plagiarism and the online classroom barry gilmore lausanne collegiate school march 28, 2008
TRANSCRIPT
Plagiarism and the Online
Classroom
Barry Gilmore
Lausanne Collegiate School
March 28, 2008
A father is suppose to wish the best for his children, but Pap seems to dislike the idea that his on is getting an education, becoming better that who he was. The new judge in town returns Huck to Pap because he privileges Pap’s “rights” over Huck’s welfare—just as slaves, because they were considered property, were regularly returned to their legal owners, no matter how badly these owners abused them. “You think you're better'n your father, now, don't you, because he can't?” These examples teach us something about Huck and about society. Huck is at the center of countless failures and breakdowns in the society around him, yet he maintains his characteristic resilience.
What are the options?
A father is suppose to wish the best for his children, but Pap seems to dislike the idea that his on is getting an education, becoming better that who he was. The new judge in town returns Huck to Pap because he privileges Pap’s “rights” over Huck’s welfare—just as slaves, because they were considered property, were regularly returned to their legal owners, no matter how badly these owners abused them. “You think you're better'n your father, now, don't you, because he can't?” These examples teach us something about Huck and about society. Huck is at the center of countless failures and breakdowns in the society around him, yet he maintains his characteristic resilience.
Term paper mill
Sparknotes
Original
Online text of novel
“Plagiarism? I’d define it as an easy A if you don’t get caught, and an easy F if you do.”
-Andy, age 15
Part One: The problem
• How?• Why?• Consequences
Part Two: solutions
• Classroom culture• Assignments• School culture
Obligatory Doom and Gloom
• 40% of students have engaged in cut and paste plagiarism• 77% say Internet plagiarism is “not a serious issue”• 15% have submitted a paper taken, in part or whole, from a term paper mill or website
Lausanne Collegiate
School
What’s on the menu?
The types of Internet plagiarism
• Ordering in (term paper mills)• Sure, I cooked that (copying)
• The sampler platter (cut and paste)
• Artificial sweetener (substitution)
• Hamburger helper (paraphrasing)• What’s so good about home cooking, anyway? (too little paraphrasing)• Too many chefs (parent help)
Good Intentions
Intentional? Unintentional?
Downloading a paper
Poor paraphrasing
Peer copyingOver-collaboration
Lack of citation?
Downloadingan entire
paper onlineCutting and pasting to make an
entire essay
Making up sources
Peer copying
Substituting words in a sentence
Cutting and pasting a
sentence or two
Working with a partner too
closely Poor paraphrasin
g skills
Including sources in a bibliography but failing to cite in-text
Taking material directly from a
textbook to answer a homework
question
Intentional Plagiarism
Unintentional Plagiarism
What are they thinking?
Accusation
Admission/Denial
Consequence
How do we respond?
Raising a question
Explanation of student thinking
Explanation of teacher thinking
Learning
Consequence
• Teachers of undergraduates “deal with” about 38% of suspected plagiarism cases • When teachers do pursue cases of plagiarism, over half discuss the rules of citation with students and 48% use “informal counseling” methods
(Nagelson)
First:• Find out why• Discuss the escalation of consequences• Consider two-strike systems (with a record)• Save examples to share (without names)Second:• Failing• Rewriting• Discipline
• Sources on future papers• Involving parents
Involving parents
• Make parents partners through education• Help parents help children:
o pointers for proofingo clear expectations• Move from extrinsic to intrinsic
rewards• Communicate early
• Keep a paper trail
• Focus on learning
Prevention
• Rules of attribution
• Digital literacy
• Research tools
• Assignment design
• Assessment
• School culture
Digital Literacy
• S.E.A.R.C.H.• Peer source checking• Required source analysis• C.A.R.S.
Digital Literacy
S.E.A.R.C.H.
Search using Google Scholar
Examine reputable sources
Assemble a source/search list
Return to Google/Google Scholar
Collect more keywords and sources
Harvest a list of sources (and visit a library)
More to research (my notes)
• instructional rubrics
• alternate assessment
• defending rubrics
• standardizing assessment
• writing assessment
Assignment Design
Typical advice:
• Specific prompts
• Unlikely comparisons
• Personal assignments
Problems?
Assignment Design 2
My advice:
• Student choice
• Staged topic design
• Staged due dates
School Culture
• Unhealthy competition?
• Honor codes• Gender, sports, achievement level• Teacher modeling and discussion
WHEN PRIVATE CAMPUSES
WITH HONOR CODE
LARGE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY
WITH MODIFIED
HONOR CODE
CAMPUSES WITH NO
HONOR CODE
On tests 23% 33% 45%
On written work 45% 50% 56%
Final Thoughts
Grades 3-5
Grades 6-12
Teachers didn’t discuss plagiarism
Teachers did discuss plagiarism
49% 61%
37% 22%
(understood)
(felt it was okay)
1. Realizing and affirming academic integrity as an institutional core value2. Promoting a commitment to lifelong learning3. Establishing the role of teachers as both guides and mentors4. Assisting students in understanding how the Internet can help and also hurt them5. Encouraging students to take responsibility for academic integrity6. Providing assurance that students know and understand expectations7. Creating and using fair forms of assessment8. Decreasing the opportunities students have to be academically dishonest9. Dealing with academic dishonesty when it happens10. Assisting with defining and supporting campus-wide academic standards for behavior.
