Hi folks,
I recently gave a very low grade to a student in part for having
plagiarised on a take-home exam. The student simply copied wording from the
main text without using quotation marks, without citing the material, etc.
The student sent me an E-mail a day after getting the test back, which
contained the following:
>As for the midterm, I
>didn't know that you did not want the answers from the book. That has been
>the norm for all of my classes. This is the first time that I've failed a
>take home exam for that reason.
The test instructions even contained this passage: "If you copy wording or
information from any of your books, readings, or other sources, make sure
you show this by quoting (if necessary) and providing either an APA style
reference or a footnote."
My real question is: If a student uses wording that is too similar to the
wording from a text, reading, etc, on a *closed-book essay test*, would you
consider that a case of plagiarism? (I think I'd let it slide under such
circumstances.)
--> Mike O.
_______________________________________________
Michael S. Ofsowitz
University of Maryland - European Division
http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~mofsowit
_______________________________________________
