Plagiarism
Our school has a student judiciary council that mandates the first plagiarism offense gets you a zero on the assignment. The second is a zero for the class... the third you're out of the program! It's quite severe.
I have come across this problem as well, many of my students do not understand that they are doing anything wrong. I think bringing in a guest speaker like you would be very beneficial. Thank you for the idea.
Hi Shahid,
Plagiarism is not right. To help cath plagiarism there is a great website turnitin that can be utlized free of charge.
Patricia
Do not feel alone the entire electronic Media is doing it.
Hi Stacey,
There is not gray with plagiarism at my institution. Either the student did it or not, and if they did it; they recieve an F in the course and must repeat the course.
Patricia
I have had this happen before as well and it is hard to take the student seriously when you ask them "Did you really think that copying someone elses work was o.k. or was the point of this assignment?" and they respond "Yes, I really did". Protecting yourself by being thorough when you design the project, grading rubric and actually delivering it in class seems like the only way to prevent a loop hole for the student to use that type of excuse. The council or academic integrity policy won't fly if they can place the blame on you for not being specific enough.
Hi Faith,
I feel your policy on plagiarism is fair. I thought about perhaps, the second offense should deem failing the course, regardless if it is with the same instructor or not.
Patricia
We don't have a student judiciary council but first plagiarism is a zero, second for same instructor fail the course, third out of the school. It sounds perfect to me.
Hello Diane,
It is very important to have policies in place so that when these type things happen everyone is treated the same.
Patricia
I think that is a good policy. Our school policy is very similar.
Hello Scott,
It baffles me how someone can turn in someone else's work and use it as their own. It is totally unfair and unethical. I too have a zero tolerance for this type of action. I've known students to be expelled for plagiarism.
Patricia
I address this on first day of class. I will use an example from 5 years ago when a student printed off a business paper right from the company without making any changes. Each student has to put into their own words and not copy word for word. Also, I let them know by taking credit in the working environment for something that is some elses, can lead to termination.
Each student must do all work with 100% honest and ethical behavior. I have zero tolerance for anything less.
Hello Laura,
As long as I can remember even as a student, my teachers always placed great emphasis on plagiarism. You are absolutely correct, students need to be educated about copyright as well. I have realized students know very little about copyright.
Patricia
Unfortunately, as educators we place too much emphasis on plagiarism (which is academic) and not enough emphasis on copyright (which is legal). Many students come to me and are under the impression that they can use copyrighted images so long as they cite the source. Wrong! I make a point of always spending one class session discussing intellectual property laws. I want my students to understand not only what they can and cannot do with someone else's intellectual property, but also how they can protect their own work.
Hi Mona,
My institution has an academic integrity policy as well. Unfortunately, for me I've had to enforce it numerous times. I am the DOE.
Patricia
Our school has an "Academic Integrity Policy". It is great! Clearly defining and spelling out with--no question--the actions that fall under cheating, and plagiarism, this document works as full proof tool in getting the students to understand the ramifications of their dishonest actions. I have unfortunately had to enforce the policy and complete contact report for a few first time offenders. The fact that I have had only one second warning to dealing with, shows that it is effective.
Hello Joshula,
Maybe you should look into adopting the judiciary procedure at your school. Talk to appropriate personnel so that you can make it happen
Patricia
We do not have a plagiarism council, but we have rules. I like the student judiciary idea. Students get mad at the teacher and blame him/her for their offence, and the teacher questions all papers of that student after an offence. So if the students handle students then a student will certainly think twice about doing it again.
Hi Gary,
You're right, he was not so dumb after all. Is this statement meant literally or sarcastically?
Patricia
We had a student who played dumb about almost everything. He was absent from my class and was required to do a make-up report. He did it, albeit late, typed and everything. But, the grammer and vocabulary were not of his mind. So, we Googled a few words from a random sentence and found that this student had copied and pasted somebody else's work that he found on the web. Upon confrontation, he denied it, and then we showed him what we found. "How did that happen" was his response.
This student actually stated that he didn't know he was supposed to hand in his own work. I was scorned by my supervisors for not being clear enough when handing out such assignments. The student re=wrote the paper and it was accepted. This student went on to graduate.
He wasn't so dumb after all!
