I just read this article on the use of Internet in plagiarised papers at universities. While I never have engaged in this activity, it appears to have become quite popular. I’m fascinated by the Turnitin software, although I remember in graduate school that we would often not be allowed to use Internet sources for fear we would plagiarise them.
One part of this article really bothers me, though. They interviewed a British student who had been caught plagiarising. He’s threatening to sue the school if his marks are downgraded because of his behavior. His reasoning: he was never told that plagiarising was against the school’s policies. He has also most likely never bothered to read the school policies.
I don’t know what universities are like over in Britain, but I know I’ve attended three universities here. In all three cases, new students were given a student handbook of policies and procedures to read over and sign off on. The policies deemed most important by the university (includng all parts of the honor code, which included a section on plagiarism) were also icluded in the school’s catalog. If that wasn’t enough notice, nearly every single course syllabus I received during my lovely stints as both an undergrad and a graduate student had a section on what plagiarism is, why it is frowned upon, and very clearly laid out consequences.
As they say, ignorance of the law is not a valid excuse.
Posted by Rebecca as Responsibility at 9:05 AM EDT
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We often hear that practice makes perfect. It might not necessarily make perfect, but it does make things very rote for us. Students practice reciting facts and figures in their mind so that they’ll write them down automatically on tests. Athletes practice basic drills so that during the big game they’ll know what move to make at what time to help out their teammates. Performing artists practice first to commit their craft to memory and then to bring their own interpretation to the material.
Those in teacher prep programs are taught that a student learns something by doing it ten times. If it is learned incorrectly, then the correct material takes 100 times to learn. Hence, the evil flash cards we all hated as children. Hence, the practices into the twilight of throwing a ball back and forth. Hence, the practices that take up an entire weekend so that a corps de ballet moves in prefect synchronization because everyone can do the dance in their sleep at that point.
It’s something we endure as children. It’s something we avoid as adults. But even as adults, even if we’re the quickest study, without practice it means nothing.
As an example, I submit a recent experience of my own. I have been trying to teach myself HTML and CSS. I can do quite a bit of HTML off the top of my head because I use it daily. I still feel lost working with CSS because, to date, I have only completed one CSS project, and "complete" is a pretty strong word. I’m still working out all of the kinks in that design a couple of months later because I’m not committing the time to practice. I’m also not growing in my knowledge of CSS because I’m not working on other CSS projects. I’m not practicing those skills.
Practice is rarely fun. The acquisition of knowledge to the point of rote memorization is tedious and cheerless at best. However, it is part of how we grow and flourish as human beings. The next time you’re faced with a series of rote practice sessions, remember to take care. Ten times will allow to become more fluent in the skill. Otherwise, you’re doomed to ten time those ten practice sessions trying to unlearn and re-learn.
Posted by Rebecca as Components of Learning at 12:45 PM EDT
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