I had 1 assignment for our class, it was about making an OSHA Guideline Manual. The students worked in groups. 1 specific group so grossly plagiarized, we are talking every page almost in its entirety, that I was stupefied. I had no idea how to handle this. I spoke with several other instructors and then with the department head. In all honesty I did not think they did it to plagiarize, I think they really had no idea how to NOT plagiarize. Although I had given them numerous opportunities to discuss their assignments, this group never utilized those opportunities. School policy mandated dismissal. I could NOT bring myself to doing that, knowing this was an inadvertent case and completely unintentional. So instead I chose to grade their assignment accordingly, based on the rubric. They received a 37 out of 200. It was appalling. However, I did clarify to them upon assignment review, the options were limited. Course dismissal or grade accordingly, which would they have preferred? They understood my stance and were appreciative. It was heart-wrenching none the less.
My favorite., however, was the young lady that chose to slide her cell phone onto her lap while taking the final exam. She sat in the very last row, and I saw her, from my seat up in the front, scrolling. Mentally I was going through the "are you kidding me" and "you have got to be out of your mind" statements. I very nonchalantly walked the room, eventually ending in the back of the classroom leaning against the windows. While there, she slowly slid the phone off of her lap back onto a chair beside her, ALL of which I was privy to witness. Without disturbing the remainder of the class, I quietly walked over to her and whispered in her ear "I saw what you did and you know I did. You can consider this a failure for your final" and I walked back up to my desk. A few minutes later she came up and handed in her exam, saying nothing to me. I proceeded to document the entire situation and observation and handed it in to my department chair, who then documented it in the school files. I was completely amazed by her, more in shock than anything. And this was my first class I had ever taught.
Has anyone else faced a situation like this? How was it handled? Do you think I handle;ed either or both of situations appropriately or do you have suggestions for what I should have done differently?
