Plagiarism in College – How to Avoid the Trap
In the current age of technology, plagiarism is more common than any plague. Students, worldwide, are sunk deep down in the act of ‘copy-pasting’ and call it their savior.
To fight a plague, one must understand it. Today, under the pressure of grades and marks, students push possibly all limits, even if it includes plagiarism. According to a 2009 survey, (By; Common Sense Media), almost 21% students of fresh college years submitted assignments downloaded straight from the internet. More than 38% copied text directly from various websites and shockingly, 36% believed that downloading an article from internet was not a serious offense, where as 19% refused to accept it as cheating.
If plagiarism is to be avoided, it needs to be adopted as a common practice for educators to inform their students what falls under the category of plagiarism and how they may have violated the copyrights of a certain institution or individual.
Make sure you take the following steps not only to educate your students better, but also to benefit their own self and the institution by avoiding the trap of plagiarism.
1. Before every new year, term, semester and tests, make it clear to your students that presenting any idea, that is not theirs, as their own, claiming someone else’s work or presenting any paperwork that is not theirs is a serious offense/crime and if caught, punishable by dismissal. Not to mention a violation of the copyright acts.
If they are to take reference, the source and authors must always be mentioned, without which even the best assignment made from a combination of copy pasting is a pile of wasted paper.
2. Emphasize on the fact that the time and energy they put in searching and downloading assignments from the internet does not make it legal for them to mark and present as their own. It is still deceitful.
3. Always insist for a soft and a hard copy while taking an assignment. Soft copy of any paper will make it easier for you to check it for plagiarism.
In fact, the mere act of asking for soft copy may also prove to be a turning point for many, for the fear of being caught.
4. Instead of broad /common topics, always go for breakdowns and unconventional topics that would keep the student from cheating. Instead, make them learn more due to a deeper background study.
5. Do not let change of topics be allowed at last minute. As it might be a sign that the topic chosen later was easily available for the student.
6. Always insist for background and source material’s copy along with the assignment. So that even in print form, it is easier for you to check the material against its resource.
7. After taking assignments, do a short but random quiz about their own assignment, as anyone who did their research well instead of copy pasting will know their facts well.
And last but not the least, for any case of plagiarism caught, make sure it does not go unreported and take a strict action against it for their own good and those who follow.