~ Digital Plagiarism ~

Definition (University of Calgary)

Essentially plagiarism involves submitting or presenting work as if it were the student's own.  Most plagiarism exists when:
 

• the work submitted or presented was done, in whole or in part, by an  individual other than the student being assessed
• parts of the work are taken from another source without reference to an  original author/s.

At a university level, students found to have plagiarised in assessment  receive either a failing grade for the work, a failing grade for the  subject or are suspended until a decision is made on the student's future  in the course. At a school level, plagiarism should be also dealt with in similar fashion.

Avoiding plagiarism

The advent of computer-based information from such sources as CD-ROMs and  the Internet, combined with the copy and paste functions of Windows  operating systems, has enabled plagiarism to be easily achieved.  In fact,  there is software which enables a writer to copy and paste text into their  work and then have the copied material massaged to suit the style of the  writer.

Better still, it is possible to re-style a piece in the form of  well-known authors, e.g. Hemingway, Wells, Austen!  There are also homework  sites on the Web to which students can post questions and receive feedback  e.g. http://mobydicks.com/lecture/JohnSteinbeckhall/messages/133.html

So, what can we do to discourage this form of cheating?
 

• Much of the  solution rests with several important considerations such as: setting assignments which require solutions to problems, i.e. original  thought,  rather than the finding of answers. Refer to the following for ideas:

Making the Net Work for School: Online Research Modules
http://WWW.FNO.ORG/sept97/online.html

The New Plagiarism: Seven Antidotes to Prevent Highway Robbery in an Electronic Age
http://WWW.FNO.ORG/may98/cov98may.html

see also More useful links on Plagiarism
 

• encouraging the use of a structured approach to research and assignment  presentation (see the rest of this RBL package!) assigning class time to at least the first four steps of the (Information) Research  Process, especially in Semester One

• monitoring students' progress with assessment pieces by such actions as  checking outlines, notes, and even early drafts of work, particularly in  the primary and early secondary years

• changing assessment pieces so that work from previous semesters can't be  reused; allowing for student choice of topic or emphasis by negotiation

• trialing assessment items with other teachers to check for any likely  problems; knowing the likely output of students so as to compare this with  submitted pieces

• print the (Information) Research Process and Referencing Guide in the student diary.

Observation

There are other factors that encourage students to take shortcuts or adopt  negative behaviours to achieve dishonest results.

These centre on such  things as:

* insufficient resources for the cohort undertaking the assessment;
* several assessment pieces due in over a short timeframe;
* lack of understanding by the student of the topic, or assessment task;
* the degree of difficulty of the assignment being beyond the student's  ability.

Each of these factors needs to be considered and planned for when setting  assessment.  They also require planning and cooperation across subject  areas and year levels and with Information and Computing Services.

This article is reproduced with permission 
Paul Lupton Head of Information Services, Somerville House PO Box 357, South Brisbane Qld 4101 +617 3248 9207 (W) +617 3844 5774 (Fax) plupton@somerville.qld.edu.au