TEACHSOC: Re: plagiarism

[Kathleen McKinney]

A couple of other comments...

I strongly agree that creating and assigning assignments that are original, unique, etc. that simply make plagiarism unlikely is a key strategy (the original list question, however, was about academic dishonesty more generally...which goes beyond plagiarism, of course, though you can still do this for many assignments or exams). I do this in all my classes as I am sure most of you do as well.

In addition, creating a classroom environment and relationships with and among students that make plagiarism and other forms of cheating unlikely --including trusting students and assuming honesty--is critical.

Yet, we should not ignore policy... what I meant by policy, however, was not simply the statements in our courses or departments about what we mean by plagiarism or what we mean by academic dishonesty, but the college/university policy on the processes of handling cases of accused academic dishonesty. For example, at Illinois State, IF a faculty member believes a student has cheated or plagiarized, and the student admits to this, the faculty member can determine the sanction, if any, but must still inform the appropriate body on campus of the situation as they keep records because, unfortunately, there are a few students who commit repeated offenses across courses and departments. Let's say, for example, a faculty member decides a student deserves a second chance and should have no punishment or a mild one but confidential records on campus show that the student has violated academic honesty several times over 2 years. That student will then be dealt with based on a hearing by a committee of faculty, staff, and students. On the other hand, IF you believe a student has violated academic honesty in your class but the student denies it, our faculty are NOT allowed to simply render a punishment of any sort on their own (e.g., lower the grade, give a zero, demand a rewrite). The student has a right to due process. In this case, the faculty member must turn over the case to the judicial committee for findings and outcome. I am not saying whether these particular policies and processes are the best... only that some do exist on most campuses and that faculty members should know them, follow them, make sure their dept. and course policies fit with in them, and/or should change them if they have evidence they are not good processes for student learning.

Kathleen