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How to Deal with Cheating and Plagiarism
Master Teaching InitiativeMaite Correa, PhD
What is cheating/plagiarizing?
• Plagiarism: The action or practice of taking someone else's work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one's own; literary theft (Oxford Dictionary)
• Cheat: To deceive, impose upon, trick (Oxford Dictionary)
• What instances of plagiarism/cheating have you come across??
Is all cheating/plagiarizing?• Sometimes students do not know the
difference between paraphrasing and quoting• Sometimes students do not know how to
acknowledge the source (would a reference at the end of the paper suffice?)
• Sometimes students believe that “outside help” is justified
• Sometimes students believe that dictionaries and online translators are acceptable
• Copying phrases or passages out of a published work without using quotation marks, without acknowledging the source, or both (word-for-word plagiarism)
• Changing some of the words, but not enough; the result can be called paraphrasing plagiarism. This is considered more serious when the original source is not cited.
• Giving references to original sources, and perhaps quoting them, but without looking them up, having obtained both from a secondary source -- which is not cited (Bensman, 1988: 456-457). This can be called plagiarism of secondary sources.
• Plagiarizing ideas: an original thought from another is used but without any dependence on the words or form of the source.
• Putting one's name to someone else's work, which might be called plagiarism of authorship (next slide).
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/94jie.html
Buying/Getting papers online• There are several large sites which sell papers, and even
more which maintain small collections available for free. There are even some which promise custom-written papers.
• Let students know that you know about these web sites.
• Go a step further and take students to one of the sites. Have students look at a weak paper (there are plenty of these on the Web!) and analyze its failures.
• Be careful to give specific, non-generic instructions for papers. A more specific assignment will make plagiarism much more difficult.
• Include specific instructions about bibliographies, such as requiring all students to include material from required readings among their sources.
• Watch your students write. Ask them to bring notes or drafts to class, have short conferences about the assignment, use peer groups to comment on drafts, ask for drafts to be submitted with the final paper.
http://www.wiu.edu/users/mfbhl/wiu/plagiarism.htm
Online Translators
Academic Dishonesty at CSU
• Cheating includes using unauthorized sources of information and providing or receiving unauthorized assistance on any form of academic work. Examples include copying the work of another student on an exam, problem set, or quiz; taking an exam or completing homework for another student; possessing unauthorized notes, study sheets, answer codes, programmed calculators, or other materials during an exam; and falsifying exams or other graded paper results.
• Plagiarism includes the copying of language, structure, ideas, or thoughts of another, and representing them as one’s own without proper acknowledgment. Examples include a submission of purchased research papers as one’s own work; paraphrasing and/or quoting material without properly documenting the source.
http://catalog.colostate.edu/front/policies.aspx
Academic Dishonesty (Cont.)• Falsification encompasses any untruth, either verbal or written, in one’s
academic work. Examples include receiving unauthorized assistance or working as a group on a take-home exam, independent exam, or other academic work without authorization, or lying to avoid taking an exam or turning in other academic work.
• Facilitation of any act of academic dishonesty including cheating, plagiarism, and/or falsification of documents also constitutions violation of Colorado State University’s academic integrity. Examples include knowingly discussing specifics of the content of a test or examination you have taken with another student who has not yet taken that test or examination or facilitating, by sharing one’s own work, a student’s efforts to cheat on an exam or other academic work.
http://catalog.colostate.edu/front/policies.aspx
Who cheats?
• According to the Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct Services office at CSU:– 20% do not cheat no matter what– 60% cheat depending on the situation– 20% always cheat
Why do they cheat?
• Lazy: it is easier to cheat• No time to study• Unfair situations/faculty perceived by the
students• The material is not that important• Faculty do not encourage academic integrity (?)• Others cheat as well, why not me?• Help friends
Our duty
• PREVENT!• Play detective• Talk to the student• Decide on a reasonable penalty (if guilty)• Report the case
What we can do to PREVENT (vs. detect)
• Inform students of academic standards for scholarship and conduct.• Clarify the distinctions between plagiarism, paraphrasing, and direct
citation• Tell students that resubmitting their previous academic work as a new
product for your course is inappropriate• Explain how cheating harms students and describe campus sanctions.• Minimize the opportunities for cheating and plagiarism (specific topics,
change exams slightly, ask for drafts).• Take visible actions to detect dishonesty so that students know you will
not tolerate cheating (even if you don't actually carry out all the actions you say you will take, honest students will appreciate knowing that you care enough about academic integrity to take precautions.)
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/prevent.html
Playing detective• Be attentive• Anti-plagiarism software: Safeassign (built in Ram CT); others ($$)
(next slide)• Just google within “ “ whatever seems suspicious• Common Sense
– Knowing your students and what they can and can not do– Comparing parts of the paper (wonderful introduction; mediocre
conclusion)• Careful with accusations:
– Ask them questions about it, do not imply that they cheated until they had the opportunity to explain themselves
– Only accuse them if you have compelling evidence– Do not assign penalties before being sure of what you are doing
Alleged reasons for not reporting
• It will hurt the student• It is not that serious• Too much work• It is the first time• It was not on purpose
Reasons to report
• It is your responsibility (think that not reporting might be an act of “facilitation of cases of academic dishonesty”)
• It backs you up on whatever measure you take• It will prevent the student from doing it again (how
many times can it be “the first time” if we never report?)
• If it was not on purpose or it was not serious, it will NOT hurt the student (the instructor decides on the penalty imposed)
• It is the best way to discover “repeat offenders”
The process (cont.)• Faculty members have a responsibility to report to the Office of Conflict
Resolution and Student Conduct Services all cases of academic dishonesty in which a penalty is imposed. Incidents which the faculty member considers major infractions (such as those resulting in the reduction of a course grade or failure of a course) should be accompanied by a recommendation that a hearing be conducted to determine whether additional university disciplinary action should be taken. If the student disputes the decision of the faculty member regarding alleged academic dishonesty, he or she may request a Hearing with the Office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct Services. The request must be submitted or postmarked, if mailed, no later than 30 calendar days after the first day of classes of the next regular semester following the date the grade for the course was recorded. If no appeal is filed within this time period, the decision of the faculty member shall be final.
• Usually an email to the student with copy to Ron Hicks stating the summary and outcome of the situation is enough
http://facultycouncil.colostate.edu/files/manual/sectioni.htm
The processFaculty members are expected to use reasonably practical means of
preventing and detecting academic dishonesty. If a faculty member has evidence that a student has engaged in an act of academic dishonesty, the faculty member will notify the student of the concern and make an appointment to discuss the allegations with the student. The student will be given the opportunity to give his or her position on the matter. If the student admits to engaging in academic dishonesty or if the faculty member judges that the preponderance of evidence supports the allegation of academic dishonesty, the faculty member may then assign an academic penalty. Examples of academic penalties include assigning a reduced grade for the work, a failing grade in the course, or other lesser penalty as the faculty member deems appropriate.
http://facultycouncil.colostate.edu/files/manual/sectioni.htm
VAIL (Virtual Academic Integrity Laboratory)
• http://www-apps.umuc.edu/vailtutor/index.html
Conclusion• Most of the times we have to distinguish
between intentional cheating/plagiarizing or poor source handling
• Reporting (even the first time) will help (even if they did not do it on purpose)
• Better than playing detective, we should do everything in our hands to PREVENT these situations from happening by being specific with our assignments and telling them that we know
