just didn't get what it meant to plagiarize.
Saying "don't do it" is one thing. But showing them how not to do it is something else. In my English class I review not only the rules of citation, but also review various specific examples by giving them texts, papers, etc. and having them put them in their own words or cite them in class. I also review what is considered “general knowledge” and doesn’t need to be cited and things that do. I have found when I do this students have so many questions-that there is legitimate confusion. I see this as a generational issue because younger students’ access to technology and online research has been an educational constant, it is instant and represents even a different psychomotor process than the one I learned (checking out a book writing down notes, and handwriting your draft.)
Of course, there are many other issues when it comes to plagiarism, but I have found this helps when it comes to papers, etc....
Hello Summer,
I have experienced the same with students. They simply do not understand what is meant by plagiarizing. As an instructor, it makes you feel really bad to punish someone who obviously did not know they were doing something wrong.
Patricia
I deal with this quite a bit in my online course. There are students that just copy and paste entire web pages and do not reference them; the college policy is to define your own sanctions and then make a report under the academic violations tracking system. I often get a response from the committee telling me that the student "just forgot quotes" and that while my sanctions will stand, the student will remain in the program despite the supposedly strict no tolerance policy.
This is frustrating to me as an instructor; why should I take the time to verify resources and check for plagarized material if the student will essentially be told that their dishonesty is acceptable? I find it hard to believe that if the student had remembered to quote their work that ANY instructor would accept one 1,000 word quote as a viable research project!
I post a variety of resources, sample papers and APA guidelines at the start of each online course, and take pains to provide each student with detailed and specific feedback regarding plargarism, the use of sources, etc. So if that does not matter, should I continue to bother?
Hi Carolyn,
Continue to do your job. I certainly understand your frustration. The student should not be allowed to get away with dishonesty. The student should be reprimanded according to policy.
Patricia
To cut down on the "cut & paste" element of using the internet, I now require my students to hand write their project (taking off points on the rubric if neatness is an issue). If they're still guilty of plagiarism, at least the info will sink in a little more if they have to write it out.
True . . . if hand written, the information will better "sink in", but plagerism is still a crime of theft, and dishonest to boot. Ignorance is no defense in a court of law. The argument that the student didn't really understand what "plagerism" means really is a myth. If you write something down verbatim, it isn't yours. Simple. The concept does not require hours of training. Now the grey area is plagerizing thoughts and proves more difficult to understand and catch. The key is to keep the issue in front of the student, have offences of plagerism consistently enforced by administration, and add components to the assignment that will discourage plagerism . . . ask for viewpoints, pose specific questions for the students to answer within the body of their papers, etc.
Hi Summer,
I agree that some students do not understand what plagiarism is. I had a student last quarter who wasn't intentionally plagiarizing because he was listing his source, but he was copying information directly from the Internet without using quotation marks. He told me that he was taught to do this in high school and had been doing it that way ever since. He was sorry but also glad to learn the correct way to use material.
I do the same things you do in making sure students understand what plagiarism is. I talk about different kinds of plagiarism throughout the quarter and spend a lot of time having students practice putting information in their own words and citing information correctly.
I see one instructor on this forum says he/she has the students hand write their papers. I do the opposite; I require students send me their papers electronically so I can easily search the Internet for sources if I suspect plagiarism (sually it is pretty clear). I can then document the plagiarism comparing what the student submitted with the original information (usually it is an exact copy.)
Despite all my work on plagiarism, every quarter I have at least one student who plagiarizes. I assume it is panic, but I have never had one of these students be honest about it. They usually stay silent or give a weak excuse.
At my school, we too can decide what the punishment is. For a first offense, they lose all the points on the assignment. For a second offense, they fail the class. We also have options to send them to the students ethics committee and to involve their department chairs. I have never heard of a student being dismissed from the college for plagiarism.
I wish my school had a standard policy for dealing with plagiarism, at least across the English department.
Hi James,
You are on point! It makes me angry whenever students play the card, they did not know they were plagiarising. I am like you, this is an EASY concept to understand. The work is not yours--you are using someone else's words/work, but turned it in as if it were your own to get credit.
Patricia
Hi Barbara,
At my institution plagiarism is not really big. Sparingly, you will catch a student plagiarizing. We have a policy that the student at a minimum will receive a zero on the assignment. The punishment can be severe as expulsion. We've never had to expel a student because of plagiarism.
Patricia
While working for anothe college we had a student that plagiarized his paper. He was told what was wrong with the paper and given a second chance to redo the report. He plagiarized his second paper. He was told not to come back to school. The question I have is since these are college students why do they not know about plagiarism? Were they not told about it in high school? Do they assume that since they are not in high school and since the reports are harder that plagiarism is allowed?
Ah the questions we must answer before we punish students.
Hi Charles,
They know what plagiarism is. They are trying to play that card. We must reprimand these students.
Patricia
I find that when I introduce the topic of plagiarism at the beginning of every quarter, most students understand that they cannot copy part of a text verbatim and pass it off as their own work. They realize that they need to use quotation marks when they borrow someone else's direct words. However, I run into more problems when I assign research papers and students begin the tricky task of paraphrasing source material. I would say that 90% of my students' "paraphrased" work is plagiarism; the students believe that if they substitute a few synonyms for a few original words, they have created a successful paraphrase. Students get very angry and defensive when they learn that this, too, is plagiarism. To help them avoid doing this, I usually tell students to paraphrase sparingly, and to quote, summarize, and analyze their sources instead. But sometimes paraphrasing is necessary. Does anyone have good techniques for teaching students how to paraphrase?
Hi Krista,
I tell my students when the paraphrase to put the information in their own words, but it must mean what the content is conveying.
Paricia
Recently I finished teaching a course that involved the students writing a Term Paper. I was astounded at the high number of students that claimed to not know what plagiarism is.
I explained what it was and that I would give them the opportunity to revamp their papers to be written in their own words. I am not an English teacher obviously, but I think we have all learned from a very young age that it is very important to explain things using your own words. Am I the only one that sees this this way?
Hi Carriann,
I too am truly amazed by the number of students who act as though they do not know what plagiarism is. I am wondering are they trying to pull the wolves over our eyes.
Patricia
This is a great approach to addressing this problem. I feel like you do; a lot of them do not actually understand what plagiarism is. Helping them to see what it is in order to avoid it is the a great solution to this ongoing problem.
Hi Tangelia,
You're right a lot of students do not fully understand what plagiarism is. As educators, we must educate them starting on Day 1 and continuously what plagiarism is.
Patricia
Hi Summer,
I am not sure about the age, but it is true that the Internet has made copying and pasting almost irresistible.
I, too, try to explain how to properly cite and reference. I also add something along the lines of: 'it's just as if you created a new app for the iPhone but someone else claimed credit for it'.
Will
Hi William,
You put it in plain terms defining plagiarism. Students can certainly relate to this analogy.
Patricia
At our school we have several classes that deal with citations and plagiarism, so all the students understand how important it is.
