Tackling plagiarism through student engagement

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Tackling plagiarism through student engagement

• Liz McDowell

Centre for Excellence in Teaching
Learning Assessment for Learning
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Definitions of engagement

• a hostile meeting of opposing military forces
• an agreement to be at a particular place at a
  particular time
• an enterprise embarked upon
• the act of sharing in the activities of a group
•  employment of the attention
• emotional involvement or commitment

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Alienation

• without a basic commitment on the part of the
  student there is no moral constraint on cheating
  or plagiarism
• (Ashworth, Bannister Thorne, 1997, p. 202)

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The Good Student acquiring knowledge in context
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The Good Student

• You put it in your own words but its not
  really your own words
• I never know what she is after or what any
  lecturer is after
• I dont think Id be that confident about
  putting in my own ideas because the way I see
  it is the people Im learning from obviously know
  more than I do and I think I might look a bit
  stupid

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Plagiarism?

• theyll knock lots of marks off if you dont
  reference properly. Its just how its done
  isnt it? The same as how you use English and
  everything like that

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The Good Student 3 ways to help

• Understanding the rules
• Building student and staff relationships
• Drawing on student knowledge and experience

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The Conscientious Consumer active management of
context
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The conscientious consumer

• I choose a title where I can define what Im
  meant to be investigating and discussing ... then
  have arguments either way. I usually prefer
  something specified like that
• Ive enjoyed it up to this point, but as long as
  I get a good result I wouldnt be bothered
• Professor X talks to me he thinks Im really
  interested!
• It doesnt matter what I think - at the end of
  the day youre looking towards what mark you can
  get and you think, well, theres more evidence
  to support this conclusion

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Plagiarism?

• Doing your references is not exactly a hard
  thing to do, I mean the way theyre structured
  now on electronic journals Ive found a way you
  can click on and it gives you the text youd
  actually use for a citation so you can copy it
  into your assignment.

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The Conscientious Consumer 3 ways to help

• Interaction and collaboration with fellow
  students
• Formative assessment, practice and developmental
  tasks
• New views and connections with the subject

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The Committed Learner development of
understanding
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The Committed Learner

• You think I want to find more about that and I
  want to find more about that and it just takes
  over really!
• I really felt it was totally my own work ... So
  I felt like I really wanted it to go well and I
  needed to do well
• ... When you read from other peoples primary
  sources of work you actually feel as if youre
  learning something directly
• People are talking about their subject because
  it has actually come to affect their lives

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Plagiarism?

• youre going to have all your ideas from
  somewhere, arent you?
• I dont feel I can just look at books and just
  write stuff that people have already written ...
  Because it seems a bit pointless, so I feel
  youve got to have something quite original in
  there for it to be worthwhile writing anything

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The Committed Learner 3 ways to help

• Feedback dialogues
• Reduce summative assessment requirements
• Offer choice and opportunities for self-direction

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Assessment for Learning

Centre for Excellence in Teaching
Learning Assessment for Learning
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References

• Ashworth, P., Bannister, P. Thorne, P (1997)
  Guilty in whose eyes? University students
  perceptions of cheating and plagiarism in
  academic work and assessment Studies in Higher
  Education, 22 (2), pp. 187 203
• Crook, C. Dymott, R. (2006) Assessment
  relationships in higher education the tension of
  process and practice British Educational Research
  Journal, 32(1) pp, 95-114
• Dweck, C. S. (2000) Self-theories their role in
  personality, and development. Philadelphia,
  Psychology Press

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References

• Higgins, R., Hartley, P. Skelton, A. (2002) The
  Conscientious Consumer reconsidering the role of
  assessment feedback in student learning. Studies
  in Higher Education, 27 (1), pp. 53-64
• Krause, K. (2006). On being strategic in the
  first year. Keynote presentation, Queensland
  University of Technology First Year Forum, 5
  October 2006. Available online at
  http//www.griffith.edu.au/centre/gihe/

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References

• Mann, S. J. (2001) Alternative Perspectives on
  the Student Experience alienation and engagement
  Studies in Higher Education, 26 (1) pp. 7-19
• McDowell, L (2008) Negotiating assignment
  pathways students and academic assignments
  Teaching in Higher Education (due August 2008)