Plagiarism
Plagiarism is not a new issue, but with the increased use of technology in education, the ability to plagiarize has grown significantly. Therefore, educating students on what constitutes plagiarism and how to prevent it, is key. I think students should be taught early that when they use someone else's work, they need to give credit to the author. They should be taught that this is done to respect other people's work and that they should expect the same for their work. If students are taught about plagiarism and the correct way to give credit where it is due from the first time they do research for an essay or project in elementary school, then they will have a good foundation on how to prevent plagiarism. This will help them in their higher education where they will be doing much more research.
I am glad you pointed out the need to make students aware of how to cite resources in elementary school to establish a pattern for crediting others' work. The third grade teachers at my school recently asked me to help their students create photo collages in PowerPoint highlighting an animal of their choice. When we started searching for images to include, I explained the photos they found did not belong to them, and showed them how to reference the sources for their collages. Almost all of the students I helped were not aware of plagiarism, or how to avoid it. What grade level do you think is the best for starting a conversation about plagiarism?
ReplyDeleteIn your case, if this was the first time these third graders used someone else's work in creating a project or writing a paper, then this is a good time to bring up the topic of plagiarism. Third grade may be the first time students will do this kind of work but if it is done in an earlier grade, then it should definitely be discussed then.
DeleteWhat are the reactions you had to the data I shared with you concerning education majors at USA?
ReplyDeleteI find it disappointing that these students have made it to college without a firm grasp on plagiarism and how to appropriately cite sources in their work. I was fortunate to have the same English teacher through my four years in high school, and I didn't realize it until my first semester in college, but she truly prepared her students on how to write college level papers. She was constantly requiring students to revise their papers. (She had a cartoon titled "Last Revision" hung in her class. It was of a skeleton sitting at a desk revising a paper for the last time.) She also was a stickler for MLA format for citing our sources. This hard work she required in high school made college writing a breeze. Although I will be a math teacher and not an English teacher, I hope to instill in my students the correct way to give credit to someone else's hard work.
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