Plagiarism

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Plagiarism

• The Dark Side of the Force?

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Or,
Student Writers
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To Begin What is your attitude towards
plagiarism?

• Write down a few sentences that describe your
  attitude towards encountering plagiarism or
  suspected plagiarism in a piece of student
  writing.

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Responses

• From the Dark Side of the Force

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The Dark Side

• Never mention the word plagiarism.
• Plagiarism deserves the most severe punishment
  that the academy can devise.
• You must confront students that you believe are
  guilty of plagiarism.
• Plagiarism is theft. It the exact same thing as
  taking money out of another persons wallet.
• I was insulted, outraged angered and offended,
  when I discovered plagiarism.
• The worst kind of cheating
• Theyre just plain lazy!
• Theyre liars and cheats!

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When students plagiarise, is there a bright side?
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The Bright Side ofPlagiarism

• All submitted plagiarism is an action.
• Plagiarism is a response to trying to find
  something original to say.
• Plagiarism is an act of good faith in attempting
  to write an academic paper.
• Plagiarism is an act of desperation
• Plagiarism is an act of poor planning.
• Many discourses speak through us.

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Some Ways to Look For the Bright Side
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First Approach

• Switch Perspectives
• Plagiarism in your own writing?

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Do you have any experiences of plagiarism in your
own work (including your teaching)? What is your
attitude towards plagiarism in your own work?

• (Get into groups. Discuss a time when you were
  afraid of plagiarising, think you might have
  plagiarised, or know that you plagiarised. Decide
  as a group which acts were genuine plagiarism and
  how the plagiarism could have been avoided.)

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Approach 2 Risk

• What is at riskor at stake (when you compose a
  piece of academic writing)?

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What is at risk in the Individual Act of
Writing?My personal response

• The potential for revealing your helplessness in
  the face of an overwhelming world.
• The potential to engage in the world in a way
  that brings personal social satisfaction.

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Approach 3 Meeting RiskHow do students meet
this risk?

• (Lets Brainstorm a List)

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How do students meet this risk?

• They collect facts.
• They learn to summarise.
• They waffle.
• They learn to develop a voice or authority.
• They get into a dialogue about writing.
• They act as if their heads are cut off!
• They imitate other writers.
• They copy (because there is only one right
  answer.)
• They assume the posture of a chancer, (bravado
  of cheating), cynic.
• They get help (Writing Centre!)
• Give prominence to ego, superego or id

All of these actions are positive or can be
turned into positives!
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Academic Voice

• Ego in control.
• Not a fearful response to the superego.
• No appeal to the victimised personal voice.

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Academic Voice

• Head gt Academic Rules in Control
• Hands gt Writer in Control
• Heart gt Child needs protecting.

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Detecting Plagiarism

• Keep a student portfolio.
• Recognise student/expert voice shifts.
• Check passages on search engine (or plagiarism
  service)
• Check local libraries
• Vary topics
• Dont avoid confrontationget students to explain
• (De Sena, 2007)

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Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism

• Provide context in class that will help a student
  become familiar with a topic.
• Tie assignments very closely to a reading or
  group of readings.
• Assign the review of an article.
• Use longer prompts or rubrics that help focus
  an assignment into a community of discussion.
• Alternatively, have the student develop their own
  topic based upon freewriting.

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Correcting Plagiarism

• If academic rules allow, confront student
  individually before anything has to go to a
  disciplinary board.
• Insist that the student rewrite the piece.
• Attempt to discover from the writing what kind of
  plagiarism has occurred.
• Do not demonise plagiarism
• Take students through the process of writing.
• Discuss academic voice.

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Reading Plagiarism

• How to interpret a particular act of plagiarism
  in a student text.

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Reading Plagiarism

• The kind of plagiarism needs to be examined.
• The background to the plagiarism needs to be
  explored.

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Case 1 Linch Pin

• The Complete Plagiarist
• Very colourful

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Lynch Pin, p.1
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Lynch Pin, p. 2
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Case 2 Shannon River

• Plagiarism jump start.

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Shannon River
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Shannon River, p.2
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Case 2 John Lennon

• Plagiarising Personal Text

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Plagiarism of personal text.
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Behind Plagiarism

• Why people plagiarise?

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Case 3

• Daily Telegraph

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(No Transcript)
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In the end. . .

• If the plagiarism is self-conscious, cynical,
  deliberate, calculating . . .
• then, is the best approach to make
  sure to catch the plagiarist and apply the the
  most severe punishment available?