Ludy Goodson, Center for Excellence in Teaching

Judi Repman, Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Jocelyn Poole, Dr. Sonya Shepherd, Zach. S. Henderson Library

Quick Fixes for Intellectual Integrity

http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/cet/ludy_merlot

Questions

• What is your quick fix?• How does your “quick fix” work? How well? False

positives? False negatives?• Any studies done about how well it reduces plagiarism?• Or is it just hype, ease, or accountability-hand-off?• And how much difference does assignment structure and

renewal of assignments make?• What approach is more effective? What can you do?

To begin…a few other questions…

Student Context

• computers

• rapid access

• cut-and-paste

• whole papers

• excerpts

• fees

• stock assignments

…often…maybe…

• 75%...CAI (Center for Academic Integrity) Research, Duke University

• less (Chronicle of Higher Education)

• before college (American School Board Journal)

…definitions change reports…McCabe KSU Study, Professor of Organization Management at Rutgers, sponsored by Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University, 1999; 2003 followup Study

• Plagiarize using Internet? 8-13%

• Obtain from paper mill or web?4-7% (1999) , 8% NC, 2% C (2003)Is this serious cheating? (2003) 83-86%

• “A few sentences” without footnotes? 36-45% (1999), 8-33% Written (2003),Internet 6% (2003)Is this serious cheating? (2003) 35-38%

…why…

• Lack of skills• Confusion• Careless note taking• Cultural dispositions• Panic, pressure• Procrastination• Schoolsucks.com

“download your workload”

…why…

• Parentspressure

• Librarianshelp find sites

• Facultyassignments

• Peerssocial, prestige

…how…

Plagiarizing Examples

• English

• Physical Geology

• Art History

Plagiarizing Example 1-English

• Politics: How does a particular novel -- say, Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale -- raise its political questions? And does it raise these questions effectively? For example, would you say that the novel's "reconstructed" style helps or hinders its political agenda? And what about the novel's ending?

Plagiarizing Example 1-English

Search Terms: Atwood's “The Handmaid's Tale” politics

Plagiarizing Example 1-English

Google Search: http://www.brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/750/Handmaid's%20T.htm

Plagiarizing Example 1-English

Mamma Yahoo Altavista Hotbot Askjeeves

Search Example 2

Geology

The purpose of this paper is to investigate out how geologists answer questions. You should choose such a question and then research it. Many examples are given below of questions you can use for your specific paper topic. You can come up with your own, but you must OK it with me first to make sure it is workable or I will not accept it! (How do you work out the detailed chemical composition of a mineral?)

Search Terms: paper determine chemical composition mineral

…”detection-tool” problems…

• Unlawful gain

• Publicity for plagiarism

• Incomplete databases

• Instructor works

• False positives, negatives

• Conflicting interests

…problems…

• “Two online services that help professors check student papers for plagiarism -- PlagiServe.com and EduTie.com -- appear to have ties to Web sites that sell term papers to students.”

Chronicle of Higher Education, Information Technology, Tuesday, March

12, 2002, http://chronicle.com/free/2002/03/2002031201t.htm

…problems…

• Students still can plagiarize

Do threats work?

Told their papers would be checked: 10.7% - 17.5% plagiarism

• Not told: 17.2% plagiarism“Plagiarism: Prevention, Practice, and Policies, 2004 conference” James Douglas Beasley “The Impact of Technology on Plagiarism Prevention and Detection” http://www.powerresearcher.com/download/plagiarism_tech_impact.pdf

Re: Weinstein and Dobkin study

How do you define plagiarism?

…definitions differ……values differ…

Is it plagiarism? http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/isit.html

• Instructors

• Librarians

• Parents

• Students

How do you define intellectual integrity?...priority? …differences?

How do your students know?

Students need education…

Students need education…Plagiarism.org http://www.plagiarism.org/faq.html (2002)

What really subverts plagiarism?“…needed guidance and instruction…”“well-crafted, carefully sequenced, and interesting assignments…”Are teachers part of the solution or part of the problem? Toward the Best in the Academy, Vol 15, No 1, 2003-2004

What encourages intellectual integrity?

…what works…

• Well-designed learning• Clear, detailed directions• Process focus, steps• Change list of topics• Value original thought• Allow time “Preventing Plagiarism with an Outcomes

Approach” http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/cmis/eval/downloads/curiculum/pplagiarism.pdf and “AntiPlagiarism Strategies for Research Papers” http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm

…what works…• Work with student on

planning, ideas outline, note-taking

• Require “recent” and range of references

• See report on work done

• Ask questions about process: “What exactly do you mean here by ‘dynamic equivalence’?”

…what works…• Assess planning, notes, and

process• Require annotated

bibliography with notation about usefulness of the source

• Require “metalearning” essay – at moment of collecting paper, have students write “what they learned from the assignment” and “what problems did they face and how did they overcome…”

…what works…“Four Reasons to be Happy about Internet Plagiarism” Teaching Perspectives (St. Thomas University) 5 December 2002 [1-5] Repr. Teaching Options Pedagogiques 6:4 (University of Ottawa) (August 2003) 3-5; repr. (abridged) as “Let’s Hear it for Internet Plagiarism,” Teaching & Learning Bridges 2:3 (University of Saskatchewan) (November 2003), 2-5 http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/4reasons.htm and more...

Structured Assignment #1

• English 102, Writing Research PapersDr. Marylynne Diggs Permission to use received 1/26/05 from mdiggs@clark.edu.

http://web.clark.edu/diggma/102/102home.htm or

http://thor.clark.edu/diggma/102/102home.htm

Structured Assignment #2

• Course Paper Assignment,Sociological Research Methods IIDr. James Daniel LeePermission to use received by email on 1/26/05 from jdlee@jaguar1.usouthal.edu

http://www.southalabama.edu/sociologyandanthropology/lee/website/CPA.pdf

Structured Assignment #3

• GLG310 Structural Geology 2004 Information about Research Assignment Dr. Ramon ArrowsmithDr. Steve Reynolds Permission to use received by email on 1/26/05 from ramon.arrowsmith@asu.edu

with cc: to sreynolds@asu.edu http://activetectonics.la.asu.edu/Structural_Geology/Labs/FinalProject/ with links to general project outline and to writing tips

Structured Assignment #4

• EAS 100 Planet EarthDept. of Earth & Atmospheric SciencesTerm Paper AssignmentProf. Lawrence W. BrailePermission to use received by email on 1/27/05 from braile@purdue.edu.

http://www.eas.purdue.edu/~braile/eas100/term.doc orhttp://www.eas.purdue.edu/%7Ebraile/eas100/term.pdf or http://www.eas.purdue.edu/~braile/eas100/term.pdf

• Prof. Braile wrote: “ On the plagiarism issue, I found a few years ago that there were several copy and paste term papers turned in. Now I have a section in the assignment and I go over this issue in class and there are many fewer plagiarized papers.”

…tips…resources…

• Tips to help students: “Using the Works of Others” http://library.umf.maine.edu/plagiarism/valid.html

• Presentation and resources: http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/cet/ludy_merlot/

What else would help?

5 min. discussion