Problem As American education enters a time when the ability to use technology becomes imperative, a time when students will become expected to communicate and work via the Internet, and a time when students will need to be able to find and interpret information efficiently and correctly, secondary school teachers are searching for ways to provide their students with assessments that mirror the expectations those students will face in the workforce. One way to do this is to have students research topics and create position papers, presentations, and various other forms of written expression that require students to synthesize and analyze information. However, in the midst of researching topics and sharing ideas, these same students are faced with the temptation to simply copy and paste information as they find it. Instances of plagiarism are on the rise, yet teachers are in a position where they cannot discontinue this type of assessment. Therefore, teachers face the question: How can we stop the rise of plagiarism among students? Input Since teachers have given assessments of any kind, students have attempted to find ways to cheat. Whether they were looking at another student’s paper, attempting to gain answers prior to the test, or directly copying another student’s work, these students were trying to gain a favorable grade without performing to the required standard. Today’s digital age has not only added more opportunity for students to copy the work of another, but it has also added an air of ambiguity to what is and is not cheating, or plagiarism. Some of this stems from, as Taylor (2003) states, “different mores and values than in the past [that] all contribute to cheating;” therefore, “working to understand underlyin... ... middle of paper ... ...arch 11). New honor codes for a new generation. Inside higerhed. Retrieved June 25, 2009, from http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2005/03/11/pavela1. McKeever, L. (2006, April 1). Online plagiarism detection services – saviour or scourge?. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(2), 155-165. Retrieved June 25, 2009, from ERIC database. Slobogin, K. (2002, April 5). Survey: Many students say cheating’s ok. Retrieved June 12, 2009, from http://archives.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/04/05/highschool.cheating/. Taylor, K.R. (2003, November). Bracing for cheating and plagiarism. The Education Digest, 69(3), 54-59. Retrieved June 25, 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals database. Villano, M. (2006, October). Taking the work out of homework. T.H.E. Journal, 33(15), 24- 26,28,30. Retrieved June 25, 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals database.
It is absolutely clear that you feel sad when somebody cheated and duplicate your own things. This causes many people to feel frustration and getting upset when they are facing this difficult situation. We know it is not a good attitude for students, authors, and anyone else to use something misappropriate that they didn’t belong it. I read an article that called “When the Story Stolen is Your Own”. When the author Sherman Alexie was writing this article, he was feeling nervous because somebody has stolen his article and use it in his own. Nobody didn’t believe him when he told the publisher that his story was stolen by someone and imitate that he belong it. Same as the students when they cheated each other and submit the same paper, it was one of the biggest challenge that happens some of the students when they are in the college.
It is a random Thursday night on the first floor of Brewster Hall and the Campus of State University when a frazzled young girl wanders into the room of a fellow student inquiring about The Stranger by Albert Camus. She needs to have a three page paper completed by tomorrow and cannot find a kick start on the essay writing process. Since her peers are on the level of the common doormat concerning Camus, she was left without any further help. However, had she just typed “the stranger, camus” into Google, three of the first ten sites listed would have directed her to either free or paid essay sites.
Simply defined, the word plagiarism means "the unauthorized use of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own" ("Plagiarism"). While many students understand and comprehend the first clause of this definition, many encounter problems with the second part - the thoughts part. Many students in today's educational system are frequently unable to develop their own thoughts, opinions, and ideas relating to the subject matter that they are studying. However, when people at a university are educated according to the ways set forth by John Henry Newman in "The Idea of a University," their ability to create original concepts would be cultivated to the point, where they do not feel the need to plagiarize and cheat. Newman also states that in the end, the university will produce citizens that can give back to society (48). Jeffrey Hart makes a similar point in "How to Get a College Education." Therefore, according to both Newman and Hart, an honest person will be fashioned by the university. Since honesty does not breed cheating, should not cheating then be minimized? Plagiarism and its sister cheating are plagues on society that only serve to corrupt it. Nevertheless, the education given by a university can diminish and, perhaps, even eradicate the disease by instilling in students, a sense of honor, and implementing harsh penalties on those caught cheating or plagiarizing.
...kay and when cheating was acceptable. One person said, “Excuse me, but there are worse things to do than cheat on homework.” (Nathan, 125) She noticed that over half of the students who responded thought that cheating depends on the situation or circumstance.
That stomach churning feeling of guilt for many seems to appear as a small price to pay when completing an act of academic dishonesty. Colleen Wenke wrote an essay on cheating eighteen years ago called “Too Much Pressure”. In the past fifty years, the number of students who admit to cheating has increased fifty to seventy percent(Gaffe). Many people wonder what leads the students to make this unjust decision. Today, the reason for a rise in cheaters is because of how easy it has become, leading many students to the false conclusion that they aren’t breaking any rules; It is simply viewed as a shortcut to success in the classroom and beyond.
Take out your sticky notes, electronic devices, or the magic markers to write with on the palms of your hands. Look over at your classmate’s paper and copy the “correct” answers for the quiz questions one through ten. Hand in your quiz into your teacher early, and then lay your head on your desk and go to sleep. Does that ring a bell? The topic being focused on is cheating. Not the type of cheating where you break your boyfriend, or girlfriend’s heart. This discussion is based on the cheating a lot of students practice in class, “academic cheating” to be precise. Academic cheating is defined as representing someone else's work as your own. It can take many forms, including sharing another student’s work, purchasing a term paper or test questions in advance, or paying another student to do the work for you.(ETS/AD Council) 70% of public high school students admit to serious test cheating. 60% say they have plagiarized papers. Only 50% of private school students, however, admit to this. (McCabe)
Davis, Stephen F., Patrick F. Drinan, and Tricia Bertram Gallant. Cheating in School: What We Know and What We Can Do. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print.
Many students are using technology to cheat because they are able to find answers quickly online by just searching for them. Cheating is increasing in the United States at higher rates because many of the students in high school or in college have to deal with different responsibilities, pressure, and loads of different types of work. Richard Perez Peña states in “Studies Find More Students Cheating,” “Internet access has made cheating easier, enabling students to connect instantly with answers, friends to consult and works to plagiarize.” Plagiarism, which means using a work of someone else as if it were yours, is the most common form of cheating in high school and in college. Plagiarism occurs by not citing a source correctly or by not putting the proper quotation marks on a quote that you borrow to state your point. Some students don’t even know what plagiarism is, and they do it using the technology that we have today. Therefore, Julie Rasicot states, “High schools and teachers should make clear what constitutes plagiarism, how to avoid it and what the consequences will be if students are caught.” If students are not informed about plagiarism, then they tend to use technology as an easy way to do an assignment, which prevents them from learning. On the other hand, many professors have argued that the technology is developing
Cheating can be defined as academic dishonesty to achieve a better grade; it includes copying one’s homework, plagiarizing, or viewing another’s test. The discussion of whether cheating can be justified or is always wrong has been debated and become extremely relevant in recent years. There are arguments to both sides, but in the end, cheating cannot be justified nor is it ever okay. Nothing can counter the fact that cheating in school is morally wrong, can create a hostile learning environment, and more. Cheating is morally wrong in its definition.
Keywords: cheating, research, surveys, culture, consequences, results Cheating: A Tendency for Students As of today, the constant practice of cheating
But now, teachers who may have previously cross-examined suspicious students by asking them to orally dissect their term paper's argument are now funneling college and university funds toward Internet-based antiplagiarism services and software. This means instructors and students are wielding the same weapon, the World Wide Web, in this cyber brouhaha. For teachers, a grudging reliance on technology coexists with the reality that some students are genuinely unaware that information must be attributed when it is culled from a clearinghouse like the Internet— just as when it is taken from a newspaper or an encyclopedia. The boundaries between research and cheating are becoming increasingly ambiguous.
Over the past decade or so, we have seen a huge increase in cheating in our schools. The introduction of the Internet into most homes and schools and other technological advances are some of the main causes. Students are misusing the new technologies to find new and more high tech ways to cheat. During testing students are receiving answers via text messaging devices, they are downloading notes to iPods and graphing calculators, they are picture messaging exams with their mobile phones, and they are even hiring look-alike experts to take the exams for them. They can use the internet to easily plagiarize a paper; they can pay a company to write the paper for them, they can even pay to use a prewritten paper from a database. The internet and technology are making it easier and easier for students to cheat, and as technology continues to advance, we will continue to see a rapid rise in cheating.
Modern students face many pressures for academic success. They are often unwilling to disappoint their parents or spouses. Some fear that not cheating will weaken a student’s ability to compete with their peers. They rationalize their unethical behavior, unwilling to accept a poor grade, consequently justifying cheating as the only means to that end.
“The plagiarists Tale” is an article about Quentin Rowan a man that went by the pen name Q. R. Markham. He wrote “assassin of secrets” a spy novel, after the publication of the novel James Bond fans found many similarities between the two. After further investigation results showed Quentin has plagiarized using many different novels as example. After word got out to the public the publishing company was infuriated and instantly took the novel off bookstore shelves. He said “I wish I could do it all over” he regretted everything he did. Quentin faced his consequences and is currently having a problem finding work.
Plagiarism is a serious offense and a growing trend in our society today. Some may associate plagiarism with the idea of taking someone else’s writing and making it their own. In fact plagiarism involves anything that is copied or taken and said to be of your own work. Dictionary.com defines plagiarism as “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author”. In fact this definition covers all types of cheating and misrepresentation of ones own work. There are many numbers and statistics that can be found on the amount of individuals that have admitted to cheating. Perhaps the most astounding number is one that was reported by Moeck in 2002 aloft of 40% of higher education students commit academic dishonesty. This number I’m sure has grown since this report and will continue to grow with the development of the Internet. There are a number of ideas and strategies that can be employed in order to stop this ever-growing phenomenon. As teachers and adults, we are responsible for stopping this trend and educating students about the consequences and dangers of plagiarism. I believe there are a variety of reasons individuals plagiarize. First, students are insecure with their own ability; they don’t believe they can do the work therefore they take others. Second, students believe they can get away with the act because they know others who have plagiarized, and there were not any consequences. Lastly, students are uneducated on what plagiarism is and do not know the consequences of their actions if they commit an act. These ideas will be the focus of the position taken on plagiarism in today’s academic society.