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Monday
26Jun2006

Preventing plagiarism

DateMonday, June 26, 2006 at 08:33AM

thoughtful.jpgA teacher in the district sent me a link to the following article in the June 17 LA Times: Teachers Adjust Lesson Plans as Web Fuels Plagiarism. Big shock - kids are using the web to plagiarize term papers and teachers are having to modify their assignments because of it. Gee, the mass media is right on top of things.

This topic has been of real interest to me since, hmmm, at least a 1996 column. And I will stand by the assertion I made in that column and in a subsequent article: "Don't blame kids for using plagiarism to keep from having to reinvent a boring wheel. You want some originality and creativity, you gotta ask for it."

Are "term papers" archaic? Will anyone mourn their passing? What can be substituted to show a student has engaged in a meaningful way with a large body of information?

AuthorDoug Johnson | Comment5 Comments | Reference2 References |
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References (2)

References allow you to track sources for this article, as well as articles that were written in response to this article.
  • Response
    Response: In Defense of the Term Paper
    at Bump on the Blog on June 27, 2006
    I just finished reading Doug Johnson?s recent post, ?Preventing Plagiarism?, and I feel the need to respond to a couple of the points he brings up. Commenting on the LA Times article sent to him, Mr. Johnson had the following to say:Big shock -...
  • Response
    Response: In Defense of the Term Paper
    by Brian Grenier at Bump on the Blog on June 27, 2006
    I just finished reading Doug Johnson’s recent post, “Preventing Plagiarism”, and I feel the need to respond to a couple of the points he brings up.

Reader Comments (5)

What can replace the term paper? Possibly a image/photo project. Using Photo Story 3, history students at our high school created a quality project on the Holocaust. They had to select images, give reasons for use of the particular images, record voice comments for images, etc. Produced a very effective presentation with a free product.

Saw your "Fence or the Ambulance" at AASL.
June 26, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterPat Carson
You might want to look at Rebecca Moore Howard's work on authorship (including plagiarism). I read her blog and find it interesting.

http://wrt-howard.syr.edu/stepaside/archives/authorship_ip_plagiarism/index.html
June 26, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterLiz
I always thought the "i-search" paper was a good idea.
June 26, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterTom Hoffman
Hi Tom,

Ken Macrorie has long been a hero of mine (since my English teacher days) and I suggest his I-Search every time I do a plagiarism workshop.

You might be interested in know that two Texas librarians have developed an I-Search process for elementary students as well: Duncan and Lockhart: I-Search for Success: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Connecting the I-Search Process with Standards, Assessment, and Evidence-Based Practice.

Thanks for the comment,

Doug
June 27, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterDoug Johnson
Brian,

Thanks for your thoughtful post in reaction to my blog entry. I still tend to have a great deal of empathy for those kids who take "short cuts " (OK, cheat) to finish poorly thought out assignments. Here is a column that got me into a lot of trouble on the topic:

http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/otherside.html

All the very best and thanks again for the insightful response,

Doug
June 28, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterDoug Johnson

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