A Pro-Active Strategy For Helping Students Avoid Plagiarism
By Lynn Fauss, Director of Academic Products & Services
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The Internet is revolutionizing the way educators think about research writing assignments - and approach the issue of plagiarism.
There are many who think the surge in plagiarism incidents on campuses across the country are valid arguments for stiffer penalties, more thorough "detection" systems - or doing away with research writing assignments altogether. This essay suggests that identifying strategies that prevent plagiarism in the first place is a preferable approach - for students as well as educators.
The Internet and Education: boon and bane
In recent years, educators have become more and more vocal about the effect the internet has on the classroom. Some see it as a boon, others regard it as a bane.
Those who see is as a bane tend to emphasize the effect the internet had on the percentages of students tempted to "cheat" on writing assignments. Cheating has always been a factor, of course, but some argue that the Internet has not only increased this factor astronomically - but has transformed writing instructors into a worrisome version of the prose police as well. A quick search on the Internet for "research papers" illustrates the magnitude of the problem: any student can go on the Internet, and with a few clicks (and a valid credit card) download a paper, of nearly any length, on just about any topic imaginable. Or, if the topic has been assigned specifically, students can hire someone to write a special paper, just for you, tailored to the requirements of the instructor.
Those who see it as a boon tend to emphasize the riches of resources available to students on the internet. It is becoming more and more the case, however, that those who embrace the web as a revolution in access to research materials feel the need to address the problem of plagiarism.
In fact, quite a range of suggestions for how to deal with the problem of plagiarism are easy to locate with a simple web search. The strategies suggested in the recent flurry of articles on combatting plagiarism range from using on-line services designed to detect plagiarism to "salting" assignments.
In a study conducted at the University of Illinois (1), it was discovered that students who were warned at the time a research paper was assigned that the instructor would be using a plagiarism detection service were far less likely to plagiarize. Even when instructors follow through with the warnings, though, plagiarism detection services rely entirely on the comprehensiveness of their inhouse database - hardly a foolproof sort of solution, when many of the Internet sites peddling papers offer to write them for the student.
There is also, of course, the method instructors have used for years to combat plagiarism: assigning in class writing assignments that give the instructor a basis for recognizing a student's idiosyncratic "verbal mannerisms." While this strategy usually works for recognizing a plagiarized passage - it is of no assistance whatsoever in providing evidence. That, we all know, requires locating the source from which the passage was pilfered.
Another strategy that seems more promising is that of "salting" the assignment with required sources which must be used.
Recording the research process
One of the more interesting attitudes on this topic comes from Russell Hunt, who argues in an essay entitled "Four Reasons to be Happy About Plagiarism" that the recent surge in the incidence of plagiarism is a welcome turn of events, because it is forcing educators to rethink the reasons for assigning research papers in the first place.
"The assumption that a student's learning is accurately and readily tested by her ability to produce, in a completely arhetorical situation, an artificial form that she'll never have to write again once she's survived formal education (the essay examination, the formal research paper), is questionable on the face of it, and is increasingly untenable." (2)
He argues that an effective way of approaching the problem of plagiarism is to reconsider the fundamental purposes of the research writing assignment. He makes a good point. Research writing assignments are not entirely about the end product (the paper) . . . it isn't a test, but, rather, an assignment intended to help students develop habits of reflection and research that will transfer to their professional work practices:
Ÿ Learning about reference indices, discovering which ones to consult for source materials
Ÿ Engaging a topic, researching what others have said / discovered
Ÿ Synthesizing information, forming an opinoin or a position
Ÿ Articulating that position as a logical discussion that develops an idea etc.
All things considered, there are plenty of good reasons for continuing with the traditions of assigning research papers. The question is: how to ensure that students are actually researching the topic - and learning how to engage a topic and express their perspectives on it.
A quick search on the internet for "anti-plagiarism" strategies returns a veritable library of essays and forensic sites, most of which suggest that the research writing assignment be restructured to include "process" indicators - methods through which students can provide a record of their research process (see the listing at http://citationonline.net/teachingnotes ).
If you like the basic idea of the research writing assignment, and what it teaches students - and you're not fond of the newest hat for writing instructors as that of the "prose police" - you might want to consider this pro-active approach of recording the research process: using Citation as part of the required course materials to structure -- and record -- the research process a student goes through as he/she prepares to write the paper.
Rather than threatening students with detection - and following these promises up with long hours of research on the Internet - these instructors require students to submit a research record along with the paper. What would be an impractical solution for classes where students are storing bibliographic information in paper notebooks, notecards, or even on their computer in word processing documents - becomes very practical indeed with a little help from software.
Database programs like Citation allow students to enter bibliographic information on every source work consulted during the research process, and enter research note records for significant passages in those works. When students are using a database program, it is a simple matter to require that students submit the database with their research along with the paper.
It is a simple solution - one that emphasizes, as well, the basics tenets of the research process rather than the end result. To download a fully functional 30-day free trial of Citation, click here.
See http://citationonline.net/teachingnotes for more information on using Citation in the classroom to prevent plagiarism, or call the publisher, askSam Systems, 800.800.1997 (US) +01.850.584.6590 (International).
By Lynn Fauss
Director of Academic Products & Services
askSam Systems
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(1)Bear F. Braumoeller and Brian J. Gaines, "Actions Do Speak Louder Than Words:
Deterring Plagiarism with the Use of Plagiarism-Detection Software." Teacher December
2001. http://www.apsanet.org/PS/dec01/braumoeller.cfm.
(2)Russell Hunt, "Four Reasons to Be Happy About Plagiarism." Teaching Options
Pedagogiques 6.4 August 2003: 3-5. http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/4reasons.htm.
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