Friday, June 29, 2001

Cite Your Sites!
Exploring the Internet's Role in Academic Plagiarism

Author(s)
Rachel McClain, The New York Times Learning Network
Javaid Khan, The Bank Street College of Education in New York City

Grades: 6-12

Subjects:Language Arts, Technology

Related New York Times Article
" Lessons in Internet Plagiarism", By KATIE HAFNER, June 28, 2001

Overview of Lesson Plan: In this lesson, students will learn about how the Internet has increased the prevalence of plagiarism. They will then practice properly citing sources in their own research-based writing.

Suggested Time Allowance: 45 minutes

Objectives:  Students will:

  1. React to a scenario on plagiarism.
  2. Learn about the role of the Internet in academic plagiarism by reading and discussing the article "Lessons in Internet Plagiarism."
  3. Investigate topics studied in class or of interest to them, and create correctly cited bibliographies of the sources found.
  4. Develop short research papers using one of the sources found in class, properly citing all information.

Resources / Materials:

Activities / Procedures:

  1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: Students respond to the following scenario in their journals (written on the board or handed out prior to class): "You and a friend have been working on your final research papers for one of your classes for the past month. The night before the papers are due, you get together for an all-night editing session. At 1 a.m., your friend's computer dies, and he loses his entire paper. He has no back-up disk. Your friend is devastated, and he decides to download a paper off of an Internet term paper site. How do you respond to his actions?" After giving students a few minutes to write, have some students share their responses with the class. Then, develop a class definition of plagiarism.
  2. As a class, read the article "Lessons in Internet Plagiarism," focusing on the following questions:
    1. How did Ms. Prestebak discover that the high school student had taken his paper off the Internet?
    2. How has the temptation to cheat been increased by access to the Internet?
    3. What happened at the University of Virginia with regards to this topic?
    4. What did Donald McCabe's survey reveal?
    5. According to Cathy Aubrecht, what is a sign that a student has plagiarized?
    6. What are some of the consequences for plagiarism?
    7. What are some resources that schools can use to find out if students are plagiarizing materials?
  3. As a class, discuss the difference between quoting directly from a source, paraphrasing the source, and using the source as background material for your own ideas. In which cases would you have to cite the source? Divide the class into pairs or groups of three or four. Assign each grouping a topic you have recently studied in class, or allow them to select a topic that interests them, such as a current event. Using all available resources, each grouping finds ten different sources on this topic, including at least one book, one related encyclopedia entry, one news article and one Web site. Using the formats provided in the MLA Manual of Style (http://www.mla.org/www_mla_org/style/style_index.asp?mode=section), groupings develop bibliographies of the sources they have found. (If students are unfamiliar with bibliography formats, you may want to conduct a short review of this topic with the entire class).
  4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Each student in the grouping selects one source from their group bibliography. Then, each student uses that source to help them write a one page paper about the group's topic. Student should use each of the three methods (quoting, paraphrasing, and using the information to support his or her own ideas), and cite their source appropriately throughout the paper.

Further Questions For Discussion:

Evaluation / Assessment:
Students will be evaluated based on written journal response, participation in class discussions, research and creation of a group bibliography, and completion of a one-page research paper with proper citations.

Vocabulary:
aligning, ethics, abstruse, plagiarism, precarious, domain, erosion, pervasive, ferret, scrutiny, deterrent, blasé, chagrined, reinforce

Extension Activities:

  1. Check a recent paper that you have written on one of the teacher resource Web sites, such as Turnitin.com (if your school does not have this service, there are other free cites which offer similar services) to see if any parts of it are cited there.
  2. Read the short story "The Lie" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Then, write your own short story about the lengths to which people will go in the face of academic pressure.
  3. Conduct a plagiarism detector experiment. Download and print out a paragraph from an online encyclopedia. Then write your own paragraph based on this information. Show both paragraphs to several teachers, students and parents, and ask then to determine which is from the Internet and which was written by a student. Create a graph showing how accurately each group of people was able to determine which paragraph was which.
  4. Rewrite your school's honor code or, if you school does not have one, write one. Include issues such as plagiarism, drinking and drug abuse, and other activities that you think should be discouraged. Also include policies on students' responsibilities if they witness other students breaking the code, as well as the consequences for each behavior.

Interdisciplinary Connections:

  1. Current Events- Learn more about the recent plagiarism scandal of the movie reviews recently found to be written by people hired by the production companies themselves. Write an essay condoning or condemning such a practice, keeping in mind the following questions: Does the public's perception of a movie rely greatly on movie reviews? Do people assume that a critic is always unbiased in his or her assessment of a movie? What, if any, legal action should be taken against the production studios engaging in this practice?
  2. Fine Arts- Write and perform a scene between two students in which one attempts to convince the other not to plagiarize an assignment. Alternately, write and perform a scene between a teacher and a student who has been caught plagiarizing.
  3. Global Studies- Contact several students and schools in another country and learn about how plagiarism is different there than in your country. Ask questions regarding the predominance of plagiarism, punishments for those caught, and the types of honor codes or codes of conduct that schools in this country enforce. Create a chart comparing this information with the facts about your own school. (Conduct some online research on the topic if your class is unable to discuss these issues with another class somewhere else in the world.)
  4. Health- Create a "Guide to Coping with Academic Pressure." Include suggestions for how to manage one's time, how to stay healthy and mentally alert, and how to maintain academic integrity even in the face of great academic demands. Also include phone numbers that a student can call to get help with homework or just to talk to someone who can help them through a difficult time.
  5. Mathematics- Conduct an anonymous survey in your school about plagiarism. Some questions to ask include: Have you ever cheated on a test? Have you even seen someone cheating on a test and not reported it? Have you ever plagiarized a paper? Do you know anyone who has? Have you ever done homework or written a paper for a friend? Have you ever had a friend do your homework or write a paper for you? Calculate percentages for each response, and demonstrate your findings graphically.
  6. Media Studies- Watch a movie that depicts a school with a strict code of conduct, such as "Dead Poets Society" or "School Ties." Write an essay comparing this school to your own. Then, create your own short film depicting daily life at your school.

References:

Additional Related Articles:
"Battling the Cheats" (1/7/01)
"The Ethicist; Pushing the E-Envelope" (10/29/00)
"What Happens After the Whistle Blows?" (7/20/00)

Other Information on the Web

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The New York Times Company

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