THAT’S CHEATING!!!

Plagiarism is an ongoing concern in education. It brings into question the motives, intentions, and values of students who cheat. It also creates concern about how much do educators need to worry about it and what can be done. Some research says about 13% of students plagiarize (Jocoy and DiBiase, 2006). With the steadily increasing number of online students, even if the percentage doesn’t change, the numbers of cheaters is steadily increasing. What can be done?

The very technology that makes researching and using information simple and limitless is the same technology which has created plagiarism detection devices. Concerned educators can insert phrases into almost any search engine and discover if the phrase is original and where it came from if it isn’t. Software such as EVE (Essay Verification Engine) and Turnitin.com check assignments automatically against a database with millions of entries and have a very high detection rate. These detection devices have been in use for several years, and yet plagiarism continues.

My experiences as an undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate student have included the use of Turnitin for many years. How hard is it to write a paper and use citations in APA form? If a student doesn’t know how to format in APA (and by graduate school they certainly should), they can use writing formatting software such as PERRLA (http://www.perrla.com/) to format papers for them. I just don’t understand why someone would go to the trouble of researching a topic, then finding a quote, and copying and pasting it without taking another minute to cite it properly. I suppose it might be considered academic laziness.

It is my opinion that educators should continue to uphold expectations of academic excellence in accordance with established guidelines (like MLA or APA). Students should be made aware of expectations and academic guidelines, as well as school policy regarding plagiarism. A properly formatted reference section should maintain an important place in a grading rubric. Students who plagiarize should be penalized accordingly. However, the remainder of the paper or assignment should still be considered for credit. To do this, educators can modify the nature of the assignment to discourage plagiarism. By utilizing personal experiences and examples, as well as requiring personal application of concepts, educators can assess the level of learner understanding of core concepts, the ability to think critically, and solve problems. A properly designed assignment will not benefit from plagiarism; in fact it may demonstrate learner weaknesses rather than assets.

In their video “Plagiarism and Cheating”, Pratt and Palloff (2012) discuss designing assignments and assessments in such a way as to discourage, or at least discount, plagiarism. I found this approach to be refreshing and extraordinary. Most of academia decries cheating, while these educators were actually inviting it! I am in complete agreement with this approach. Though I believe educators still have the duty to encourage academic writing and skills, they also have the duty to promote skills which are applicable in a real world environment. Many adult learners may have no interest in scholarly thinking and writing, but they have returned to school to acquire skills which will benefit them in their lives and careers. Creating assignments and assessments which have value whether there is “cheating” or not is an effort to advance education in spite of the age old issue of cheating.

In my own experience I have taken distance learning exams by a proctor and for online courses exams allowing open books and sources. The online exams were much more comprehensive and demanding. The ability to “cheat” was acknowledged; however using notes, texts, and Internet sources was more of an impediment than a benefit. A comprehensive question with a time limit for response requires a solid understanding of the topic at hand and the ability to express that understanding clearly.

It is these types of assignments and assessments I aspire to apply to online education for adults. While acknowledging academic criteria and encouraging its use through state of the art technology (like formatting software and detection software), I hope to create assignments where plagiarism and cheating are not helpful. Instead of cheating I hope to foster creativity, understanding, and a successful learning experience.

 

References:

Jocoy, C., & DiBiase, D. (2006). Plagiarism by adult learners online: A case study in detection and remediation. International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 7(1), 1–15. Retrieved 12-07-13 from: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/242/495

Pratt and Palloff   2012 Plagiarism and cheating.  Laureate Education, Inc Retrieved 12-07-13 from: http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/Walden/EDUC/6179/06/downloads/WAL_EDUC6179_06_A_EN.pdf

PERRLA  Retrieved 12-07-13 from: http://www.perrla.com/