It is important for the students to read the class syllabus, plagiarism policy, research and citing sources policy and copyright rules. These items are all important for online learning.
I have noticed that the students are just unaware of these items. I like to place extra emphasis to each item in the very beginning of my class. I have noticed a decrease in assignment without citing the source. I try to help the student understand the importance prior to submitting assignments.
Gracie,
I actually began providing my students (both f2f and online) with an electronic calendar that helps them begin to plan their work schedule. It can be imported into Outlook, Google, and/or printed. It begin really scheduling information then begin to wean them from me doing the scheduling to them doing it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Students need an outline of what is expected of them. So you should provide this for them as their teacher in the first days of class. Also, teachers should model this behavior in their classes.
Edward,
That is a great idea about the side notes. I agree, students should have high expectations regarding being a good net citizen and reminded regularly.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think the proper expectations, along with the proper tools to allow the student to be a good online citizen is a must. Some of the tools could be as simply the understanding of plagiarism and making sure they have research and citing skills. Using an academic honesty policy in your syllabus is a great way to continually reinforce what the student needs to pay attention to. The course I have been part of, always had side notes of reminders of what we needed to be aware of.
Kim,
I like that idea. With the announcements add content. I am going to use that. Thanks for sharing.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hi Kelly,
You can help students to become good online citizens by discussing characteristics that should be conduct in the online class such as being honest and being respectable. You can also highlight best behaviors practice in your weekly announcements.
Kim
Jean,
That is a great idea. Again, students know what you expect and you hold them to it. That is so important.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
In a current Art History Class I instruct we provide a writing template for students to access.
This initiates a clear example of how papers are to be written and communicated for weekly assignments.
Dale,
I agree with you. The more redundancy the more coverage. I hope you are not burning yourself out! Please make sure that you set your work/classroom hours for online students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
It is really simple. What I do, is overkill on the communication. I do this through e-mail, discussion boards and phone calls. I make myself available to work with students I identify as lacking the technical skills. This requires a little extra effort, but in the long run it is worth it to see them improve on those skills.
Michael,
Do you think they just don't know hat plagiarism is or they just don't care? I am finding when students are in a hurry, plagiarism increases. I have found a couple of You Tube clips I make my students watch about plagiarism.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
My biggest challenge in my online classes is cyber-plagiarism. I have found that by announcing in the beginning of the course my attention to detecting plagiarism and noting several of the websites where students frequently plagiarize work seems to decrease the occurrence of plagiarism drastically. I had a case last month where my messages on plagiarism were sent in late due to a scheduling mix-up and the occurrence went from an average of 1 out of 20 to 5 out of 20 in the first week.
David,
What a great post! It can be done online! Isn't it such a great experience for you and for your students when you can give students that learning experience regardless of the modality. You also want to teach students to be able to debate ideas without name calling or personal attacks. That is what education is about!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I help foster an environment where knowledge and experiences can be freely exchanged. Each of my adult students bring valuable experience and insight into the class. Being able to frame their expertise in their current area of study allows others to do the same. Even in situations where students may not agree on the same approach to a given scenario they are able to understand no everyone sees everything the same way.
Jacinda,
Great post. I find that students may know the consequences of plagiarism but don't think it applies to them.
This needs to be communicated regularly.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
An instructor can help students become good online citizens by informing them how to correctly reference sources. The student should also understand the seriousness of citing sources correctly. A student who does not understand may need a little more personal guidance. I find that this is best delivered through a phone conversation with the student. Many times, students do not understand the penalties that accompany plagiarism and have never been taught that is not acceptable in an academic setting.
As a librarian, I do not teach a course. Instead, I collaborate with faculty so that when a student needs coaching on plagiarism or academic integrity, then I can move forward by reaching out to the student. During my time with the student, we do discuss the definition of plagiarism, the types of plagiarism, the penalties, tips to avoid plagiarism, some of the highlights of APA formatting, and the tools that are available to them in the Student Success Center such as writing guides and APA citation examples.
What I have come to realize is that lack of understanding or knowledge is the key contributor to students plagiarizing. There is a common misconception that because information is freely available on the Internet that anyone can assume ownership and use it however they wish. Or, if the textbook was used for the information, then not citing this is also acceptable since the instructor already knows that they are using this as a source for the assignment. My role is to strip way this perception so that students are aware that anytime they are directly quoting or using the ideas of someone else, even when they are presenting it in their own words, it must be attributed back to the original source using citations.
After this presentation, the student receives a live demonstration so that they are connected to the resources that can assist them with their writing skills including the interactive writing labs on essay writing and APA formatting, the Writing Center where they can submit their assignment and receive feedback from a qualified academic coach, and the citation tools available in all of the library databases or other online citation machines.
I find that once students have this knowledge and are aware of the available tools they can access, then this goes a long way to helping them become good online citizens.
Robert,
Great strategies and great point. One of our jobs in higher ed is good citizenship and that includes online. You have to hold students accountable and they will transfer that skill to other online areas.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Good citizenship is a key aspect of the online environment in which I teach. Most of my students have been in the program for almost a year by the time they come to my classes. While they know the importance of good citizenship from previous classes, I make sure to reiterate the concept in my classes as well. Basically, I focus on reminding them that it is important to keep a good citizenship across the board, throughout the whole program. At the start of the class, I go over the syllabus, highlight all the goals and expectations in regards to this aspect. during the grading of their assignment, I highlight either deviance from good citizenship in my comments to students as much as I praise their good citizenship when in line with our school's policy.
