Plagiarism in the Digital Age: Voices from the Front Lines
Plagiarism in the Digital Age: Voices from the Front Lines
Moderator: Renee Bangerter, Asst. Professor of English, Fullerton College
Donna BellAcademic Integrity Officer
Ryerson University
William ConnollyPresident
Student Council on Academic Integrity, Bentley University
Dr. Teresa FishmanExecutive Director
Center for Academic Integrity, Clemson University
Dr. Jon Radue, Professor
Brock University
Panel:
What’s Happening on College Campuses Today?
-Teddi Fishman, Director Center for Academic Integrity, Rutland Institute for Ethics, Clemson University
Research, including Don McCabe’s Academic Integrity Survey, consistently shows us that :
Students cheat more than most people (including teachers and administrators) expect.
Students’ perceptions of what constitutes “serious” academic dishonesty differ from those of teachers and administrators
We have plenty of data to show us what is happening.
Our ability to affect the “what” depends on our ability to address the “why.”
Variations: This is what you have to do to get ahead
in the real world All that matters is that I get it done
Subtext: I’ll be at a disadvantage if I don’t cheat.
Product/outcome based evaluation
High-stakes assessments
Uses (consequences) of assessments
Variations: I’m not hurting anyone It’s not like it really matters
Subtext: This activity doesn’t have any value
Fragmented learning,
Acontextual information,
“Temporary” (disposable) knowledge
Lack of transference
Process based assessments
Varied evaluations
“Room to fail”
Visibly related (dependent) courses
Cumulative learning
Culture of learning:
Everybody isn’t doing it.
What they are learning has value.
Test scores and grades are a means to an end, not an end in an of themselves.
-William Connolly, President Student Council on Academic Integrity, Bentley University
Plagiarism is not always intentional Professors Assume we will always try to
cheat Administration Assumes that students
know everything about Plagiarism There are grey areas of Plagiarism that
must be considered
Immense Pressure Parental Social Peer Personal
• Grades are heavily stressed• Less emphasis on learning
than on performance• They can get away with it
Integrity is a culture, not a mandate Emphasizing Rules and threatening
students with punishment only intensifies the problem
Schools need to promote the benefits of integrity on a broader level▪ i.e. Why is it beneficial not to cheat?
Building Values that will influence behavior▪ Students who believe plagiarism is wrong will
not do it!
Peer Motivation Theory Growth/Change from the Ground Up
Throughout childhood education, Administration pushes importance of avoiding plagiarism Students respond more positively to
their peers! If cheating is not cool, students will not
do it!
High School VisitsCampus EventsFaculty Presentations“State of Integrity”Promotional material during finalsDiverse Student Membership
Our group is cool
Executive Board: Bryant Roche-Bernard, Pablo Pareja, Jimmy
Palombo, Daniela Carlacci, Chris Liptrot
Other Important Group Members: Gregg Grenier, Kristen Mausert, Jori Layton, Brittany Dixon, Sierra Fontaine, with help from many others.
Advisor: Coralee Whitcomb
(All Pictures from Google Images)
-Donna Bell, Academic Integrity Officer, Ryerson University
Students have easy access to technology “that enables them to dance around academic integrity by cutting and pasting, photographing notes and text messaging test answers to each other, do we throw in the ethical towel or do we, as educators, consider this an opportunity to change our pedagogical approach”.
-(International Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society at http://t05.cgpublisher.com/proposals/198/index_html )
Look at how technology is being used to promote academic integrity and how students are using technology to further their learning.
look at ways technology is being used to plagiarize and cheat.
present tips on how technology may be used to engage students in learning.
There are 3 main ways technology can be used in a positive way in the classroom:
Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as a Lever (The TLT Group, AAHE Bulletin). http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html
Examples of Student Activities (Penn State World Campus) https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/public/faculty/studentactivities.html
Create your own “electronic reserves” system
Directly link to articles from Blackboard via the Library’s databases
Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT): http://www.merlot.org/
World Lecture Hall: http://web.austin.utexas.edu/wlh/
04/10/23
Turnitin Webinar Series-- Plagiarism in the Digital Age: Voices from the Front Lines Webinar #1: What's Happening on College Campuses Today plagiarism.org
Turnitin.com
Google searches by entering in the phrase you suspect with quotes
Using www.find-same.com
Using on-line technology to help educate students through workshops/tutorials/modules
Ways in which technology may be used negatively in the classroom:
On-line test cheating
Sharing of electronic files between students
Cell phones/text messaging
Mp3 players
Calculators
Editing services that go beyond editing
Online access to instructor manuals /testbanks
‘Ugly’ ways in which technology has been used in the classroom:
Indiana University School of Dentistry students hacked into password-protected files to view test materials.
Purchasing papers from online paper mills.
Submission of false documents created using technology.
How Technology CAN HELP in Blackboard
Have students post topic on discussion board.
Keep an online research “log”.
Use an online “journal” for reflective purposes.
Villano (2006) suggestions for responsible internet use
sources for a plagiarized paper - first three pages of a search return.
Use of Questia
McMurty (2001) tips to combat e-cheating
Know what’s available online before assigning a paper.
Design assignments with specific goals and instructions
Require oral presentations or have students submit an explanation of thesis statement and research process
Have students submit essays electronically
“Technology didn’t cause cheating, it only made it easier”
(Harned & Sutliff, 2004, Academic Honesty: Teaching Kids Not To Take The Easy Way Out, www.njpta.org/committee/chared3.html)
-Jon Radue, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
• Deter
• Dialog
•Defend
• Detect
• Discipline
• Define
Complete online tutorials Attend Student Development
Centre/Library presentations on time management, Library research, essay writing, and many other relevant information literacy skills Know how to quote, paraphrase and
summarize Know when, and how, to use and cite a
quotation, a paraphrase, a summary Other web sites (e.g. Berkeley, OWL)
Know the submission requirements Know the citation style required (APA,
MLA, …) Know if group work is acceptable/how
much collaboration is allowedYou should be informed (in Syllabus)
if submission to a phrase detection site (such as Turnitin) is required
Ask for clarification
Take care of your work/know your computer Backups to a dated secure site USB Key (handle with care!) Printouts Save drafts Consider locking/encrypting documents Clear a public/lab computer's cache, and
logoff
Don't let others influence your work McCabe's Hypothesis
Be careful of how you help others If requesting help, or working
collaboratively, don't record ideas/solutions
Ask others to proofread your work to detect possible citing and other problems
You are already keeping copies of your own work (on your Institution's email server)
Keep a copy of resources consulted easy with Zotero
Similarly, keep copies of printed book/journal title pages, and relevant other pages
Keep a journal/log of all your work Maybe via Zotero, with tags identifying work
consulted, but not used
Contribute to group workAs part of a group, ensure that you
can prove the originality of your work if someone else in the group plagiarizes
Take care with note-taking/research Mark a paraphrase you developed with a P; a quote with Q; a summary you wrote with S; your own words with M; and common knowledge with C
Use RefWorks or Zotero to keep the full reference (and more) for each piece of work
Be aware of your environmentAsk for permission to 'recycle' your own
papersAsk Professor if you can hand in work in
stages—Lit review, hypothesis, first draft, …
Submit to a phrase matching site such as Turnitin (try Writecheck.turnitin.com)
Get to know the TA or Professor
There are several good programs and Web sites available to encourage you to start writing early OWL Writer's Block, Treepad, … Mind Mapping Time Management …
Give credit to your sources It strengthens your own work Lipson's Laws
And remember, "over-citing is no oversight"
Know the procedure Contact the Student Ombudsperson Don't panic—you are not guilty until proved
otherwise Collect and organize all your relevant
work A printout from Zotero is easy and
comprehensive Ask to see any computer reports
(Turnitin) Be honest and calm There is usually an appeals process
plagiarism.org Center for Academic Integrity
http://www.academicintegrity.org/ 2009 Annual International Conference
Oct. 16-18, Washington U., St. Louis, Missouri
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