Avoiding plagiarism and cheating
Practice academic integrity at all times!
Plagiarism and cheating 101
Plagiarism is the act when one "deliberately uses someone else's language, ideas or other original material without acknowledging its source" (Karl Stolley, Allen Brizee, Joshua Paiz). There are many reasons why students claim to resort to plagiarism and cheating, including:
1. "Students may find course, citing, or assignment unimportant" (Karl Stolley, Allen Brizee, Joshua Paiz).
2. Some of them may have lots of activities to tend to during and outside of school and run out of time to do their own work, which leads to alternate ways to get the work completed.
3. It's been noted that "students may fear failure or fear taking risks in their own work" (Karl Stolley, Allen Brizee, Joshua Paiz).
There are four ways teachers, parents, and the school community in general can do to deter academic dishonesty.
1. BE PROACTIVE
Give students the opportunity in open discussion to ask questions about the topic. Ensure them that they are in a safe environment and no question is a dumb question. Let the students know about how important it is to have genuine authorship and let them practice citation techniques. You can also "make the penalty for academic dishonesty clear in the syllabus" (Lars R. Jones, 22-23).