A further twist to the IP issue.... There was an instance a few years ago where a student kicked up a fuss about having his/her work submitted to Turnitin. As I recall, the argument was that, because all submitted work becomes part of the database that Turnitin checks new submissions against, and because Turnitin¹s commercial success partly depends on having as large a database as possible, the student¹s intellectual property (assuming that he/she actually wrote the essay!) was being used for someone else¹s profit, without consent or compensation.
Andrew Andrew Biro Dept of Political Science Acadia University Wolfville, NS B4P 2R6 (902)585-1925 andrew.b...@acadiau.ca On 07/01/09 3:20 PM, "Michael Maniates" <mmani...@allegheny.edu> wrote: > From Ronnie Lipschutz...I think he's on to something > > MM > > > > >> All rather ironic (or pathetic), in light of the sanctity of intellectual >> property rights, no? >> >> I suspect this all goes along with downloading music, film, etc. from the >> web. >> >> Ronnie >> >> Michael Maniates wrote: >>> As most of you know, I was away during the Spring of 2007 with Semester at >>> Sea. I served as Dean, hired the faculty, dealt with academic >>> problems...the usual Deanly stuff. >>> >>> We had ~ 700 students on the ship, from maybe 200+ institutions, from Ivy >>> League to schools that required only a pulse for admission, if that. >>> Additionally, we were running under the Univ. of Virginia's Honor Code, >>> which is probably the strongest in the land: One strike and you're out Code. >>> Any "cheating, lying, or stealing," and you're expelled. This code was >>> explained to students, and discussed in class by faculty. >>> >>> Despite all of this, we had several instances of plagiarism, mostly >>> involving the cutting and pasting of material from web sources. When >>> confronted, students seemed to be genuinely shocked. They thought, at least >>> many did, that this was how one did research: cutting and pasting, with some >>> bracketed commentary throughout. >>> One student was expelled for this sort of behavior on a marginal assignment. >>> Others (for whom we couldn't did up definitive proof) were read the riot >>> act. >>> I leave that experience thinking that there's something seriously amiss in >>> the educational/socialization process, as opposed to a decline in the >>> ethical bearing of our students. That so many students could think that >>> what we regard as plagiarism is AOK, even in the face of daunting sanctions, >>> was alarming. >>> >>> Mike Maniates >>> >>> At 01:04 PM 1/7/2009, you wrote: >>>> On cheating, great discussion, thanks to those who have been posting. A few >>>> random thoughts: >>>> >>>> Rational choice/incentive model: People cheat when the stakes are high and >>>> the sanctions are low/unlikely. I read of one study in which MBA students >>>> were found more likely than JD students to cheat, attributed to the >>>> latter's fear of not being allowed to sit for the bar exam if caught. I try >>>> reasonably to catch them, but do my students really fear being caught? I >>>> doubt it. >>>> >>>> Socialization/norms model: I will speak only for the USA. (1) Studies show >>>> that young people here increasingly crave fame and acclaim (I blame >>>> American Idol, seriously). (2) Neoliberal commodification of education has >>>> made teachers at lower levels into accomplices, which must send a powerful >>>> message to the kids. We have seen MANY staff-facilitated cheating scandals >>>> on the No-Child-Left-Behind standardized tests by which teachers and >>>> schools are increasingly evaluated, including my own kids' former >>>> elementary school, with nobody fired as a result. (3) "Pay to play" >>>> politics and financial Ponzi schemes are pretty much the heart of our >>>> political economy, as recent events have shown. It is not too strong to say >>>> that the dominant norms in public life have become "be famous or you are a >>>> loser", "it's the outcome, not the path to it, by which you will be >>>> judged", and "don't get caught." >>>> >>>> Information/transaction costs model: The line as to what constitutes >>>> plagiarism has been blurred with online resources, web-sites that interlink >>>> and reproduce without attribution, etc, and students in K-12 are not taught >>>> seriously where the line is; and the transaction costs have dropped greatly >>>> with cut-and-paste, Google, Wikipedia, and online buy-a-paper sites. >>>> >>>> In other words, all our social-science approaches lead in the same >>>> direction. Too bleak? >>>> >>>> On a lighter note, veterans will recall that GEPED had its own experience >>>> several years ago, when someone posted a paragraph from a paper that a >>>> student couldn't possibly have written, and I recognized it as being from >>>> Nancy Peluso's chapter in the edited volume Ronnie Lipschutz and I did some >>>> years back. I reproduced that e-mail exchange in my syllabi for a while, as >>>> a warning to students....kc >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>>>> >>> Susanne Moser <promu...@susannemoser.com> 1/7/2009 11:24 AM >>> >>>> Good morning everyone - >>>> >>>> I don't know about you all - maybe you're used to this, maybe you're >>>> cynical, maybe you've given up.... but I find all these posts rather >>>> disturbing to read. I don't teach at a colleague or university so don't >>>> have first-hand experience. Thus forgive if this is a totally dumb >>>> question, but can someone please offer some hunches as to the reasons >>>> for why such services exist? >>>> >>>> Are professors placing too many demands on students (either or both in >>>> quantity or quality)? Are students too dumb or ill-educated so that, by >>>> the time they get to college they can't perform what is asked of them? >>>> Is there a lack of mentoring, lack of writing assistance (because >>>> professors have papers to publish or perish, and advisory staff got >>>> cut)? Is there too much parental pressure to be a straight A student? Is >>>> it the pressure to get into grad school and super-duper jobs? Is it >>>> vanity? Is it just another money-making ploy by the good old capitalists >>>> who will find just about any niche to exploit? Are morals that far out >>>> the window and maybe more so than before? And is anyone going to get on >>>> the barricades and resist this baffling trend of anti-intellectualism? >>>> (if I go on for a bit, it will soon be a GEP-relevant topic....) >>>> >>>> Sorry, this just got me all rallied up, and I am not even at the bottom >>>> of the first cup of caffeine.... >>>> >>>> Susi >>>> >>>> Peter Jacques wrote: >>>>> > Also, in this political economy of cheating, Turnitin.com offers a >>>>> separate service ("writecheck") specifically and only for students who can >>>>> see, for a fee, if their paper indicates plagiarism compared to the >>>>> turnitin database without adding it to the turnitin database. >>>> At UCF, thesis chairs are now mandated to submit all theses and >>>> dissertations to turnitincom. >>>>> > >>>>> > Peter J. Jacques, Ph.D. >>>>> > Department of Political Science >>>>> > University of Central Florida >>>>> > P.O. Box 161356 >>>>> > 4000 Central Florida Blvd. >>>>> > Orlando, FL 32816-1356 >>>>> > >>>>> > Phone: (407) 823-2608 >>>>> > Fax: (407) 823-0051 >>>>> > http://ucf.academia.edu/PeterJacques >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> >