Academic integrity and plagiarism

Lot in the news now about the moral depravity of students as evidenced by "cheating." The Philosophy Monkey treats it well. I like that he makes a point that instructors aren't as stupid as student's might think (with a video of an instructor calling his students on cheating), but any suppositions that there is a generational component are undercut by the current discussion of former President Bush's alleged plaigiarism of his own memoirs. See Christian Science Monitor, which cites Huffington Post. The embedded image is from Doone'sbury at Slate on 11-18-10 @ 10 am, that site has been running quotes from Bush's memoir with other sources. Yesterday's example was nearly identical- but I didn't do a screengrab.

I question that the ethics of our students are much different from that of our leaders, and therefore the issue is one of our culture as a whole rather than kids today; however, many readers of the article "Cheating and the Generational Divide" in Inside Higher Education may disagree. Prior to a test students researched online for publisher created tests - and the instructor used the test provided by the publisher. Some students claim the instructor said in class he would create his own test. I need to someday read this more carefully - but I gotta get ready for class.

I hope a student chooses plagiarism or ethics for an inquiry-learning research project. I'd like to hear a balanced and logical discussion of the issue.

plagiarism and copyright

image from the dilbert website at http://dilbert.com/ 9-2-10. Click to see full size image.

Day trips: the Nelson

Recognize the Day lilies at the right? They c0mprise less than 10 % of the space of one of my favorite paintings by arguably the greatest painter of the 20th century. The portrait (?) is a contemporary interpretation of a classic Greek myth in an unmistakeably midwestern rural scene - and it predates Percy Jackson the Lighting Thief by 70 years. For the complete painting and the answer scroll to the end of this post.

I mention how much space because I'm concerned about fair use, and because the pictures and images I use are generally links to other sites - I cover my assets. What images or quotes I use also

• don't infringe on the market
• re-imagine, interpret or review the work
• are for educational purpose

All of which make them fair use, but sometimes copyright law is written by the corporation who has the best lawyers and wishes to pursue litigation. I know it was legal to take the image of the shuttlecock below - but is it fair use for me to post the image?

BTW: the lilies are from my Persephone by Thomas Hart Benton - a native Kansas Citian. If anyone remembers the TV show Good Times with Jimmy Walker- the style should seem familiar. I'd like to find a student interested in art criticism and analyzing paintings - the day lilies mean something - in addition to being a familiar sight around rural farmsteads.

Applied integrity in the Community College classroom

Think instructors are suspicious anal-retentive, obsessive compulsive, misanthropes? Could be, but check out corrupted-files.com. This service will corrupt your perfectly good paper that you turn in via email. That buys you 2 days to write, rewrite or revise your paper. The ultimate excuse for an extension - only $4.95!

I'll repeat for the record, I do not allow email submissions for formal papers. A student or two emailed me a paper weeks ago or more. They won't print it off and turn it in. I won't either. Wish they'd talk to me. English teachers often like communication - it even figures in to course objectives.

Often this behavior co-presents with attendance issues. Many young people haven't had to set their own priorities yet, and are just learning how. I'm coming to think excuses can be seen as a form of communication - regardless of their veracity. It's the end of communication that disturbs me. Chronic absenteeism can be a rejection of an institutionally agreed on outcome.

At least it was when I was 19, but I shouldn't judge all by my misspent youth.

And on the subject of communication. The college in general, and the English Dept. in particular are reacting and proacting to the H1N1 / Mondo-flu season. While a hardline approach to absences is what many students typically need - these are extenuating circumstances and times. There will be no excuse from work - or class, but there will be accommodations to allow everyone to more fully participate - even when sick. Not cynical, but not easily played; however, I don't call anyone's bluff when it comes to health.

Our objectives MUST be met for a student to pass. Students will get exactly what they earn. I'm allowing for make up points for those who miss class - Provided they respond or post a new thread to the daily notes discussion thread on ANGEL.

I jot notes (try to) every day during or after class in a discussion forum. Find it in the course documents folder. As long as sick students post to the daily discussion thread by noon the day of class, I'll put an assignment in an online form that best recreates what we accomplished in class. They then have 48 hours make up the points from any place they can find a computer. Posting to the thread is private from the outside world, but shared with other classmates and team mates who care about and depend on each other. That thread could also be used for expressions of "get well" and the like.

All relevant due dates still apply.

Copyright issues and The "P" word

Plagiarism issues come from: not broaching the subject early, confusion, and the changing nature of the legal question. Maybe also students are lured into a false sense of unaccountability by teachers who don't call them on it. Sometimes if you ignore problems, they go away (or become someone else's problem). Students believe a blase treatment of citations is standard practice (good question). Then you get an instructor who takes citations seriously. The prof. sees violations as an insult, "What! Do you take me for a fool?" he, or possibly she, ruminates. Accusations fly....

Some English teachers downplay or ignore the issue out of fear we are abusing our authority, but schools ARE holding students accountable for downloading media - with arguably draconian punishments. How is it different? How is it the same? Or is it as they say in Tinglish, "same same, but different. " More on that in a podcast to come.

My advice: chill. With common sense (if you aren't trying to game me) there won't be problems. Just be conscientious and cover your assets.

Start with these awesome animated videos produced by Rutgers U. They are fun, short and amazingly informative.

• Video - - what is plagiarism
• video - - plagiarism real life examples
• video - - anti plagiarism gameshow

Digital Rights Management, Copyright, and Citing Sources

If you can handle scatological terms there's an interesting thread to this discussion started elsewhere. Part of the goals of this class include the effective integration of the words and ideas of others. We need to all follow some practices to maximize communication (meta data rocks) and participate in a larger scholarly discourse community, whilst covering our collective and individual assets.

Citing sources impresses me - don't hide your research. Failing to give credit where it is due, to fail to "give props" in the popular parlance, is at best rude and at worst legally actionable. Give a shout out to the influences on your ideas when you can.

Some faculty have told me it stems from an inability to distinguish fact from opinion. Maybe...I have doubts. The unwillingness to express an opinion is not evidence of a lack of rational thought. It just appears that way in class. I'll also address this topic in an audio rant, I mean "lecture."

No citation is needed for ideas that are common knowledge - unless you use the specific language of someone else. That's lazy and doesn't impress anyone, but not illegal (as long as you place the other's words in quotes and provide citation information). That's one reason English faculty tend to look at Wikipedia with such disdain. To most writing instructors, using Wikipedia is like peeing in the shower. Maybe everyone does it (present company excluded), but no one talks about it in polite company.

Wikipedia is great for technology and math topics, where facts are relevant and opinion less so. Where knowledge can be debated, socially created references are of dangerous or lesser use

Make an effort to be fair to your sources and to your readers. Works Cited pages give readers an added resource - we can go find the same sources if we're interested. FYI: Links themselves are generally seen as citation in web publications. Material posted in ANGEL has an added safeguard of being behind a firewall.

We will be using Turnitin.com - which is a great resource for protecting ourselves from charges of intellectual misappropriation, regardless of our intentions.