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Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

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Page 1: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Students & plagiarism

Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Page 2: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Common issues in plagiarism

Students often plagiarize for the following

reasons:

• lack of knowledge / understanding

• ease of opportunity

• cultural differences in academic traditions.

Page 3: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Lack of knowledge / understanding

• Students do not know how to reference

• Students do not know when to reference

• Students do not know what to reference including paraphrases

• Students do not understand why they have to reference

Page 4: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

SolutionsStudents need the opportunity to learn how, why and when to reference. Before the first assignment is due.

• Provide students with details of required referencing systems, e.g. Harvard, APA.

• Provide students with referencing models customized for your area.• Use citations in lecture materials as referencing ‘models’ for students• Request referencing workshops from the Learning Skills Unit

Further information / resources• RMIT assessment charter• How to avoid Plagiarism • RMIT library – referencing resources• Referencing for Business (interactive resource using Harvard)

Page 5: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Ease of opportunity

• The nature of assignments could make it easy for students to copy information, e.g. questions are too broad

• The same assignments are ‘reused’ every year

• It is easy to copy from the Internet.

• There is little checking of references

Page 6: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

SolutionsRelate assignment tasks to specific and/or ‘real world’ topics so that it is more difficult for students to copy information. Compare the following questions:

– What are the fundamental distinctions between modernisation and socialist theories of development?

– What are the fundamental distinctions between modernisation and socialist theories of development? Discuss using case studies from three developing countries.

– Outline the major changes in the history of wine making.– What relevance does the history of wine making have to contemporary wine

making practice in Australia? Use relevant industry examples in your answer.

Page 7: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Solutions ( continued)

• Change your assessment tasks each year

• Randomly check references

• Design assessment tasks which focus on students’ ability to analyse and synthesize ideas rather than describe or report existing information

Page 8: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Cultural differences & academic traditions• Acknowledging the ideas of others is new

to many students from Confucian heritage countries.

• The concept of ‘ownership’ of discourse may be alien to students; intellectual property is sometimes seen as public property.

Page 9: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Solutions

• Explain to students the practice of citing sources. Discuss why it’s important and how it’s done.

• Stress the importance of proper referencing in marking criteria.

• Give early feedback on assignments.

Page 10: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Further information

To discuss strategies to help your students avoid plagiarism, contact your portfolio Key LearningAdvisor in the Learning Skills Unit.

Business: Lila KemloDesign & Social Context: Jen AndersonScience,Engineering &Technology: Elizabeth McAspurnOnline referencing materials: Barbara Morgan

Page 11: Students & plagiarism Common issues & solutions for academic integrity

Bibliography:

• Carroll J (2002) A handbook for deterring plagiarism in higher education, Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development

Website supporting this publication:• Carroll, J. Deterring plagiarism in higher education

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/4_resource/plagiarism.html (Accessed May 3, 2004)

• Carroll, J. (2002) Dealing with plagiarism, Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Brookes University http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/briefing_papers/plagiarism.pdf

(Accessed May 6, 2004)

• York University (2002) A Sampling of strategies to help discourage plagiarism in assignment design http://www.yorku.ca/academicintegrity/assignments.htm

(Accessed May 3, 2004)