Cheating
Plagarism is a huge problem, but it can be reduced by having students write "respose" papers which are essentially their opinions on subjects. This allows the instructor to familiarize themselves with the student's language and grammar thusly making it easier to prove if they are cheating. It also faciliates class discussion as they are voicing their opinions.
that is a great idea! We use turnitin.com among other programs to catch plagarism. I also google a couple of lines if I suspect anything. Do you have any ideas to discourage it? I guess they just have to get caught and fail my class.
Hi James,
Learning the hard way is the best teacher...getting caught. We simply talk about the repercussions to deter plagarism.
Patricia Scales
Wow that is a great idea!!! I will be using the turnitin.com tommorrow when my class emails there reports to me..
Luckily, I've only had to deal with this once. It was for a HW assignment, not an exam. A student copied WORD FOR WORD the exact same paper from another student. I knew that the student who gave the paper didn't realize that the other student was going copy b/c she always came to class and the other student missed a lot of classes. I still spoke to both students and made the student who copied redo the paper with a reduced grade. I alerted the program chairs as well.
As for exams, all my exams are short answers and they are open book/notes. Even though they use their books/notes, they still have to know material to properly answer the question. Some questions are detailed and those are worth 25-30 points.
Hi Glenn,
The student that gave the other student her paper should really thank you because she was just as guilty. You do not give your work to other students. You never know what that student is going to do with your work. They both got off real easy.
Patricia Scales
