Academic Integrity in Writing Assignments

1. Academic Integrity in Writing Assignments

2. Defining plagiarism Shared responsibility for academic integrity What to do if you can’t go “all the way” Responding to student writing Discussion Workshop Agenda

3. In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source What it is not: Misuse of sources Carelessly or inadequately citing ideas and words borrowed from another source Plagiarism Defined Based on WPA Statement on Best Practices: http://wpacouncil.org/files/WPAplagiarism.pdf

4. Fear of failure or in taking risks Poor time-management Viewing the assignment or conventions of documentation as unimportant Generic assignments that feel canned Low risk, high reward Causes of Plagiarism Based on Writing Program Administrators Statement on Best Practices in avoiding plagiarism: http://wpacouncil.org/files/WPAplagiarism.pdf

5. Shared Responsibility for Academic Integrity Faculty • Design contexts and assignments that encourage authentic investigation • Build support for researched writing into course design (analysis of models, conferences, peer review) Students • Engage in genuine inquiry and learning • Assemble and analyze sources relevant to their investigation • Acknowledge when they are drawing on the ideas of others Based on Writing Program Administrators Statement on Best Practices in avoiding plagiarism: http://wpacouncil.org/files/WPAplagiarism.pdf

6. Shared Responsibility for Academic Integrity Faculty • Create clear policies and expectations • Teach citation conventions • Avoid formulaic assignments that invite canned responses Students • Learn citation conventions appropriate to the field • Consult with instructors when they are unsure how to acknowledge the contributions of others Based on Writing Program Administrators Statement on Best Practices in avoiding plagiarism: http://wpacouncil.org/files/WPAplagiarism.pdf

7. Shared Responsibility for Academic Integrity Faculty • Create clear policies and expectations • Engage students in the process of writing • Discuss common problems that students face and provide strategies for avoiding/solving them Students • Avoid reverse-engineering “research” to conform with pre-existing opinions/conclusions • Provide documentation for the work they produce (drafts, notes, sources) Based on Writing Program Administrators Statement on Best Practices in avoiding plagiarism: http://wpacouncil.org/files/WPAplagiarism.pdf

8. When you can’t employ the ideal, there are other options Plagiarism-resistant writing assignments: Are process focused Incorporate revision Ask students to document their process Encourage instructor-student communication Plagiarism-Resistant Assignments Based on Writing Program Administrators Statement on Best Practices in avoiding plagiarism: http://wpacouncil.org/files/WPAplagiarism.pdf

9. Why do we assign writing assignments to undergraduate students? Are they going to publish their writing? Should we be spending our valuable response time behaving like journal editors? The time we save responding to student drafts can be better spent in creating more plagiarism-resistant assignments responding to Undergraduate Student Writing Based on Writing Program Administrators Statement on Best Practices in avoiding plagiarism: http://wpacouncil.org/files/WPAplagiarism.pdf

10. Discussion Dennis BennettDennis.Bennett@oregonstate.edu Chris Ervin Chris.Ervin@oregonstate.edu Vanessa Petroj Vanessa.Petroj@oregonstate.edu

11. To download a copy of this presentation: http://writingcenter.oregonstate.edu/academic-integrity Download