VIII

VIII. How teachers can help prevent plagiarism

1. Set an example.

Students watch what teachers do and model their own behavior, consciously or not, on what they see. In the rush to prepare for class and to bring students resources, we need to be careful not to inadvertently model some form of intellectual encroachment.

--If you copy something out of a printed source to hand out, make sure the citation information is correctly and prominently displayed.

--Consider copying the front of the book you used and including it as the front page of the handout.

--Credit others (colleagues, etc.) verbally for ideas you are using in speech (“This is an idea I got from Mr. Spragins…”)

--If you use images or music, or other information from any source, in a PowerPoint or on a web site, they need to be credited on the slide/page.

2. Talk about your expectations.

You and your students should talk about honor at many different points in the year, not just when students are working with critical sources for a specific assignment.

--You may want to make it part of your very first class each year or each term, to be discussed when you go over class expectations and overview.

--You may want to hand out a “Statement on honor” that articulates your own expectations.

--You may want to have students sign a “blanket” honor pledge specific to your class.

--Make clear whether you allow use of study guides such as Spark Notes or not; whether students are allowed to consult internet sources for ideas for papers; what your policy is on getting “help” with papers from parents or other people. Some teachers allow the latter with disclosure (the student writes, “I got help from _____ on this paper” on the last page), and some do not allow it at all.

3. Have a “practice” paper early in the year.

You can teach correct citation procedure in a “safe” environment by providing students with a limited number of sources, which you have pre-selected, to use in writing an early paper. This approach isolates the skill you are teaching; students don’t have to find the resources, they just have to cite them correctly.

4. Have students write in class frequently so you become familiar with each one’s authentic “voice.”

5. Create assignments that make it tough to plagiarize.

--Avoid giving paper assignments on obvious topics for which many sources are available on the web and elsewhere.

--Require students to write in correct essay structure, using a distinct thesis, topic sentences, etc. Most easily available papers won’t follow these requirements.

--Make assignments multi-step processes: require written drafts, check notes, etc.

--Have conferences with students to check their progress, rather than waiting for the final product.

--Rehearse students for oral presentations so you can see their thought processes and the materials they are using.

6. Inundate students with resources.

--Make it easy for people who want to do the right thing. Have anti-plagiarism resources accessible; put MLA guidelines on your faculty web page or in your resource folder; post them in your in classroom; discuss library resources for citation information.

7. Do exercises in class.

--Students need to learn how to paraphrase without plagiarizing. Have them paraphrase a short paragraph and “workshop” the results.

--Take five minutes periodically to practice creating a citation or a Works Cited entry from a piece of criticism that you provide.

8. Involve the librarian.

The librarian is sometimes the best source for information on how to handle newer resources like electronic databases. Invite the librarian to lead part of a class in citing these sources.

9. Make sure kids know there is no excuse for not asking; also that there is no penalty for asking.

Kids sometimes wonder whether it’s safe to ask questions, especially if they think they are “supposed to know” something already. Make it clear that there will be no penalty for asking whether they are doing something correctly; also make it clear that not asking and taking the chance of having done it wrong is unacceptable.