"Borrowed thoughts, like borrowed money, only show the poverty of the borrower." ~ Lady Marguerite Blessington (1789-1849) The who, what where, when, and why of plagiarism. Plagiarism is a complicated issue that affects both traditional and distance learning environments and learners from all disciplines. “Several reasons contribute to acts of plagiarism, including students’ underdeveloped sense of integrity, lack of maturity, online ethical practices, lack of experience with a particular genre of writing, lack of interest in the assignment, observation of peers’ behavior and attitudes toward plagiarism, and the pressure to earn or maintain high grades. (Evering and Moorman, 2012, p. 38)” Learners may consider plagiarism a short-term fix for an immediate problem and not realize the future ramification of the act. According to Pennsylvania State University (2012) committing plagiarism hurts both the learner and the community:
Due to advances in technology, the opportunities for plagiarism have increased since information is easily found by using the. Plagiarism is also increased by the fact that, “Students interact with their peers and instructors more anonymously in an online environment than in the traditional classroom, which adds challenges to deterring plagiarism in online classes. (McCord, 2008, p.46)” As instructors, what are our options does technology offer to reduce plagiarism in the distance learning environment? Technology has provided ways to detect plagiarism with software services such as Turnitin. These services are convenient for the instructor and reduces their work load. Other strategies used to deter cheating in online learning environments include keystroke recognition used to track student’s interactions and patterns and web cameras that record students during tests (Haynie, 2014). Comparison of a student’s writing style across assignments can also trigger questions of impropriety but due to growing class size may be undetectable to the overwhelmed instructor. While services such as Turnitin are convenient for the instructor, they only catch plagiarism once assignments are turned in and the legalities of the software are murky and presents potential copy right issues. As instructors, what other options do we have to mitigate plagiarism in our online classrooms? “To successfully deal with plagiarism, we must do more than preach about the virtues of academic integrity and damn the sin of stealing the ideas of others. We need to focus on developing communities of practice that value creative and reflective writing. Students need to be engaged in instruction that clarifies the origins and importance of honesty in intellectual pursuits. (Evering and Moorman, 2012, p. 41)” By setting ground rules and holding students accountable we empower our learners to make good decisions. Evering and Moorman (2012) suggest that instructors should discuss plagiarism with learners and stress why it is vital we acknowledge other’s work. By creating opportunities to incorporate real-world experiences into our activities it can also deter plagiarism. McCord (2008) states that “students will be less likely to gain material benefit from plagiarism if the online learning environment is robust and engaging, requires multiple types of thinking and deliverables, mixes individual and group work, and includes significant levels of interaction between students and instructors. (McCord, 2008, p. 47)” Implementing measures to prevent plagiarism through education about the lasting effects of plagiarism can foster understanding, and prepare our learners for the world outside of the educational environment. What are your thoughts on plagiarism prevention in the online environment? Let’s start a conversation! References
Evering, L.C. and Moorman, G. (2012) ‘Rethinking plagiarism in the digital age’, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(1), pp. 35–44. doi: 10.1002/jaal.00100. Haynie, D. (2014) Think Twice Before Cheating in Online Courses. Available at: http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2014/06/17/think-twice-before-cheating-in-online-courses. Max Pixel FreeGreatPicture.com (2016) Free photo electric lamp light bulb halogen light bulb. Available at: http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Electric-Lamp-Light-Bulb-Halogen-Light-Bulb-1407610. McCord, A. (2008). Improving online assignments to deter plagiarism. In Proceedings of the 12th Annual Technology, Community & Colleges Worldwide Online Conference. Retrieved April (Vol. 12, p. 2011). Pennsylvania State University (2012) Why plagiarism is wrong. Available at: http://tlt.psu.edu/plagiarism/student-tutorial/why-plagiarism-is-wrong/.
1 Comment
2/17/2017 11:54:52 am
Hi Stacy. I like your opening statement and agree with it too. I think plagiarism and academic dishonesty affects all learners in all types of learning environments. The sad things is about these students who feel the need to commit some act of academic dishonesty don’t realize how much injustice they are doing not only to themselves, but to the other learners. Even the people who they take the information from get hurt, because those individuals work very hard to publish their work that they should properly receive the credit they so rightly deserve. The students who cheat in some way, don’t get the full learning experience and might not even learn what they have to learn for their future classes or future jobs. I also feel that they are persons that cannot be trusted or we should question their integrity. I don’t think I would like to work with a person like that.
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Stacy SpringerWelcome to my blog! I am passionate about great Instructional Design and Educational Technology. Let's start a discussion! Archives
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