Cindy's copy and paste
Scenario 8 (Property)
Cindy finds some good information about plant growth nutrients for her science fair project on a CD-ROM reference title that came with her home computer. She uses the copy function of the computer to take an entire paragraph from the CD-ROM article and pastes it directly into her report. She also forgets write down the title of the article and the CD-ROM from which it was taken. When she writes her report, she does not cite the source in her bibliography.
Questions:
Plagiarism is easier than ever, thanks to the computer. Students need to understand when and how to cite sources in both print and electronic formats. Some plagiarism is of course deliberate, but much of it stems from a lack of understanding of what and when to cite. Direct, repeated instruction by library media specialists and teachers needs to be done as a part of each project requiring research. Parents, when proofing their children’s writing, should be asking if proper credit has been given for others’ work.
Cindy finds some good information about plant growth nutrients for her science fair project on a CD-ROM reference title that came with her home computer. She uses the copy function of the computer to take an entire paragraph from the CD-ROM article and pastes it directly into her report. She also forgets write down the title of the article and the CD-ROM from which it was taken. When she writes her report, she does not cite the source in her bibliography.
Questions:
- What is the property?
- Who is its owner?
- What danger or discomfort might the unethical action cause?
- Is most plagiarism deliberate or due to a lack of understanding?
- Is there a parallel in the physical world to this scenario?
- Can you think of other incidents that would fall into this category?
Plagiarism is easier than ever, thanks to the computer. Students need to understand when and how to cite sources in both print and electronic formats. Some plagiarism is of course deliberate, but much of it stems from a lack of understanding of what and when to cite. Direct, repeated instruction by library media specialists and teachers needs to be done as a part of each project requiring research. Parents, when proofing their children’s writing, should be asking if proper credit has been given for others’ work.
Doug Johnson
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Reader Comments (6)
The property is that of the CD-ROM owner/creator, The owner is the publishing company and producer of the CD-ROM. The danger is that all to often this is happening and causing the financial industry to suffer and thus causing consumers to purchase the software at a much higher cost. The discomfort of this is that the student may be called to the teacher's desk and given notice of a failing grade do to plagiarizing the work turned in.
I believe that plagiarism is not some much deliberate as it is not knowing how to properly cite the work. As educators it is our job to make sure we are teaching the students how to properly cite all work used.
Sometimes the definition of plagiarism is not fully understood. Most people, students included, feel that because information is posted on such a public vehicle made available to everybody, it is there for the taking.
I do think it is our job as educators to teach students the true definition of the word plagiarism.To let them know that because somebody has taken the time to research, compile and format the information, the information is owned.Therefore when you find that information useful to you, you are borrowing the information and giving credit to the person that researched it.
I also believe that most times plagiarism is not intentional, but the fact that students do not understand how to properly cite the works that are used. I had a personal experience with this last year when I assigned my fifth graders a jazz project where they had to make a powerpoint on a famous jazz musician. Even though I told them they needed to write each slide in their own words, after seeing their completed projects, I knew several of them had copied and pasted from websites. They attempted to cite the websites, but what they didn't understand was that they couldn't copy the entire paragraph and post it as their own writing on the slide. We had a mini-lesson about copyright laws after they finished telling me about their jazz musician!
I also believe that most times plagiarism is not intentional, but the fact that students do not understand how to properly cite the works that are used. I had a personal experience with this last year when I assigned my fifth graders a jazz project where they had to make a powerpoint on a famous jazz musician. Even though I told them they needed to write each slide in their own words, after seeing their completed projects, I knew several of them had copied and pasted from websites. They attempted to cite the websites, but what they didn't understand was that they couldn't copy the entire paragraph and post it as their own writing on the slide. We had a mini-lesson about copyright laws after they finished telling me about their jazz musician!
I feel that in most cases children do not know that is is wrong to copy another persons work. I can remember when I was in Elementary school, I had to do a research project and due to the nature of the topic, I needed factual details. I copied the facts listed in the article, but when I turned in my final project, My teacher informed me that I needed to make a footnote and list where I got my information. It was only at that point in time that I was given my first lesson about copyright laws.
As Educators, we need to teach students about plagiarism before assignments are given. Otherwise like in my case, how would a child know that anything was wrong about the final research project. If I had been taught first, then I would have known to include that in my report.
This is an excellent opportunity to teach students how to paraphrase.
When students approach you wanting some feedback on their project, mention the need of citing the source of information and emphasize the need of writing in "your own words" and not just "cutting and pasting".
Plagiarism is a crime students need to be aware of, but it would be more than a crime not to teach them what it is or that it is wrong.