One of the greatest topics of discussion when going through school is academic misconduct. It is and always will be something that is covered before every class that students take. The internet has provided students of this generation with more information than they know what to do with, and it will only keep growing. Anything can be found if you look hard enough, and it is very easy to use the work of someone else as your own. Teachers and administrators from schools all over have been looking for effective solutions to stopping plagiarism. Do you think that these tools are effective towards stopping this misconduct? Do you have a favorite tool to use? Why do you think it is the best?
32 Comments
Mary McGee
4/8/2013 02:34:12 am
As we advance in technology plagiarism is going to be harder and harder to beat. With I-Pads students were recently caught taking pictures of test and emailing them to other students. Gone is the day of writing answers on hands and it makes us become investigators of academic theft. At the college level all students are warned about plagiarism and the repercussions of such acts. What many college students are not aware of is, that at some colleges teachers are given software to randomly check papers and homework, the software picks up the lines used and the source the information was taken from. I do not think any software will pick up all misgivings for assigned work. Unfortunately as educators we will need to grow more savoy and hope that the majority of our student have a want to learn and a want to do so using their best abilities and not rely on another.
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Colie Trawick
4/11/2013 02:12:36 am
I think plagiarism is fighting a losing battle. No matter what software or tools used out there , it may just be someting a students writes that may be simular to other persons works. Especially if its the same topic. I just think there are a lot of different factors that go into an educator thinking it is plagiarism and it just being a simular thought. I know someone who did a research paper and the teacher turned it in for plagiarism, she was crushed because she was so excited about it. After meeting with the dept chair it was determined that she didnt but, that really messed with her and it was ashame to see how scared she was to get kicked out over something she really didnt do.
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Caleb Haynes
4/19/2013 12:57:32 am
Yes I agree that their is that fine line between knowing if it is just similiar to another person paper or if they actually plagarized it. I feel like this is a very hard task for teachers to find out and I don't know if their is an exact solution to help with this problem.
Armegis Spearman
5/4/2013 10:40:15 am
I agree that this battle for plagiarism is an ongoing one and it will not be won, This is up to the professor or teacher to decide. I also think that educators and school officials have to have major discussions before deciding the fate of a student based on similarities in the work. I am sure that there can be software developed that helps against such activity but what if it were wrong?
Crissina Kemp
4/17/2013 01:08:32 pm
Unfortunately, I agree that with technology students will continuously be coming up with new ways to cheat or plagiarize. I work as a college advisor and have heard stories about students taking pictures of tests with their cell phone and sharing them with other students. I never thought about them using the iPads for that purpose also, but can see how it can easily be done. Teachers will have to be cautious about the technology students bring to class and whether or not it is being used for cheating. It seems like there has been a bigger push for plagiarism in higher education over recent years, and hopefully more of it will be caught with the new software, but it is never something that is going to completely go away.
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Heather Carlton
4/8/2013 03:58:23 am
I too would like to know more on this subject. I find it would be difficult to stop plagiarism, especially with technology growing in the classroom every single day. And with all of the other tasks and responsibilities teachers have, do they really have the time spend tackling this issue?
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Cassandra Nappier
4/9/2013 03:01:16 pm
I like how the article said to help students avoid plagiarism rather than focus on our catching it. This seemed logical to me since students nowadays tend to do all of their research via internet. I think that if a student did most of their research in an actual library where they were almost without a doubt forced to piece together information rather than copy a whole paragraph, then their paper will be enriching and have a less likelihood of being plagiarized.
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Mary McGee
4/10/2013 04:29:18 am
True we do need to teach how to avoid plagiarism and it should empower teachers and students. I do worry that no matter what we do there will always be some students who like to take short cuts and use the work of others.
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Crissina Kemp
4/9/2013 12:53:06 pm
Plagiarism has and will continue to be an issue in academia. Schools seem to be doing a better job teaching students about plagiarism and how to avoid it. I believe the internet makes it easier for students to plagiarize whether intentional or unintentional, but technology has also made it easier for teachers to identify plagiarism with the new online plagiarism searching tools. I have never used any of these tools but would be very interested in seeing how they work and if they are effective. I currently do not use any tools to detect plagiarism and am interesting to see if others in this class have used anything. I think that because of the new tools available for teachers to identify plagiarism, it is more important than ever for students to cite sources when they are in doubt (better to be safe than sorry).
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Wendy Walker
4/10/2013 05:18:26 am
I agree that it is important for students to learn about the negative aspects of plagairism. There is no reason for students to risk their education and future because they want to be a little lazy.
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Dane Frazier
4/11/2013 10:58:17 am
There are students that are very bright and attend prestigious school, but out of one moment of weakness lose all of that. I am not sure if it is fair or not however there are so many more bright students out there now that something has to differentiate them from one another and sometimes it has to be this.
Cassandra Nappier
4/9/2013 02:58:36 pm
I believe that plagiarism will always remain a problem. There are too many pieces out there that are not recognized by administrative tools. Personally, I have always liked Turnitin.com. This website allows the student to see any mistakes of areas that they did not properly cite. It also allows both the student and teacher to see how much of the paper is original work. Students should be over exposed to the proper way to cite works used. Unless a teacher uses an online tool, I see no other way for them to know what has been plagiarized and what is original work.
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Kayla Y.
4/10/2013 01:26:34 am
I agree that proper citing is a huge issue in schools. Sometimes I still find myself questioning if I have cited sources correctly. It is definitely something that needs to be reinforced and Turnitin.com is a great tool for students and teachers to use. Overexposure can only help this problem, so I definitely agree with you.
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Melissa Lovette
4/11/2013 10:21:33 am
Students should not only be guided in the right direction when it comes to writing but they should also be instructed on how to cite resources as well. I am like you....I question myself when it comes to citing resources. I believe this boils down to lack of instruction in my early years. I don't even remember doing much writing in the elementary years unless it was friendly letters. When I hit college, I do remember conducting a lot of research on HOW to write papers and only because I had little experience!
Crissina Kemp
4/17/2013 01:19:29 pm
I agree and feel like the proper citing of sources can be a tedious task. As a graduate students, I too, often find myself trying to figure it out and wondering if I have correctly citing sources to avoid plagiarizing. I didn't know about the Turnitin.com website before this post, and like that I could have my own papers reviewed for plagiarism before turning it in, but I didn't like that I have to pay for each paper to be reviewed. It would be nice to find a free tool online that does it!
Heather Carlton
4/11/2013 03:29:03 am
I personally don't think there was enough focus on properly citing when I was in school. I feel like I've always struggled in that department as far as knowing how to properly cite. Perhaps if more focus were put on it in middle and high school, students would be less apt to plagiarize -- but that's just my personal experience!
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Dane frazier
4/14/2013 11:59:09 am
I agree as I know I have done papers where I wasn't sure if I aired something correctly and I turned it in and nothing was ever said about it.
Zech Bowman
4/14/2013 01:32:06 pm
I always felt like it was a wonder how I ever got through any class where I was required to properly cite a source. I never felt quite confident that I was doing it correctly. The biggest issue that I have seen at times though is that there are so many different ways to cite and there is never any consistency in the secondary level with what most colleges and universities expect.
Crissina Kemp
4/17/2013 01:16:36 pm
I agree that plagiarism will unfortunately always remain a problem in education. Thanks for introducing us to the Turnitin.com website. I've never heard of that website and checked it out after reading your post. It looks like a great online tool for checking plagiarism. The only downside I saw was that students have to pay a fee to get each paper checked, and as a college advisor, most college students can't afford to pay for a program like that to check every paper they write. Online tools will definitely help teachers catch more plagiarism and like someone else posted this week, students will always come up with new ways to cheat.
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Armegis Spearman
5/4/2013 10:46:26 am
I think that most students today struggle with the proper way to cite information. The fact that there are tools out to help in the fight against plagiarism is great but, we need to fix the problem of students making it to graduate school with the uncomfortable feeling of incorrect citing of their work. I also wish I was as comfortable with citing works as I would like to be.
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Wendy Walker
4/10/2013 05:08:31 am
I myself have questioned citations before. There are great apps out there that will do the work for you. I also like turnitin.com. There are so many publications and sources out there that teachers cannot stay on top of everything and know if a student has plagiarized. I also liked when instructors I had only allowed a few internet sources and the rest had to be book, magazine, etc. This actually forces students to properly quote and cite sources.
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Laurel Thornton
4/11/2013 07:47:58 am
I never thought of using an app. I teach elementary, so I don't deal with these things to the same extent that secondary teachers do. But I suppose that if they're going to use technology to cheat, we'd better use it for good.
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Melissa Lovette
4/11/2013 10:16:33 am
Yes, this is a good idea to have students cite other things besides internet sources and to limit that as well. Students need to know how to cite books and magazines anyways.
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Kayla Y.
4/11/2013 11:29:58 pm
I must admit...I hated it when I was in school and we had to use other sources along with just a few from the internet. Looking at it now that I have graduated I think it is a great idea. Not only does it require students to properly cite a resource other than the internet (which often the internet will give the citation to you), it also helps them to practice citing those other sources. I like this idea for students.
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Colie Trawick
4/11/2013 02:04:09 am
I don't believe that you can stop plagiarism all together. Truth is people are lazy and want quick results and that causes them to barrow from other person works. Also the intersting thing about plagiarism that no one talks about is when the teacher give the same topic 20 years in a row and expects everyones answers to be completly different. There are only so many different "legit" resources to use about a topic. So if we are using the same resources then some of our thoughts may be the same. Its just a touchy topic...if its word for word its one thing but if my thoughts are simular to someone elses doesnt make it plagiarism.
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Troy Holbrook
4/11/2013 04:15:59 am
Fortunately, in my area of teaching I do not have to deal with written assignments. All of my assessments are either multiple choice or hands-on. Since our program receives a national accreditation from the National Automotive Technician’s Education Foundation (NATEF), we must model our curriculum, including assessments in a way that mimics NATEF. Nevertheless, being a student myself, and having to write papers, and being married to an English teacher, I am exposed to the discussion of plagiarism constantly. Personally, I agree that it is almost an impossibility to keep plagiarism in check.
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Laurel Thornton
4/11/2013 07:45:53 am
Are these tools effective? Yes, probably to an extent. The problem is that a lot of kids are always a step ahead of us on this matter. They can consantly find new ways of getting around new rules without getting caught. There is really no way to catch every single act of plagiarism. That is why teaching ethics in school is so important. Kids can get away with a lot if they choose to. Empowering them to be intrinsically motivated to do the right thing goes a lot furthur that spending all of that energy trying to catch them in the act.
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Melissa Lovette
4/11/2013 10:12:32 am
Personally, I feel there's no way around plagiarism. Some people, including teachers and adminstrators have different views on their definition of the word plagiarism. While some feel that it is copying word for word, others feel even if you switch the words around it is still plagiarism while others feel this is still acceptable. Therefore, it's hard when students try to justify unless it's literally word for word. I was not aware of tools for teachers, and again I work with only elementary children, therefore it's not an issue for me as of now. However, I can see where secondary and college professors would need this type of thing. I do feel students need to be taught positively how to write and not focus so much on the negative. I feel students should be proud of THEIR work and not something someone else does. However, I also know kids and lazy ones at that, who no matter how you lay it out as an instructor they will take those short cuts. That is the sad part. Is students are consistently given positive and effective writing methods from elementary to secondary to college hopefully they will apply those skills to their own work and make better choices as an individual.
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Troy Holbrook
4/12/2013 04:51:22 am
I did a Google search and found that there are hoards of resources that discuss plagiarism in terms of definition, how to teach students to avoid it, and what teachers can look to detect plagiarism. Unfortunately, when it comes to software that will assist the educator in filtering out student’s papers to detect plagiarism, of course there is a charge or fee for that added advantage. There is one website that acts as sort of a clearing house for all things “plagiarism”. The URL is http://plagiarism.org/, and has many useful links with free information; but there again, the link that takes you to the plagiarism detection software is a site that sells the software. I suppose that why they call it capitalism.
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Zech Bowman
4/11/2013 02:18:02 pm
For me it is an issue that I just do not come across as much as others. However I believe that you can blame part of the issue for this as their not being enough instruction on properly citing sources. Unfortunately though, no matter how much we may try to prevent it, students will always try and find a way to take credit for work they did not actually do themselves.
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Caleb Haynes
4/19/2013 12:55:24 am
Yes I really agree that now days it is very hard to beat plagarism and find solutions to try and limit it as best as possible. I myself even feel like I struggle with knowing exactly how to cite certain things the correct way. I feel like turnitin.com is a great tool that some of my teachers have used to try and make sure students are using their own work. This sight is a database that can tell if you just copied and pasted a bunch of work. I feel like all teachers who require their students to write lengthy essays should use this tool.
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Armegis Spearman
5/4/2013 10:34:01 am
I think it will always be difficult to stop misconduct in school. In my opinion, we try to stop thieves everyday with all of the high-tech gadgets and information and they get smarter just as fast as the experts. The answer will be to implement some type of monitoring system but the logistics and cost of such solutions would be great. It will always be a situation that will have to be addressed but, this cannot deter us from allowing and insisting that our kids get the best education possible. We are responsible for making it safe for them because they don't know how to do it themselves.
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Student BlogThis blog is for class conversations for ED 514 at Central Methodist University. These post are by the students of ED 514. We invite input form other teachers about how they use technology in their classrooms. Archives
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