Plagiarism in the Digital Age: Voices from the Front Lines

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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