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Barry Gilmore(www.barrygilmore.com)

Write from Wrong:Strategies for Addressing Student Plagiarism

Most of the women Esperanza knows on Mango Street are either trapped in their marriages or tied down by their children. For example, Esperanza’s grandmother. Esperanza did not want to “inherit her place by the window.” She neither likes what she has already inherited from her grandmother—her name. Esperanza plays with words when she first expresses her dissatisfaction with her name. She says that in Spanish, her name means “too many letters. It means sadness [from the opposite of esperar, which is desesperarse], it means waiting [from the verb esperar].”

Prompt: Write an essay about names and identity in The House on Mango Street.

Names are a very important part of one’s personality. The name Sarah, for instance, comes from the Bible. This shows that names have a long tradition for many people. Tradition helps to determine the adult one becomes.

Dear Joel,Did you know that my name comes from the Bible? Actually, I’m not sure who Sarah was, but my mom told me she learned about my name in Sunday School when she was a kid.

Sarah

Dear Sarah,That’s cool. Joel is a religious name, too. It means God. So I’m like God, only I don’t really think that so don’t think I’m full of myself please. You should find out more about your name. Let me know if you do.

Your friend (but not God),Joel

Hey Joel,I don’t think your God either.

Sarah

P.S. Hey I’m just kidding and I think Joel is a cool name.

Sarah.

HA HA HA.

I just asked Ms. R about you’re name and she says Sarah was Abraham’s wife and she had a baby when she was 90!!! I don’t know who Abraham was, though, but he’s in the bible too. You should write about that.

Joel

That’s a good idea but I don’t want to have a baby when I’m 90 because I couldn’t pick it up or something. Babys are gross anyway. Do you want babies someday?

Sarah

Dear Sarah,

No way.

Joel

Leading questions

Who gave you your name? Why?

Why do you like or dislike your name?

Compare one sound in your name to another sound. Describe that sound.

Will you still like your name in 20 years?

What mistakes do people make when they say your name? What do they think about you when they hear your name?

The correct way to pronounce my name is “a’-kee-eh”. Each sylable pronounced distinctly and sharply without blending into the next sylable. Unfortunately, when people try to pronounce it “in the right way,” they actually mispronounce it by creating a whole different word, sound, and meaning: a’-ki-ya. Which means an “empty house” in the Japanese language. In my opinion, being “a key” is better than being an “empty house,” because akie is from the word aki. Which in Japanese language means autumn the best season of the year! Even though the pronunciation of autumn aki is different from the English word “a key” I am willing to be “a key”. I could lock door of an empty house.

-Akie Maekawa

From an exchange student…

My name is Sarah. It’s a name from the Bible, but that’s not why I like it. I love my name because it rolls on your tongue, because my mother gave it to me as a gift, and because it ends with the sound you make when you see a beautiful mountain or sunrise. I like to think of my mother holding me after I was born, looking down at me wrapped up like a present and saying my name: Sarah.

I don’t know what the grown-up Sarah looks like yet, just like I don’t know what grown-up Sarah does for a job, where she lives, or whether she has a family of her own. When she looks back, I don’t know what she’ll remember about me. But we’ll have one thing in common: a name.

Several drafts later….

A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In the book A Thousand Splendid Suns, one symbol is the clothing that women have to wear. This clothing reveals many things about the characters and the themes of the work as a whole.

Sample student introduction (Spencer)

Case Study: Take It Or Leave It

(The Christine Pelton Leaf Project)

The project: research, writing, presentation




Classroom results: 25% plagiarism





Student/parent contract




Administration / school board response






Administration / school board response



Long-term consequences



A. Teacher/Administration: Students receive a zero

B. Parents/Students: Students should be given another chance (rewrite)

C. School Board: Students receive a zero, but reduce the value of the assignment

Plagiarism

What Are We Talking About?

Plagiarism


Student Choices

Plagiarism


Student Choices

Turnitin.com

Failing, rewriting?

Punitive response

Plagiarism


Student Choices

Pressure: Grades

Ease

Intent

Pressure: Time

Turnitin.com

Failing, rewriting?

Punitive response

What’s the Main Reason Your Students Plagiarize?

A. It’s easy to do / they get lazy

B. They’re confused / it’s a mistake

C. They feel pressure about grades

D. They get behind on deadlines

E. Everyone does it, so they do it too

40%

24%

34%

1% 1%

My School: Why Students Pla-giarize

Ease/Laziness Pressure: deadlinesPressure: grades Confusion: processCulture/everyone does it

My School: How Students Plagiarize

Term Paper M

ills

Cutting and Pasting

Peer Copying

Rearranging W

ords

Making Up Sources

Never Plagiariz

ed

5%

25%

42%

83%

19% 15%

My School: How Students Plagiarize

Plagiarism


Student Choices

Pressure: Grades

Ease

Intent

Pressure: Time

Turnitin.com

Failing, rewriting?

Punitive response

Plagiarism


Student Choices

Pressure: Grades

Ease

Intent

Pressure: Time

Turnitin.com

Failing, rewriting?

Punitive response

Teacher Choices



Merit and Purpose of Assignment

Failure vs. Zero

Plagiarism Instruction vs. Assumptions

Plagiarism


Student Choices

Pressure: Grades

Ease

Intent

Pressure: Time

Turnitin.com

Failing, rewriting?

Punitive response

Teacher Choices

Assignments

Assumptions

Expectations

Plagiarism


Student Choices

Pressure: Grades

Ease

Intent

Pressure: Time

Turnitin.com

Failing, rewriting?

Punitive response

Teacher Choices

Assignments

Assumptions

Expectations

Pressure: Time

Ease

Intent

Plagiarism


Student Choices

Pressure: Grades

Ease

Intent

Pressure: Time

Turnitin.com

Failing, rewriting?

Punitive response

Teacher Choices

Assignments

Assumptions

Expectations

Pressure: Time

Ease

Intent

Culture



Merit and Purpose of Assignment

Failure vs. Zero

Plagiarism Instruction vs. Assumptions

Alignment of Policy: School and Class

Consistency from Classroom to Classroom

Plagiarism


Student Choices

Pressure: Grades

Ease

Intent

Pressure: Time

Turnitin.com

Failing, rewriting?

Punitive response

Teacher Choices

Assignments

Assumptions

Expectations

Pressure: Time

Ease

Intent

Culture

Systems

Honor Codes

Ethics Gap

WHEN

PRIVATE CAMPUSES

WITH HONOR CODE

LARGE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

WITH MODIFIED

HONOR CODE

CAMPUSES WITH NO

HONOR CODE

On tests 23% 33% 45%

On written work 45% 50% 56%

School Culture: Honor Codes

TEACHERS DID NOT DISCUSS

PLAGIARISM

TEACHERS DISCUSSED PLAGIARISM

Grades 3-5(understood) 49% 61%

Grades 6-12(felt it was acceptable)

37% 22%

School Culture: Ethics Gap

Reduces Plagiarism Increases Learning


Honor CodeHonor Code as a part

of school culture



of school culture

Turnitin.com Turnitin.com as a teaching tool

No matches 0-24% 25-49% 50-74% 75-100%

Reports 8,988 15,953 3,033 558 1,346

Percent 30% 53% 10% 2% 5%

Sample results from Penn State, 2005

Does Turnitin.com work?

6. Did you alert students of plagiarism

problems found by Turnitin.com and allow them

to make corrections?

Alerted no corrections 21 44.7%

Alerted allowed

corrections19 40.4%

No alert no corrections 7 14.9%

Does Turnitin.com work?



of school culture

Turnitin.com Turnitin.com as a teaching tool

Strict Consequences

Standardized Expectations and

Response

What’s the Usual Response to Plagiarism in Your School?

A. Ignore it

B. Deal with it in classroom

C. Report it to the administration

D. Add to shared files for a two-strike system

School Culture: What’s Going On?

Students who cheat tend to:

Worry about school

Research by Eric M. Anderman



Worry about school

Perceive school as focused on grades




Worry about school


Believe they’ll receive rewards for grades




Worry about school



Attribute failure to outside circumstances




Worry about school



Attribute failure to outside circumstances

Avoid deep-level cognitive strategies in problem solving


“Long ago, I realized that I care more about receiving good grades than actually learning. Even

though I realize this is wrong, I cannot seem to change my attitude…the competitiveness, the

honoring of principal’s list students, the prestige—it all just encourages students to get good grades

by any means necessary.”


School Culture: Who’s At Risk?

Athletes

Boys

Low achievers and high achievers

Those who perceive it as common (in one study, 25% admitted to regular plagiarism, but 90% said their peers plagiarized regularly)

Those who perceive teachers as plagiarists

Plagiarism


Student Choices

Pressure: Grades

Ease

Intent

Pressure: Time

Turnitin.com

Failing, rewriting?

Punitive response

Teacher Choices

Assignments

Assumptions

Expectations

Pressure: Time

Ease

Intent

Culture

Systems

Honor Codes

Ethics Gap

A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In the book A Thousand Splendid Suns, one symbol is the clothing that women have to wear. This clothing reveals many things about the characters and the themes of the work as a whole.

Sample student introduction (Spencer)

Ingenuity?

Creativity?

Write a 3-5 page formal essay on “Harrison

Bergeron.”

Rethinking Assignments


Bergeron.”

"It took me about ten seconds to find a free essay online, but it wasn't very good. I could

have paid $6.95 for a better one, though--probably worth it."


Make prompts more specific

Make prompts more personal

Use unlikely comparisons



Bergeron.”


Choose three characters from the story "Harrison Bergeron" and find two quotations from each character. Using those six quotations, write an essay in which you

compare the motivations and choices of the three characters.



Choose three characters from the story "Harrison Bergeron" and find two quotations from each character. Using those six quotations, write an essay in which you

compare the motivations and choices of the three characters.


"What a pain, I have to cut and paste those quotations into an essay that I found online on the general topic. This would take me about ten minutes, I guess, and I

might have to pay for the original essay if I wanted it to be any good."


Imagine you could spend one day in the world of “Harrison Bergeron” and talk to the characters in the story. Write a letter to the U.S. Handicapper General describing your experiences and your views on the

society within the story after your visit.



Imagine you could spend one day in the world of “Harrison Bergeron” and talk to the characters in the story. Write a letter to the U.S. Handicapper General describing your experiences and your views on the

society within the story after your visit.


"The personal voice makes this one harder, but not too hard. I could probably do it mainly by changing

pronouns with the find and replace function in Word and with a bit of formatting. Most teachers wouldn't

catch on."


Write an essay comparing “Harrison Bergeron” to the story “The Lottery.”



Write an essay comparing “Harrison Bergeron” to the story “The Lottery.”


"Done. Took me about a minute. Do you want that double-spaced?"


Read the story “Harrison Bergeron”



In groups or as a class, brainstorm topics and connections




Choose an individual topic





Find textual evidence, write a thesis






Share thesis statements and discuss







Draft a first paragraph, outline







Draft a first paragraph, outline

Write an essay

In eighth grade, I was an A student, but I hated my English teacher; the homework seemed dull and pointless. The assignment was to write summaries of each chapter; no analysis, just summary for the sole express point of making sure we read the book. I decided I could outsmart the system. I went to a lesser-known website and turned in the chapter summaries completely plagiarized. About halfway through To Kill a Mockingbird, the teacher caught me and another student who had decided the cheat in the same way.

In eighth grade, I was an A student, but I hated my English teacher; the homework seemed dull and pointless. The assignment was to write summaries of each chapter; no analysis, just summary for the sole express point of making sure we read the book. I decided I could outsmart the system. I went to a lesser-known website and turned in the chapter summaries completely plagiarized. About halfway through To Kill a Mockingbird, the teacher caught me and another student who had decided the cheat in the same way.

Andrew’s Story

I was totally embarrassed, and still deeply regret my decision to plagiarize. However, I view that day as a turning point in my academic career; I started to work harder and have never really plagiarized again (apart from minor offenses from copying textbook material). I feel my decision to cheat was not because I lacked moral judgment or because I was not aware of what I was doing. I viewed the assignment as busywork and above all else, the teacher failed to reward individual students who put effort into the assignment, which eliminated the incentive to work harder to get a better grade. . . . I think that if the school had decided to punish me more, the real reason not to cheat would have been lost to me. It would turn an offense that is illegal because it is stealing into an offense that is wrong only if you are caught by your school.

Puck:If we shadows have offended, Think but this and all is mended,That you have but slumber'd hereWhile these visions did appear.And this weak and idle theme,No more yielding but a dream,Gentles, do not reprehend:If you pardon, we will mend.And, as I am an honest Puck,If we have unearned luckNow to 'scape the serpent's tongue,We will make amends ere long;Else the Puck a liar call:So, good night unto you all.Give me your hands, if we be friends,And Robin shall restore amends.

(A Midsummer Night’s Dream V.i.)

Sample student-generated questions (prompts)

• Does the play suggest it is okay to lie?• Why is it called a “dream?”• Why do both Theseus and Puck use the word “shadow”?• Why are some people “pardoned” in the play?• Why do only Puck and Bottom break the fourth wall?• Is Puck ultimately benevolent or malicious?

A process for developing prompts(without the need to plagiarize)

• Create topics• Go back to the text—find examples• Discuss in pairs or groups• Write a thesis• Share and discuss (PINE)• Write an essay

Sample student introduction 2 (Spencer)

When Puck asks us to “pardon” him at the end of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he points out the deep irony of the play: there is no justice in Shakespeare’s comedy, poetic, legal, or otherwise. We have no more power over Puck than the humans have over the fairies, their own fates, or love itself. Shakespeare’s world seems to include justice, but it can be seen that events in MSND are decided by power, not right and wrong.

Rethinking Research Assignments

65% of students wrote a research paper for English class

38% of students wrote a research paper for social studies classes

Of English research papers, 67% were on a historical/biographical topic

75% used all internet sources

Rethinking Research AssignmentsParticipant Responses


Are students invested?

Offer choices, make topics relevant



The discipline problem: what should research look like for each discipline?


Connect content to course content and skills




Digital literacy: are students using the internet wisely?



Discuss research strategies

Citation?Note taking?

Collaboration?


S.E.A.R.C.H. (searching for reputable sites)

C.A.R.S. (evaluating web material)

C.A.P.I.T.A.L. I.D.E.A. (citation information)




Digital literacy: are students using the internet wisely?

What’s the point of the research paper?



Discuss research strategies

Discuss, specify audience and purpose

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