| Taylor's
Ten
question
explicit
thinking
process
reference
language
students
ethical
detect
discuss
research/paper
&
references
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‘I found your speech
to be both good and original. However, the part that was original was
not good. And the part that was good was not original.’
(attributed to Samuel Johnson)
You may have proof positive that some, or all of a particular
piece of work is plagiarized. Perhaps your teachers' intuition says that
something is amiss, the language and understanding of a piece is inconsistent
with your assessment of a student’s ability. Making accusations
however, can be seriously counter productive and may even leave you open
to action.
At this stage the wise could reflect on their own role by considering
the above strategies. Has the task been appropriately structured, the
required skills explicitly taught, the process valued? In short, how comfortable
are you that there was nothing more you should have done? Such consideration
goes to the heart of one’s being and is always challenging. For
the reflective practitioner however, it is the key to professional growth.
There are a number of common sense ways to discuss suspect pieces and
it is important to have a structure in mind;
- begin by asking them to discuss the process they went
through getting the information and work through their outline, notes
and draft(s)
- move from the general to the specific, identifying words
or phrases that caught your attention as inconsistent, curious, out-of-context
usage or technical terms and ask them to explain/expand
- explain your concerns and ask, ‘did you get any
assistance at all?’ One source of help may be from a paid tutor
and there is a fine line between receiving legitimate assistance and
the tutor taking over the task. This is a difficult area and parents
in particular may require guidelines
- always bear in mind that you may not get an admission,
and, possibly could be wrong
- remember too that if you had followed all the strategies
outlined above you might well not be having this conversation!
- a useful way to conclude following an admission is to
establish the consequence but also reiterate your expectation that next
time they will go through the processes required and, perhaps give tips
on this
- above all remember the end goal is to keep students
engaged in the learning process.
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