Academic Honesty and Submitting previously submitted assignments
In economics, researchers use working papers as a method of improving the quality of their research.
Do you feel that students should submit previously submitted papers for an assignment? and if you do allow these previously submitted assignments, what are additional requirements that you enforce?
Albert,
Very well put. I don't believe in punishment focused strategies. As instructors, we have many "teaching moments" as you mention and isn't that why we are in teaching? We teach more than just the content of a course. Students learn such much outside of the course content as well.
Herbert Brown III
I will allow a student under my university's policy to resubmit an assignment to earn additional points unless I determine that the assignment contained evidence of academic dishonesty. I refer the paper to the university's committee to review my concerns for academic dishonesty.
I will encounter instances of a "teaching moment", if the academic issue is minor and not deliberate, I will accept the assignment and award the appropriate number of points. I will not refer this assignment to the university for academic discipline.
I will allow a student to submit the correct assignment if the original submission was submitted in error. That is, I receive a marketing paper for my economic course.
If a student has totally missed the mark, I allow a revision only if they discuss the revision and agree on the maximum points that could be returned to the grade book.
I consider every communication with a student as a teaching opportunity and avoid, whenever possible, making an evaluation a time for "punishment"
Trina,
I try to change up the details on my assignments each semester to add variety, update the assignment, and encourage new thought. This also helps to ensure that students cannot reuse work from previous semesters. They can go back and look at previous work for ideas but the content of the assignment changes enough that they have to redesign it.
Herbert Brown III
I find that if the assignments are well written they will be specific enough that previously created work will not fit the assignment requirements. When I grade these assignments I post the actual assignment description in the grade analysis and itemize with parts of the assignment are accurate and which parts don't fit. Then I go through the rubric and grade the assignments accordingly. If none of the parts of the assignment fit I will grade accordingly and say that perhaps the student has submitted the wrong assignment and would they like to resubmit a new assignment. Usually if the assignments are too far off the mark I will offer to let the students to resubmit the assignment. This usually fixes the problem and students rarely try to submit a previously created assignment more then once.
There is a difference between submitting a paper to satisfy two different courses and resubmitting the same paper for a course that was retaken.
In economics we often write working papers, presentations, etc all of which are the same paper with changes made to address the different audience. Anytime a student re-uses a paper, the student must post the previous "versions" in the Reference List. However the each version should e different and represent improvement.
I always think back to when I was an undergraduate. I actually scheduled courses so that I would likely be able to write a paper and submit it to multiple classes. I thought that was smart not dishonest. I was actually in my PhD program before anyone every said anything about it being inappropriate. Fortunately, at that level it didn't come up on my end to cause embarrassment. I have told students that if they want to resubmit a paper (usually if they are retaking a course) they need to clear it with me first. If they do so, I'm pretty open to it recommending that they at least rework it for a better grade.
Thank you for the suggestion to request a copy of the previouse version.
But I must ask my Lead Fauculty (my supervisor) if I can request that as a requirement under our current policy.
Excellent suggestion. Albert
Michelle ,
I have seen positive and negative results of using TurnItIn and SafeAssignment. As long as we are using it as a "tool" to examine work, which is its intention, then I believe they are great tools. I have seem some instructors use it to fail students that had even relatively low scores on these tools - that is a stretch.
Herbert Brown III
It depends on the class and the type of paper.
I ask the student to submit a copy prior to my making a decision.
If I do say yes, the student has to considerably expand on the content.
Of course, students can slip one by an instructor. However, I've learned that TurnItIn and SafeAssign actually catch the bulk of those.
Kimberly,
Students really appreciate specific detailed examples like this, even more than detailed expectations. Expectations and even rubrics are important, but students can really see what they are supposed to do with an example.
Herbert Brown III
Exactly, I don't have the time to try and teach the basic writing skills to a class but what I do is attach a "Essay example" in the Course Question thread at the beginning of the course.
The example provides a copy of a Cover Page (some student do not know what that is), the basic elements of an essay (introduction, body of essay, conclusion, reference page), and there is an example on how to list a reference (textbook, web address). I also remind them to proofread their work for grammar errors.
Kimberly
Albert,
Oftentimes we want to include more grammar, citation, and research skills and don't have time in our classes to cover it. This is where we can use good outside resources (web site, etc.) or writing centers through our institutions to help students that need more assistance with these topics.
Herbert Brown III
My responsibilities for classes concerns principles...I do not usually have time in the syllabus to include good literature research skills
I do spend time on proper citation and the justification for valid research findings.
Jeffrey,
It depends in what experience they bring to the class and what level class and content we are discussing. An introductory course where you might assume that students only have a basic understanding of research, I would suggest you need more details and examples that detail how to do research and how to quote research articles. You can't just give an APA manual to a beginning student. You can help them use online reference tools, have mini-assignments where students practice paraphrasing information and citing it. What have been your experiences? What types and levels of courses and students are you working with?
Herbert Brown III
What do you find works well for teaching a new student how to research and incorporate research into their writing?
At my online institution, the facilitator has the option to allow resubmissions.
I set the rules for resubmission and for granting extensions. I set a max number of points that I will remove for submitting an assignment after a due date.
At my online institution we are allowed to accept previously submitted assignments. If a student elects to resubmit a previously submitted assignment, the earlier versions MUST be stated and posted in the reference list. I use Turnitin and the student's reference list to determine the level of academic honesty. If a student elects to resubmit a previously submitted assignment, they lose the right to appeal based on a previous instructor's evaluation of their work…… in short, my evaluation stands unless the student appeals MY specific evaluation of their work.
At the University I currently teach at, they allow students to resubmit work for a course they may have previously taken and they are taking again. The issue with this is that you get a very high similarity score and you don't know it is the student's work. In addition, your grading style and your grading style may be different and the student may get a different grade. This causes conflict between the student and the teacher. The previous instructor may have graded the paper differently.
Thanks, Nina Miville
In both traditional and in the online class room I set rules to allow students to develop their critical thinking and their skills.
I provide instruction in economics to freshmen in traditional setting and in economics to mostly part time working adults.
All of my re-submissions and additional work remains within the institution's policy. I allow students redo and resubmit if the reason for the poor performance is poor math or poor statistical skills. I hold student accountable for missing "the purpose of the assignment" and for a clear disregard for writing standards.
My online institution provides additional assistance with students that need tutoring in math and writing.
When I allow students to redo, I provide limited comments and ask them to engage "me" as they redo their work. Every student is different; the identical comment for the same mistake is not always appropriate across students... why? each student is at a different level of development
Albert,
In certain courses I do allow resubmission of work. In a business writing course we offer the coures is considered a developmental, junior writing course for our students. In this course students submit their best initial work. It is graded and students can resubmit their work one additional time for extra points. The extra points can be a percentage of the difference in their original grade and 100 or it might be a set number of additional points they can earn up to the max. of 100. This way if a student doesn't put forth any effort for the first submission, they can't turn a 20 in to a 100, but they can certainly improve greatly on the original grade. I use a TabletPC and annotate student work with the inking features in Word. This way they get the written feedback with proofreaders marks and they have to fix the file. If I used the reviewing features in Word all the student would have to do is "accept all changes" and submit the work again. These things work for me.
Herbert Brown III
