1. Academic Honesty Promoting the Legal and Ethical Use of Information by
Secondary School Students
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

2. Academic Honesty: Outline of Presentation
1. What’s the Problem?
2. Plagiarism in a High Tech world (the how and why)
3. Defending against Plagiarism
4. The Best Defense: The Proactive Approach
Rethink the very nature of research assignments and the purpose they serve in the curriculum.
Emphasize the research process and the learning of lifelong information literacy skills.
Structure writing assignments to reduce plagiarism.
Build a common understanding of academic honesty.
Model academic integrity.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

3. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
What’s the problem?
In a 2000/2001 American high school study,
“ 74% of the respondents admitted to one or more instances of serious test cheating and 72% admitted to serious cheating on written assignments.
Over half of the students admitted they have engaged in some level of plagiarism on written assignments using the Internet.”
Center for Academic Integrity
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

4. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
What’s the problem?
In a study of 4,500 secondary school students, Donald McCabe found:
15% have submitted material obtained, in large part, from a web site or internet paper mill
52% have copied several sentences from a web site without citing the source
90% of students who plagiarize from the Internet have also plagiarized from written sources
Center for Academic Integrity
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

5. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
What’s the problem?
Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty have always existed.
However, today:
Technology has made it so easy to plagiarize.
Academic dishonesty – in its many forms – is a common occurrence.
Plagiarism has become a game of cunning.
The integrity, ethics, and morality of our students are at stake.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

6. Plagiarism: Then and Now
Old Plagiarism
Students:
copied from books, encyclopedias, journals;
misrepresented citations or bibliographic entries;
exchanged or purchased essays.
New Plagiarism
Students:
copy from one or more electronic sources;
download material from the Internet without acknowledgement;
locate essays in another language and then put them through translation programs.
Students can now download all kinds of online material in a matter of minutes and are very adept at cutting and pasting into word processing programs, and then reformatting the text (fonts, spacing, etc.). This applies to anything that is online or on CD-ROM: encyclopedias (free and pay), electronic journals (both free ones and by electronic subscription) newspapers reviews of books, plays, films, Cyberclassics (like Cole’s Notes) etc.
Tens of thousands of free and pay essays are available.
There are over 200 electronic paper mills. These sites are extremely sophisticated and make searching and downloading even easier. Popular sites include: School Sucks, The Evil House of Cheat.
Some sites have search engines so you can specify the topic you need, some provide browseable lists.
Online custom paper mills usually have a 48 hour turnaround.
Essays that have been put through a translation program are almost untraceable.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

7. Plagiarism: Then and Now
Old Plagiarism
required time and effort to locate and copy;
papers still had to be written or typed;
required personal contact.
New Plagiarism
copying and pasting is quick and effortless, providing instant gratification;
text fonts can be changed with a simple keystroke;
requires no personal contact, creating a sense of anonymity .
Conclusion:
Cheating requires little effort
Teachers are sometimes confronted with and “in your face” or “prove it” attitude when students are confronted.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

8. Three Variations of Plagiarism
Unintentional
poorly developed literacy skills and poor understanding of acceptable documentation procedures
Intentional
deliberate attempt to achieve ‘high end’ results with ‘low end’ effort
Invitational
nature and scope of certain types of assignments encourage students to merely “hunt, gather, replicate” (Tom March)
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

9. Why Students Intentionally Plagiarize
stress of a heavy workload and the competition for high marks
poor time management and planning skills
lack of understanding about concepts and ethics of intellectual property
lack of confidence in their own research and writing skills
project has no meaning for them - they are just “getting it done”
Students may feel
-that they just have too much to do and
-that high marks are worth the risk of getting caught.
-that family and job responsibilities overload them
Poor time management and planning skills
Procrastination is the common enemy of all students
lack of understanding of intellectual property
Students may say that they are unaware of the concept of intellectual property. Others may understand but may give the notion of intellectual property short shrift
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

10. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
The Clues
The paper, project or presentation:
is just too good for the student’s level of understanding, knowledge and/or skill;
is consistently better when work is done at home rather than in class;
contains poorly written paragraphs at the beginning and end, and high quality work in between;
sounds familiar;
is suspicious in terms of appearance or topic
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

11. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
Become Informed
Become informed on cheat sites and different methods of plagiarizing in the high tech world:
Do your own reading concerning high tech forms of academic dishonesty (See Resource List for Teachers)
Investigate Internet sites available to assist educators in preventing and identifying plagiarized work.
Visit electronic paper mill web sites to familiarize yourself with essay retrieval methods.
Many school boards have professional libraries that will provide up-to-date materials. Contact them for assistance.
Do the “Beating the Cheating” Webquest (see Resource List)
Explore several paper mill sites and go through the process of procuring an essay. Doing a Google search for the term “free essays” brings up over 1,400,000 hits!
Consult the Bibliography
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12. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
The High Tech Defense
Use a comprehensive search engine (Google, Dogpile, Altavista, alltheweb) to locate possible sources of questionable papers
Type in a phrase from the essay or the essay title
Search full-text online subscription databases (EBSCO, Electric Library, Proquest)
This could take hundreds of hours per class assignment
Install filtering software to block out cheat sites
This could create a false sense of security, as students can access cheat sites elsewhere
Search using the title of the essay, or use a distinctive string of words enclosed with quotation marks.
Searching by topic alone can require endless hours of searching, as the number of hits may be overwhelming.
Installation of filtering software would generally be a Board decision.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

13. The ‘Higher’ Tech Defense
Anti-plagiarism programs exist that will compare any paper to those already available on the Internet and will add the paper to a vast database.
Detection services: Turnitin.com (produces a colour coded “originality” report)
Detection services: Glatt Plagiarism Program (has various screening devices)
Detection services: Essay Verification Engine (produces colour coded annotated report)
The three slides that follow are screen shots from Plagiarism.org
Papers are uploaded and compared to ones in an existing data base. A report is than issued which identifies portions of the paper which have been matched to existing text.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

14. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
The level of similarity to existing papers is assessed.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

15. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
Existing sites which contain exact or similar text are identified and hotlinked.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

16. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
The essay is colour coded to correspond to the source sites.
Additional anti-plagiarism sites are available in the Bibliography.
While these will identify plagiarized material from many online sources, text from online information databases of journals, newspapers, periodicals and encyclopedias will not be matched.
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17. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
However
“Catching Internet cheaters is not the best answer. It’s a lot like doing an autopsy. No matter how terrific the coroner is at determining how or why a person died, the damage has been done. Bringing the culprit to light won’t change that. Preventing the problem is a much better approach.”
Cut and Paste 101: Plagiarism and the Net
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

18. The Best Defense: Be Proactive
Rethink the very nature of research assignments and the purpose they serve in the curriculum.
Emphasize the research process and the learning of lifelong information literacy skills.
Structure writing assignments to reduce plagiarism.
Build a common understanding of academic honesty.
Model academic integrity.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

19. Research Assignments I
Rethink research assignments. Structure them so that they:
are examples of authentic learning
emphasize critical thinking skills
emphasize creative thinking
emphasize metacognition so that students can think about the “what” and “how” of their learning
We CAN structure assignments so they are meaningful and cheat proof
“All about essays” are a waste of time--all they prove is that a student can access information and copy it. Instead, students need to do something with the information which requires them to do critical thinking.
Jamie McKenzie - “From Now On”
“It is reckless and irresponsible to continue requiring “all about” essays and “go find out about” assignments--these are archaic projects.”
He recommends:
emphasize “essential questions”
require and enable students to make their own answers
create projects which require students to make explanations, solve problems, make choices and decisions
emphasize topical research and real-life issues
Construct assignments that do NOT invite plagiarism. It has been said that if the complete answer to an academic question can be found on the Internet then the question needs to be changed.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

20. Research Assignments II
Rethink Traditional Research Products
Focus on time (e.g. write an obituary for a civilization, change a historical decision and predict the possible consequences.
Change format (e.g. debates, simulations, role plays, trials, newspapers, editorials)
Incorporate technology (e.g. TV talk show, PowerPoint, web pages)
Create a game (i.e., with rules similar to Jeopardy, Trivial Pursuit, Survivor)
Create visual products (e.g. dioramas, models)
Create a Webquest
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

21. Research Assignments III
Change Point of View in Traditional Assignments
Explain why the French Revolution was inevitable. TO
You are a merchant living in Paris in Explain why you support the French Revolution.
Explain and describe the relationship between Anne Frank and her mother. TO
Write a letter as Mrs. Frank to Anne, explaining the problems you are having with her.
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22. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
The Research Process I
Identify meaningful steps within the structure of each assignment
Use an assessment scheme giving appropriate weight to process and product
Assess the research process at various stages
Teach students the meaning of plagiarism, intellectual property, and copyright.
Provide timelines to encourage students to manage their time effectively
Encourage students to recognize the value of work done prior to the finished product
Motivate students to meet timelines
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

23. The Research Process II
Teach students how to use quotations and paraphrasing effectively and how to cite sources correctly.
Require students to submit a research portfolio of notes, sources, and drafts along with their finished product.
Use your school’s Student Research Guide as the standard.
Specify to students the focus areas you are evaluating: note-making, evaluating different types of resources, creating focussed research questions, proper documentation, etc.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

24. Structuring writing assignments to reduce plagiarism I
Evaluate both the research process and the product.
Make sure there is adequate resource material for topics to encourage research success and eliminate student frustration.
Personalize assignments by incorporating an interview, a visit, an opinion component, or an authentic application.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

25. Structuring writing assignments to reduce plagiarism II
Monitor a working bibliography as the assignment progresses.
Require an annotated bibliography during the first part of the research process.
Keep samples of student work for comparison.
Require rough notes and drafts to be submitted with final essay.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

26. Structuring writing assignments to reduce plagiarism III
Have students do a “metalearning reflection” for major research assignments. In this exercise, students reflect on their personal research experience--what strategies they used, what confused them, what skills they have acquired, how they managed time, etc.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

27. Academic Honesty Policies
Use the Academic Honesty Policy, created by some boards as part of their Code of Student Behaviour.
Establish a school-wide policy of Academic Integrity, including consequences for cheating, if a Board policy does not exist.
Apply the policies consistently in your school.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003

28. Model Academic Integrity
Two ways you can model Academic Integrity in the classroom are by:
- complying with Canadian copyright regulations when photocopying print materials
- showing only videos for which public performance rights have been purchased
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29. Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003
References
Material for this presentation was adapted from the following sources:
Ann Lathrop and Kathleen Foss. Student Cheating and Plagiarism in the Internet Era.
Lisa Renard. “ Cut and Paste 101: Plagiarism and the Net”, Educational Leadership, Dec. 1999/Jan
Suzanne Preate. Internet Plagiarism. Syracuse University Library
Please refer to the handout “Academic Honesty: a Select Resource List for Teachers” which is an annotated listing of books, journal articles and web sites which can be used as teaching resources.
Ontario School Library Association: Curriculum Supports 2003