Just a couple comments regarding the coursework students provide: I think one protection against plagiarism is to require that 30% or more of the grade is provided exams (not take-home!) in class and/or oral presentations (For example, I have students do debates - they do not know in advance whether they will argue "pro" or "con" so must prepare both and cannot use more than a brief outline & Work Cited page during the debate). I also have a colleague who gives oral exams. If a student has a disability and want special provisions for the exams, they must be registered appropriately and take the test at Student Disability Services. Most dishonest students do cannot receive a C or above in my course - this is where they fail. Each assignment of the course prepares the student for the exam or the debate. There are no surprises on the exams - but they must know the material and demonstrate critical thinking. I also do not give As to student who cannot get 80% or better on the Final Exam.
Caution - the oral debate: If a student has severe panic & "freezes up" during the oral debate, I will interview the student in my office to determine if the student did the work. Most students are nervous - I grade on how they make points, field student questions (or mine), and how well they participate as the audience for classmates' debates. Quick points here - I look forward to reading others ideas. ----- Original Message ----- From: Sarah Murray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 9:14 pm Subject: TEACHSOC: Fw: TEACHSOC: plagiarism > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Sarah Murray > To: Marty Schwartz > Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 6:42 PM > Subject: Re: TEACHSOC: plagiarism > > > I'd like to add something regarding both academic dishonesty and > support from the administration. > > I had a student last semester who presented as a mentally > challenged individual -- not only in her extremely deficient > academic work, but in the way she interacted with peers, the way > she moved, her overall demeanor. Her parents came to meet me > once, the way I do with my 4th grader's teachers, and also > "spoke" to me through their daughter (my student); I had the > strong impression they would do anything to get her a college > degree, including doing her work for her. > > The irony is that we have a support program for students with > learning disabilities, but this girl WOULD NOT sign up for it at > my suggestion (I'm sure succumbing to the advice of her parents > who obviously felt she'd be stigmatized.) Other students I knew > who received special help were far less disadvantaged > intellectually than this student. > > Even in a non-competitive enrollment situation, I couldn't figure > out how this girl had gotten to be a senior in college, but it > turns out her father taught at a local community college, got her > in there, and had her transfer to this state university. When I > say there was a gap between the work she performed in class and > the work she "produced" at home (done, I'm sure, by her parents) > that is the understatement of my lifetime. > > I am only an adjunct but feel a duty to uphold academic standards, > especially as I see them slip into oblivion, so I talked to the > assistant chair of the soc. department and another colleague who > didn't seem to know how to react to this situation, and then > called the chair of the student's department (she was a women's > studies major). > > I was told that this student had higher than a 3.0 average, so > somehow she had "managed to do very well" up through her senior > year!! Right then I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. In my > view, if this girl and her parents (for she was treated like an 11 > year old child) did not want to avail themselves of the services > provided for students with obstacles, I think she should've gotten > the grade her work warranted -- an F. But in this market-driven > environment, where the customer (I mean student) is always right, > I knew there was no point in pursuing my inclination, and gave her > a C. What good is this college degree when any job interview this > girl goes on will end in disappointment, as her deficiencies are > immediately obvious? Wouldn't the student's time and the parent's > money be better spent honing life skills (she could not drive, had > no friends, had never worked outside the home at 22, and was > cheerfully oblivious to all of it, and super confident in her > "abilities")? I believe this whole charade was a disservice to > her, the other students in the class, and the university at large. > She came away being able to articulate absolutely nothing we > covered in class -- and this was a "fun" Soc. of Family course. > > > What would anyone suggest I should've done instead?? > Sarah Murray > William Paterson U of NJ > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Marty Schwartz > To: teachsoc > Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 4:15 PM > Subject: TEACHSOC: plagiarism > > > A couple of quick comments: > > I think that Mikaila Arthur makes a number of very good points. > The issue is made more simple at my university, which has a rule > that you can set up any policy that you wish on plagiarism, but > that it can only be enforced if it is distributed in writing the > first day of class. Personally, and this is more ideology than > informed practice, I figure that by the time someone becomes an > advanced student in a selective admission university they should > know the basic rules of plagiarism. I just tell them if they are > not confident of what this means, to get on line or hike over to > the reference librarian who has loads of suggestions. > > 2. Nevertheless, as Del points out, some amazing things happen. > I once had a student copy an entire paper out of a book that our > university library did not hold, but another university in town > did. As I happens, it was my field and I had read the book. When > I failed the student, she complained about me to the dean, who > called me in to hear her complaints. It turns out she claimed > that she believed that this was the way to write papers and that > she had always written them that way. I must have greeted this > with a sullen sneer or something, because she said she would be > back in 20 minutes. She returned with 9 term papers, each of > which was obviously copied out of a book (bad enough when a semi- > literate open admissions student sounds like Saul Bellow, but when > she sounds like a Nobel prize winning chemist ......). Each had > no written comments except an A on the front page, and perhaps a > "good job." > > 3. Aside from graduate seminars, I have given up research > papers. When the university switched our sophomore classes from > 35 to 100, and at least in criminology assigned me commonly 40 to > 60 student upper division classes, I quit assigning loads of > papers. I can barely live through essay exams, as long as they > also expect me to be nationally active, work heavily with students > and former students, publish and get grants, etc. Now that I am > getting pretty old, I find that a 70 hour week is all that I can > handle, but the university is still trying to balance the budget > by accepting 2000 more students and cutting the adjunct and > graduate assistant budget. > > I have found it easiest to assign a large number of small > papers, such as "find three research articles in peer reviewed > journals published since the last time I taught this course, and > write an essay that summarizes them, critiques them, and explains > how they treat the subject as compared to our assigned readings." > Not likely to get that from the web, or to borrow it from their > older brother. > > Besides, as others have pointed out, in 30 years of teaching in > a variety of environments and six years of chairing a very large > department, I have only seen a very occasional case where a > student was accused of cheating and the dean/judicial > board/grievance committee, etc. did not back the student. I > believe in taking extreme steps to create environments where > cheating is not possible, since the chances of the university > backing me up are so slim. Anyway, I hate scenes! > > Marty > > Martin D. Schwartz > Professor and Research Scholar > Ohio University > > Visiting Fellow, National Institute of Justice > Co-Editor, > Criminal Justice: The International Journal of Policy and > Practice
