Plagerism
Plagiarism is a policy that I strongly believe in. I clearly state the Plagiarism policies in my announcements. I even go the extra mile by telling the students that I check and report all offenders. In one of my classes, on the very first week there is a “Piracy†assignment that can be found at Yahoo answers. Still with these warnings I get a paper each new class with the information, word for word. The worst part of it all is that the opinion is incorrect. I have a complete rebuttal for the wrong answer.
I have even had a student ask me if she could do extra credit for the “Zero†she earned. That has never worked so far. I do understand if a student has some information that is missing a citation. In these cases I will ask the students to give me the citation.
Antonio,
The use/misuse of intelectual property (IP) is an important lesson to get right in postsecondary education. I'm glad you are putting the effort to assist the learners with understanding this important, honesty issue. You are right to provide some leeway (with citation) and give opportunity to correct, while not permitting plagiarism to go uncorrected. Thank you.
I agree with your efforts as well. We require students to use the "Turn It In" resource which allows them to see the areas of concern.
Kerri,
"Turn It In" is a good tool for this. I have heard there are some free tools available that are not as robust but may help some schools with a smaller budget. Does anyone on this thread have any resources to share with the folks here?
Thanks.
Antonio, I agree with you as well. I follow up and submit those egregious acts of plagiarism. Some acts may not be deliberate; for those I provide counseling and direct students to the appropriate resources provided by the school. I also use the terms "lack of original work" for too much copy/paste. What percentage is too much?
Both of the online schools that I facilitate use Turnitin. They use it differently, but it is used.
At one school, I can see the source of the match. At the other school, I have to request to see a paper and then follow a process.
What are your thoughts on a student reusing his/her own work. It is their intellectual property. Correct?
Sandra,
Your insights to the procedures of the institution are a major component of the specific action to be taken with any individual case of plagiarism. I like your distinction between deliberate action and students who may have acted in ignorance. We must remember these are still students and many have not had the opportunity to understand this particular dynamic of writing. Our ability to coach them and provide them with a learning experience is of primary importance. Very nice. Thank you for your insights and contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Sandra,
Plagiarism is a major source of concern in post secondary education especially in online schools. Many schools are now using “turn it in†and other tools to check students’ work. To my surprise some students have opened online shops where they sell course discussion questions and main responses for fees. One of my students actually put for sale our entire class modules and major responses. This was viewed as egregious, the student was dropped from class and the website was brought down. For student re-use of their work for the same course, this would depend on university policies but I generally ask that they update content and reference sources with more current information.
Austin
Austin,
Your comments are very germane. I agree that a student should update their work during retake of the same class if they are permitted to submit the same assignments.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Hi Antonio,
Yes I do agree with your issue on resubmission once the student has already plagiarized. This is unfair to the other students in the class.
This student is being rewarded for a negative behavior if you allow them to resubmit work that they initially plagarized.
There are many cheat sheet websites, and I actually post these websites under my instructor files to let my students know that these sites are not recommended sites and should not be used.
That seems to help.
Dr. Shirley Chuo
I agree. I also go to great lengths in my classroom announcements to discourage plagiarism, yet there is usually someone in every class that tries it. It continues to surprise me and I feel it is a side effect of our "me" generation.
This is another part of our roles as educators to teach the right and wrong use of IP.
Dale,
The use of IP seems to be one of those 'relative morality' issues. I have had some students respond that it is okay to pirate movies and songs, as long as you don't have the money to pay for them and really, really want them. "The right and wrong use of IP" seems to be an a la carte morality to so many of our students. It is not difficult to understand why the uncredited use of another's writing is of little concern to so many.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Antonio
Have you used Turnitin.com?? It is a great system to check for plagiarism.
Thanks
Fred K
I feel this is one of the most important areas to address. I find many students just want to "get the assignment over with" and will lift entire sections of another work to accomplish their goal. Change a word here or there and we're good.
They do not recognize the importance of using their brain and creativity to better themselves.
Robert,
What is your solution and or punishment for plagarism? Do you fail them to get their attention? Do you just refuse to accept the assignment until it is correct?
Herbert Brown III
