Plagiarism Unveiled: Evidence, Confrontation, and Education in Addressing Academic Dishonesty - Essay Sample

The student plagiarized the sections that had been highlighted. Plagiarism is a punishable scholarly offense. Further, the student had not placed in-text citations or quotations to show that what they had written was not their original work.

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What evidence would have helped you make the determination?

One way to identify plagiarized work is by going through a document and realizing that the wordings are similar to that of an electronic document on the internet. Similar wording would mean that the student copied the work from that particular source. The lack of attribution to the author would also translate to plagiarism. If the student did not intend to plagiarize, they would have used quotations to show that their work is from a different source from which they do not intend to paraphrase. For example, the student could have written: Frisch & Green state that “The NBA and the NCAA put the shot clock in place years ago to quicken the pace of play, because some teams (especially when leading near the end) passed the ball endlessly without penalty.” (Frisch & Green, 2016). Placing quotations and attributing the writing to the authors would have shown that they did not plagiarize. To prove that there is copying, one must prove that the student in question had access to the original document. In this case, the students had access to the documents since they were using the same as reference materials for this task. Therefore, copying the exact words without quotations is one of the pieces of evidence for plagiarism.

The lack of citations in much of the plagiarized sections is another way to determine the absence of plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Failing to apply sources in some segments shows the intention to plagiarize. This discrepancy makes it difficult to distinguish who is the initial owner of the idea. It also indicates that the student did not intend to finish the learning process and translate it into applicable knowledge. Therefore, determining plagiarized work requires the teacher to connect the statement to an electronic source and show an intentional failure to attribute the original author’s statements.

How would you confront this student about the plagiarism?

While confronting students on plagiarism, I must ensure that they clearly understand the same academic sphere’s consequences. One of the major reasons why students plagiarize may be due to the notion that they are supposed to reproduce what the authors have stated. Some of them feel that this enhances the validity of their arguments. The student in question, for example, may have plagiarized and also failed to place quotations and citations due to the lack of proper research skills. Therefore, confronting the issue from an angle that allows the student to learn would be more effective than punishing them.

I would also make the learner understand that learning is not a passive process. Students, on some occasions, may feel that online courses are a formality. This notion generates passiveness and laziness, which can inhibit an individual’s ability to innovate viable ideas (Šprajc et al., 2017). Students neglect online courses since they feel that they are not adding value to their education. However, I would ensure that I state the benefits of the online program to reduce passiveness chances. One of the benefits that I would highlight is the course’s ability to be recognized in the work environment. Consequently, the student would see the need to produce plagiarism-free work. Hence, confronting plagiarism also requires the teacher to educate the learner on the need to be active in their course work since it would impact their future engagements.

Another way to confront the issue is by motivating the students. Research has established that lowly motivated students have poor academic skills due to the lack of skills and interest in their undertakings (Šprajc et al., 2017). Students with limited academic skills are willing to do anything to ensure that they achieve their goals. Therefore, reducing or eliminating plagiarism requires teachers and learners’ collaboration to ensure that the latter is motivated to undertake their studies with adequate commitment. Thus, confronting the issue should incorporate motivating factors that allow students to develop research and presentation skills, making them avoid plagiarism.

What would you say to the student?

I would ensure that the student understands that plagiarism is part of academic misconduct. This would make them understand that they are behaving unethically and in a way that could earn them a suspension from the course. The same would lead to the wastage of their time and resources spent to keep them in school (Šprajc et al., 2017). Further, the student must understand that plagiarism does not necessitate extra credits since an examiner or tutor can trace the same. I would also make the student aware that they can get assistance from online libraries. Given that this is an online course, I would recommend that they familiarize themselves with more books to ensure that their knowledge is vast (Awasthi, 2019). This way, they can translate ideas from different authors without plagiarizing the work of one individual.

One of the resources that I could assist the student with is Turnitin, which is an anti-plagiarism software (Awasthi, 2019). Turnitin also acts as a preventive tool to ensure that a student monitors accuracy in their statements. It is an effective tool since it gives the student a chance to enhance their paraphrasing skills (Awasthi, 2019). The software will also empower the student to deliver an improved product. iThenticate is also another software that can help learners to check very large documents. The effectiveness of anti-plagiarism tools can be monitored through these tools.

References

Awasthi, S. (2019). Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct: A Systematic Review. DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, 39(2).

Frisch, B., & Greene, C. (2016, March 16). Meetings need a shot clock. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/03/meetings-need-a-shot-clock

Šprajc, P., Urh, M., Jerebic, J., Trivan, D., & Jereb, E. (2017). Reasons for plagiarism in higher education. Organizacija, 50(1), 33-45.