TEACHSOC: Re: Policy on academic dishonesty?

[Stephen Sweet]

Rebecca-   I would love to see (if there is not one already published) a research article in Teaching Sociology on sociologically informed methods of handling the issue of plagiarism.  It is a major problem. I think it an open question whether the statements on the syllabi act as a deterrent, which I think is the strongest justification for their inclusion.  While I respect the decision of others to include a detailed statement of their policy (or reproduce their college’s policy) on their course syllabus, I chose not to do so, for the following reason.   I see a major task in the first class (in which the syllabus is distributed) is to build enthusiasm for the course and to define future encounters as being based on mutual trust.  As rough parallel, consider accepting a job and receiving from the department chair a strongly worded note of what s/he will do if one does not perform duties in an honest and professional manner.   I believe that same trust that we have for our colleagues should be extended to our students (indeed, as Paulo  Freire pointed out, we are all students).   This is not to say that we shouldn’t be on guard.  But I think the more we push ourselves to avoid assigning ritualistic activities (e.g., the customary term paper), and the more we develop useful timeframes for assignment completion (e.g., handing in component parts throughout the semester), the less likely students will feel tempted (or able) to plagiarize the night before an assignment is due.  It won’t prevent it entirely, but I believe it will help stem the problem. -steve sweet beccahenthorn wrote: I was just wondering how the rest of you guys deal with academic dishonesty. Do you have a school wide or departmental policy? Do you have a statement about academic dishonesty in your course syllabus, and how is the student disciplined for such behaviors. Rebecca Henthorn Murray State College Tishomingo, OK 73460 http://mscok.edu/~bhenthorn