As educators, it is essential we equip students with the necessary skills for success, and one very important skill which must be effectively communicated to students as well as teachers and parents, is knowing how to avoid academic cheating, or plagiarism. Before becoming a media specialist, I taught 8th grade for 17 years, and in my experience, I observed students committing academic fraud not necessarily because they wanted to cheat, but simply because they did not know they were doing something wrong. Therefore, I feel it is our job as educators to ensure students know at an early age what constitutes plagiarism, and the ways to avoid it. I feel the best deterrents for committing plagiarism are introducing students in elementary school to examples of cheating, showing them how to appropriately cite resources, and then continuing the process consistently throughout their academic careers. Educators must also emphasize the ramifications of being caught as well so students understand there are consequences which might cause significant damage to a student's future. As a media specialist in an elementary school, I feel an even larger sense of responsibility to the learning community to communicate the importance of avoiding plagiarism, and to provide teachers with the tools they need to effectively safeguard their students from committing fraudulent academic activity. Additionally, I feel a positive learning climate, strong parental support, and a commitment to promoting positive self images among students goes a long way in helping them make the right decisions related to being responsible learners.
I really like how you addressed needing to educate other members of the school community (parents and teachers) about this serious problem, not just students! As an 8th grade teacher for 3 years, I 100% agree with you about why students plagiarize a majority of the time. Though it would be most helpful for students to have had previous instruction about plagiarism before they reach 8th grade, I always tried to "pick up the slack" as best I could so that my students would be as successful as possible in high school. Most especially I appreciate how you tied plagiarism and all of the lessons that can be learned from it into a great personal growth opportunity - great post!!
ReplyDeleteWhy are more than half of students in the University of South Alabama who intend on entering the education profession unable to correctly identify plagiarism? Is it their fault….you didn't learn, you don't know…? Is it the education establishment's fault… teachers don't teach…? Is it society's fault … if you don't have it, just take it because you should have it? Interesting questions. Were you surprised by the data I shared from USA? Ary portion of those data?
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to see how the students in my son's class would respond to your survey questions. He is a junior at a private, "college prep" school. What if I asked his teacher and headmaster if I could administer the survey to them via Survey Monkey to have another set of data for comparison?
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