plagiarism and the internet

8/14/2019 Plagiarism and the Internet

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Plagiarism and theInternet

Workshop Agenda:Introductions and Background

The ProblemPossible Solutions

Conclusion

NOTE: Please ask questions as we go & if you need to use the facilities or grab a snack feel free

Steve Garwood

INFOLINK


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CybercheatsThe Problem

Q&A

Terrible Timmys Tale


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Cybercheats The Problem Q&A(data from 1998 Whos Who in American High School Students survey)

AnswersAlmost everybody does itFairly CommonPretty RareNever HappensNo Answer

Question:How common is cheating at your school?

Responses21.8%60.9%16.5%0.4%0.3%


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Answers

Cheated on a quiz or test

Copied someone elses homework

Plagiarized part of an essay

Used Cliffs or Monarch Notes toavoid reading a book

None of the Above

Question:Which of the following have you done?

Responses

39.6%

66.7%

13.2%

28.9%

19.5%



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Answers

Very difficult

Somewhat difficult

Not very difficult

Easy

Question:How easy would it be for you to obtain testquestions or answers at your school?

Responses

14.9%

25.5%

28.2%

30%



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Answers

I was caught and punished

I was caught but not punished

I was not caught

Question:If you have cheated what happened?

Responses

6.2%

6.4%

95.1%



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Question:

1. If youre competing to get good grades2. Cheating is fairly common

3. Its easy to obtain test questions and answers

4. And you have a 4.9% chance of getting caught

Why NOT cheat?

Cybercheats The Problem Q&A


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Answers:

To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) asones own

Question:What is Plagiarism?

So that I do not get accused of Plagiarism the above was takenverbatim from page 888 of Merriam Websters CollegiateDictionary 10th edition.

Make sure students knowdont assume

Cybercheats The Problem Q&A


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CybercheatsThe Problem:

Terrible TimmysTale

(an example of how easy it can be)


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Timmys Homework Assignment:

Write about 500 words on:

The Theme of Madness in ShakespearesHamlet.

(Note: This is all of the assignment, no sourcerequirements, no research instructions, etc. Think of it as

a first paper assignment.)

Other areas often seen at the library: biomes, literatureterms, global warming, drug abuse/treatment, pros/cons suchas driving age, voting age, biographical assignments

Cybercheats The Problem TTT


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Timmy ponders how to do his assignment

One of those Term paper sites? Hmmm, maybe.

Note these are free sites and all had Hamlet essays- most with bibliographies:

http://essays.terrashare.com/

http://www.netessays.com/

http://www.schoolbytes.com/

There are more



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C b h Th P bl TTT


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Timmy searches Google


C b h t Th P bl TTT


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Timmy sees novelguide.com info


C b h t Th P bl TTT


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Timmy copies and pastes to Word


C b h t Th P bl TTT


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Timmy adds fluff and a fakecitation making work his own.


C b h t Th P bl TTT


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Is Timmy alone????

NOPERemember

4 out of 5 high achievers surveyed in1998 admitted to cheating on school workaccording to Whos Who Among AmericanHigh School Students and more than ofthose said such cheating was no bigdeal, and practically none got caught.

Actually Timmy might be lessterrible THAN typical


C b h t Th P bl TTT


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Is there a way to catch Timmy????

In this case yes. Since Timmy waslazy and didnt try to change thework he got very much.

A phrase search in Alta Vista,Google or a MetaSearch engine willfind his work. More about this in a

lil bit

Howevermore enterprisingTimmys will be hard to catch


C be cheats The P oblem TTT


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Types of Plagiarists:(Is this plagiarism to you?)

The Mega Copier

Patchwork Partier

The Omiter

Source Faker

Super Paraphrasers

The Author (for others and himself)

The Purchaser



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CybercheatsPossible Solutions Working with Students

Tips for Teachers

Defining Plagiarism

Academic Integrity Policies

Phrase Searching and Search Engine Tips

Using Screening Services

Cybercheats Possible Solutions


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Make sure they understand not just thehows but the whys

Go Aheadask them if they know why

they should do something

Use research paper tutorial sites that youlike. Kids like the web, might as well use it.

My favorite is the Internet Public Librarys

A+ writing site.

Working with Students




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Let students know that you know aboutthose paper mill websites. Then do

actually check some of them out. Go a step further and take students toone of the sites, review a weak paperwith students and analyze its failures.





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Teaching citations:Trouble with citations is often cited as a

reason for plagiarismif you get points takenoff for bad citeswhy cite?

One of the problems:

The MLA and APA books are difficult to use!

If I ever wanted to see a student back atmy deskI just gave them those manuals





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Alternatives to the APA and MLA books

Simple guidelines like at U. Of Albany

Online servicesNoodlebib, Easybib, Citation Machine

Or, at least copy those necessary pages

(just beware of copyright)




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What is Plagiarism? Make sure they get it.

Compare it to that theyre familiar with

E.G. Hip/Hops reuse of lyrics, beats, andthe use of licensing agencies

"A federal appeals court ruled Sept. 7, 2004 that rapartists should pay for every musical sample includedin their work -- even minor, unrecognizable snippets

of music." AP reporting on Bridgeport Music v.Dimension Films





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Be careful to give specific, non-genericinstructions for papers. Specificity makes itharder to cheat.

Get writing samples. Comparing pastwork to new work can help catchplagiarized items.

Watch the process: Get drafts, use peer

groups to evaluate, have drafts submittedwith assignments.

Tips for Teachers: Preventive Techniques




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Instead of traditional writing assignments

Change the format (skit, interview, news story)

Make comparisons

Create a game (20 questions, jeopardy)

Write a letter to your biographical person

Color code citations to Works Cited page

Writing Sample No Warning, no books, color paperhanded out in class

No such thing as a cheat proof assignment

Mix formats


Tips for Teachers: Preventive Techniques



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Check for website printout page numbers or dates, grayedout letters, lines at the top of the pages...

Notice any jargon or advanced vocabulary or sentencestructure.

Look for short papers8.5 x 10.5

Reference the original assignment. Are any portions of theassignment completely left out?

Tips for Teachers: Detection Tips




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Asking your parent or a friend to suggest changes or

corrections in your written essay

Asking your parent or a friend to rewrite your essay,making all the changes or corrections for you

Asking your parents or a friend to help you search theInternet for information for a report

Reading someone elses term paper and then writingyour own using some of his ideas and copying part or allof his bibliography

Writing a report as a group and then each personwriting a report that is just a little bit different to hand in

Listing books in your bibliography that you didnt read

Copying sentences or paragraphs from the encyclopediafor your report without using quotation marks orfootnotes

Hiring a tutor to help you write better

Defining Plagiarism. Do any of these apply?




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Do you have one?

Have you read it? Has anyone else? parents? students?

How was the policy written?

Is it ever enforced?

Academic Integrity Policies (They work)

What makes a good speed trap?

Consistent

Set up well

Enforceable

Others do your work for you




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is your best friend as it will let you dophrase searches in 99% of Search Engines.

Use a middle line from a paragraph not

introductions/conclusions Remember where students are searching AOL, MSN, YahooPublic Library, SchoolLibrary, etc.

Simple Phrase Searching/Search Engine Tips




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TurnItIn.com

MyDropBox.com

You can use them to:

Screen

Review work before its handed in

Make a credible threat

Using those screening services



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Cybercheats

Conclusion

Cybercheats Conclusion


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5 Steps to Addressing Plagiarism

5 Steps that I think will help

Acknowledge the issue with all involved

Universally define plagiarism

Create a solid enforceable AcademicHonesty Policy and promote it

Create methods to prevent occurrences

of and screen for Plagiarism

Be a good role model




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Hmmm, lastly, how much of this

presentation do you think wastaken from the web?

See any citations?

Well I couldnt not cite (here they are):

Timmys Tale is mine Besides that everything else is in the handouts




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Cody (my dog) says:This presentation available at:

http://www.stevegarwood.com/classes


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