Upload
chellis4899
View
217
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/6/2019 Issues Toulson
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/issues-toulson 1/8
Assignment 3 – Issues
Patrice O. Toulson
Georgia Southern University
1
8/6/2019 Issues Toulson
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/issues-toulson 2/8
Ledyard High School, (September, 2008). Plagiarism/Cheating Policy. Retrieved from
http://www.ledyard.net/lhs/parents/plagiarism.html
http://www.ledyard.net/lhs/parents/plagiarism.html
Ledyard High School in Ledyard, Connecticut believes it is important to have a
clear policy concerning plagiarism so there will be no confusion for parents and teachers.
Their definition for plagiarism states that “Cheating by students… is attempting to take
credit for someone else’s work, using unauthorized materials, or otherwise acting to
deceive the evaluator in an assignment, project, or test.” Their policy is broken down
into two different degrees of plagiarism. The first one is intentional plagiarism. It is
defined as “obvious, substantial, or verbatim reproduction of information, fabrication of
sources or other deliberate misdocumentation or submitting other people’s work as your
own”. The other type of plagiarism is known as technical plagiarism. It is defined as
“poor paraphrasing, improper citation that misrepresents a source, insufficient citation
and poor integration of direct quotes within the student’s work”. When plagiarism is
suspected, parents will be notified and a committee of teachers will review the case.
They will use turnitin.com and other search engines to help them prove the case. For
intentional plagiarism the student will get a grade of zero and disciplinary consequences.
The National Honor Society will also be informed. For technical plagiarism, the teacher
will take points off of the student’s assignment.
The strengths of this policy are that the school has defined two different types of
plagiarism and has each one defined. I like the idea that they take into consideration that
one is more serious, the intended plagiarism, and the other one, technical plagiarism, is
more of not realizing they may be actually doing anything wrong. It also has
2
8/6/2019 Issues Toulson
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/issues-toulson 3/8
consequences already spelled out for each type of plagiarism. It also has the procedure
listed as to what will take place once plagiarism is suspected and has the academic and
disciplinary consequences spelled out for each type. The student and parent are aware
beforehand of what will take place and the consequences that will be handed out if
plagiarism is proven.
The weaknesses that are seen are that the committee of teachers is not established
until the plagiarism occurs. It seems that this committee should already have been
established at the beginning of each school year. They need to be aware they possibly
may have to do this if a case arises. They need to be prepared ahead of time in case the
need comes up. Another weakness that it has is that for a technical plagiarism case, the
teacher determines the points that need to be deducted. While the teacher has control
over the discipline since it occurred in his/her class, it seems that there could be a chart
already established with the number of points taken off in relation to the number of
occurrences that has taken place. This seems like it would take the “heat” off of the
teacher somewhat.
North Penn High School, (n.d.), Plagiarism. Retrieved from
http://www.npenn.org/55776091610554/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=51525
http://www.npenn.org/55776091610554/blank/browse.asp?
a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=51525
North Penn Elementary, Middle and High School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania
define plagiarism as “the act of using another person’s ideas or expressions in your
writing without acknowledging the source” (MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers, Third Edition). Usually when plagiarism takes place, the situation is handled by
3
8/6/2019 Issues Toulson
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/issues-toulson 4/8
the individual teacher and the administrator for that particular school. The policy that
they have in place requires that the teacher meets with the department chair and/or media
specialist to discuss what actually is occurring. If they agree that further investigation
needs to take place, the department chair and the teacher meets with an assistant
principal. If all three parties agree, the teacher will inform the student that it is believed
that he/she plagiarized and a behavior referral will be filled out and the student’s parents
will be notified. If the student agrees that he/she did plagiarize then the student would
get a zero for the assignment if it was a first incident, zero and possible suspension for the
second incident and if it is a third incident the student would get a zero and suspension.
If the student doesn’t admit to plagiarizing, the assistant principal will meet with the
student and the student will give his side of the story. After hearing both arguments, the
assistant principal will make a decision and inform all involved. If the assistant
principal’s decision is challenged by the parents/guardians or the teacher, the incident is
referred to the principal for final decision to be made.
The strengths of this policy are that everything is spelled out specifically as to
who does what and in what steps they do it. Everyone knows ahead of time who will be
involved and what they are to do. This policy also has the consequences spelled out for
first, second and third incidences. Parents and students are well aware of this policy
before the beginning of the year so they are not caught blindsided if it happens.
The weaknesses found with the policy is that it is a little confusing with the
consequence if this is the second time that plagiarism occurs. It states that the student
will receive a zero and possible suspension. It seems that this would cause some
inconsistency if you suspend one student for plagiarizing two times and then another
4
8/6/2019 Issues Toulson
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/issues-toulson 5/8
student plagiarizes the second time and they don’t get suspended. This seems as though
this could cause problems and one could be accused of “playing favoritism”. Another
weakness found is when the principal makes his final decision. If the parents/guardian or
teacher still has problems with the decision, it would seem that it would have to go
further. The next step would probably be that it would go to the superintendant but this is
not spelled out.
Terryville High School (2008), Terryville High School Plagiarism Policy. Retrievedfrom http://www.plymouth.k12.ct.us/page.cfm?p=395
http://www.plymouth.k12.ct.us/page.cfm?p=395
Students at Terryville High School in Terryville, Connecticut are expected to
reference all sources of information consulted for any type project whether it is a visual,
written or spoken. Their definition of plagiarism is copying another’s ideas and/or
works, whether it is intentional or not and using the information as their own. Deliberate
and/or consistent lack of proper documentation and citations and in-text documentation
that is not reflected in the Works Cited page is also considered plagiarism. Before a
project or paper is assigned, the teacher must provide an assignment sheet with detailed
information, a rubric and a clear guideline that gives acceptable amounts of help from
peers or adults. The students have responsibilities as well. They are to submit authentic
work, follow the project instructions and deadlines, follow the school’s Research and
MLA Style Guide per teacher’s directions, cite in-text or in-project sources and format
Works Cited pages correctly. If the teacher believes plagiarism has taken place, the
teacher will establish the level of plagiarism as outlined on their policy. The first degree
may happen due to ignorance or inexperience on behalf of the student. The student may
5
8/6/2019 Issues Toulson
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/issues-toulson 6/8
simply use a paragraph or a few lines of text but fail to cite the source. However the
majority of the paper is the student’s own work. There are two consequences that could
be used for this degree. The student could be made to take a make-up assignment that is
more difficult or a grade reduction could be taken on the assignment. The second degree
examples could include using one or more paragraphs of someone else’s without citing it
and could be incorrect citation such as improper paraphrasing. In the second degree, it is
obvious that most of the work is someone else’s and has not been referenced.
Consequences for the second degree could consists of a grade reduction on the
assignment, a letter in the student’s academic file and notification to the National Honor
Society advisor, if appropriate. The third degree is a severe case and most of the
student’s work has been taken from other sources but they failed to give credit to the
appropriate sources. An example of third degree is purchasing a term paper and using it
as the student’s own work or citing sources that are not actually sources. Another way
the student could be found to be third degree is if they have plagiarized before.
Consequences for third degree could consists of 1) no credit given on the assignment, 2) a
letter in the student’s academic file, 3) Notification to the National Honor Society, 4) a
drop in the grade for the term or year, and/or 4) Disciplinary action.
The strengths of the policy are that the teachers and students both have
responsibilities and they are outlined in the policy so everyone knows what is expected of
them at the beginning of the project. Another strength is the different degrees of
plagiarism that the district has established. They consider that there are varying degrees
and some forms of plagiarism are more serious than other degrees.
6
8/6/2019 Issues Toulson
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/issues-toulson 7/8
The weaknesses are few. If there has to be a weakness, it would be in the
consequences for each degree. Some consequences overlap among the three degrees. It
seems that the consequences would be different for each degree.
The newly developed policy for my school would be somewhat of a combination
of the three previous policies that we have looked at. Once plagiarism was thought to
have occurred, the teacher should contact the committee that has already been established
at the beginning of the year. The committee would consist of the teacher whose class the
incident occurred in, the assistant principal and the media specialist. After discussing it
with the committee and using internet sources such as turnitin.com and everyone agrees
that it does appear that it occurred, the parents will be notified to inform them that
plagiarism is thought to have occurred and the steps of the plagiarism policy will be
instated. The committee will meet with the student and get his/her view on the incident.
If the student admits to the accusations, the proper consequences will be handed out. If
the student does not admit to it, the principal will be brought in to hear both sides of the
case and will make the final decision. If the parents/student or teacher appeal this
decision, it will be taken to an assistant superintendant or the superintendant for final
decision. The policy will have three degrees. The first degree will be considered
unintentional. The student may have failed to cite a paragraph or a few lines but the
majority of the paper is obviously the work of the student. Consequences for this would
be points taken off on the assignment. The second degree would be that it is obvious that
most of the work is not the student’s and proper citation has not been given. Examples of
second degree could include one or more paragraphs not being cited or incorrect citation.
Consequences would include re-doing the assignment at school in front of a member of
7
8/6/2019 Issues Toulson
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/issues-toulson 8/8
the committee and a letter in the student’s academic file. In third degree, it is obvious
that the majority of the work is someone else’s and the sources have not been cited.
Examples of third degree would be the purchasing of material online, including
references that are not real, and using two or more paragraphs of someone else’s without
proper citation. If the student has been caught plagiarizing before this incident, that
would also warrant the incident being third degree. The consequences for this degree
would be suspension of three days and a zero on the assignment, letter in the student’s
academic file and Saturday work detention.
8