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“Not Another Plagiarized Paper!": Strategies for Helping Students Avoid the Plagiarism Trap

This article discusses the reasons why students plagiarize, the cultural and situational differences that complicate the concept of plagiarism, and techniques to combat plagiarism. It also presents the REAP and GIST techniques to help students properly use sources.

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“Not Another Plagiarized Paper!": Strategies for Helping Students Avoid the Plagiarism Trap

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  1. “Not Another Plagiarized Paper!": Strategies for Helping Students Avoid the Plagiarism Trap Patricia Becker-Johnson, Teacher Education Kate Mangelsdorf, English (Rhetoric and Writing Studies)

  2. We know why students plagiarize… • Students are deceitful • Students are lazy • Students can’t write • The English Department isn’t doing its job

  3. Why Students Say They Plagiarize • I’m desperate • I need an A in this class • I don’t understand how to document sources • I don’t have enough time • I didn’t think anyone would really read my paper

  4. Our Responses to Plagiarism • Emotional Responses * Disappointment * Anger * Betrayal of Trust * Insult • We focus on detection, not instruction

  5. Complicating “Plagiarism” • Postmodern concepts • Cultural assumptions • Situational differences • Accidental • Deliberate

  6. “Plagiarism”: Postmodern Assumptions • Is there new information out there to be found? • Bakhtin (1981) argues words do not belong to a single individual… • Every word spoken or written draws on ideas of others • Newton: to see farther we must stand on the shoulders of giants

  7. “Plagiarism”: Cultural Assumptions • Individualistic cultures • Truth derives from original insight • Authors own their own texts (capitalism) • Intellectual property laws

  8. “Plagiarism: Cultural Assumptions • Communal Cultures • Truth derives from the group • Texts are communally owned • Using words of others is sign of respect • Memorization of respected texts

  9. “Plagiarism”: Situational Differences • Speechwriters • Ghostwriters • Boilerplate language • Collaborative workplace writing • Mission statements • SACS verbiage

  10. “Plagiarism”: Accidental • Students don’t understand why citing sources is important • Students don’t transfer what they learned in first-year composition to other classes • Students forget because they don’t write very often • Students think only English teachers care

  11. It’s Not Easy to Correctly Use Sources! • Cognitive challenges • Linguistic and rhetorical skills • Knowledge of the discipline

  12. Cognitive Challenges • You need to . . . • Understand what you’re trying to say • Understand what the source is saying • Understand how your idea connects with the source’s idea

  13. Linguistic and Rhetorical Skills • You need • Strong vocabulary to paraphrase • Sentence skills to integrate ideas • Textual knowledge for cohesion

  14. Disciplinary Knowledge • You need to be able to • Identify common knowledge and jargon in the field • Identify knowledge unique to the source • Understand citation system in the field • Know how to cite ever-changing digital sources

  15. “Plagiarism”: Deliberate • “The unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.” – Dictionary.com (based on Random House Dictionary) • Academic dishonesty: Submitting another person’s work as your own

  16. How Students Plagiarize Cut ‘N Paste • Online journals from library databases and various internet texts • Several sources • Sentence, paragraph, or the whole paper • Sudden shifts in tone and vocabulary • Fake citations

  17. How Students Plagiarize Recycle Used Paper • Internet paper, friend’s paper, student’s own paper • Re-format • Use “find” and “replace” to update • Fake citations

  18. How Students Plagiarize Digital Paper Mills • Hundreds of sites • Thousands of topics • Charge by the page or paper • Papers written to order

  19. Other Peoples Papers.com • “Isn't this plagiarism?No. If you hand in a paper from this site or any other you are committing plagiarism. There is nothing wrong with publishing papers on the internet. • Can I get caught using this site?If you are cheating there is always a chance you will get caught. Teachers know about this site so think twice before handing in a paper you did not write. • Do teachers know about this site?Yes. Teachers all over the world know about this site. They can't stop us, but they can catch you.” • http://www.oppapers.com/add-quote.php

  20. Techniques to Combat Plagiarism • Assign major paper in parts…work on drafts • Model how YOU combine other’s work with your own • The assignment is a process that is continually being built upon • Do not recycle topics semester after semester

  21. Activity • How can you help your students avoid the plagiarism trap? • Deliberate plagiarism • Academic dishonesty • Accidental plagiarism

  22. REAP: Read, Encode, Annotate, Ponder • Read the Text • Encode into your own language • Annotate by writing the message down • Ponder; think about it

  23. REAP: Read, Encode, Annotate, Ponder • Show students examples of annotations in actual content area’s writing

  24. GIST: Generating Interactions between Schemata and Text • Start off by showing students how to paraphrase one sentence at a time • Add another sentence to be paraphrased • Combine with previous paraphrase into one sentence • Finally, paraphrase entire paragraph in one sentence

  25. I-Chart Topic: Subtopic: What I Already Know: Interesting Related Facts: Key Words or People: New Questions to Research:

  26. Resources to Fight Plagiarism • http://www.plagiarism.org/ • http://www.turnitin.com • http://www.howoriginal.net/ • http://www.canexus.com/ • http://www.wordchecksystems.com/ • Google

  27. Resources to Help Students • Online writing lab at Purdue University: owl.english.purdue.edu • UTEP Dean of Students Office: Studentaffairs.utep.edu (click on “student conduct”) • Refworks (online citation system): libraryweb.utep.edu (click on “Library Services,” then “for students.”

  28. A Word from Our Sponsor: UTEP • Office of the Dean Step 1: Paper, test, assignment receives an “I” Step 2: Send Dean of Students a letter detailing offense with appropriate documentation Step 3: Dean of Students will contact student in question and meet with them Step 4: Final decision will be made by Dean of Students: Instructor and Student will be notified by letter

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