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Research into the use of the strategy conducted as part
of a Professional Learning in ICT (PLICT) project.
The Critical Role of
Pedagogy in Plagiarism Prevention: The Unley Ten Point Counter Plagiarism
Strategy. A Paper presented by Graham
Taylor at the Academic Integrity: Plagiarism
and other Perplexities Conference, Adelaide,
November 2003,
PLICT Research Project
Report - Abstract
With increasing reliance on online learning, the
problem of plagiarism is growing exponentially. The 10-point Counter Plagiarism
Strategy, developed at Unley HS, is a holistic approach, drawing together
sound practice, principles of e-learning and creative uses of ICT into
a powerful pedagogy to enhance teaching. By designing tasks thoughtfully,
being explicit about processes, attending to the functions of language,
rewarding process as well as product, developing students’ ethical
intelligence and using simple strategies to detect theft of intellectual
property, it is possible to significantly reduce or eliminate plagiarism.
The research
project aimed firstly to make these elements readily available on the
web and a site was developed at www.plagiarism.tayloron.net. Secondly,
it aimed to find out the extent to which this resource supports teachers.
Participants found the site to be very useful and it stimulated discussion
about pedagogy. An unanticipated finding was that even Reception/Junior
Primary teachers felt the site useful and applicable to their work.
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Conference paper -
Abstract
The plagiarism debate is typically characterised as a problem of either
teach-them-to-be-good or catch-them-at-it. By themselves, neither approach
has a realistic chance of success because teaching and learning processes
are ignored. By locating blame with the students, educators unconsciously
absolve themselves of responsibility to examine their pedagogy. This paper
argues that a new paradigm is essential and it describes the multi-faceted
approach of the 10step Counter Plagiarism Strategy developed at Unley
High School. A fundamental assumption in designing a task is that a student
will go through a process or a number of processes, during which the desired
learning should happen, in order to come up with the product that is then
assessed. However, the subversive student seeking shortcuts sees only
the requirement to deliver the paper and these can be obtained wholesale
in well-documented ways. By designing tasks more thoughtfully, being explicit
about processes, paying attention to the functions of language and rewarding
the process as well as the product it is possible to significantly increase
the difficulty of plagiarism and therefore reduce its incidence. Educators
also need to contribute to the development of students’ ethical
intelligence and be aware of methods used by plagiarists as well as simple
strategies to detect theft of intellectual property. While the examples
discussed are from the secondary sector a challenge is issued to all primary,
secondary and tertiary educators to reflect on their practice and consider
how these strategies might be adapted to their own circumstances.
Keywords: assessment, ethics, learning, literacy, plagiarism,
questioning, higher-order-thinking
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References
McKenzie, J. 2000, Questioning, Research
and the Information Literate School, FNO Press, Washington - NB; I have
found all Jamie McKenzies books to be stimulatling reading as is a visit
to his website at fno.org
Sharka,
J. 2002, Plagiarism Stoppers: A Teacher's Guide, www.ncusd203.org/central/html/where/plagiarism_stoppers.html
Fewster, S. 2002, ‘Students fail exam in cheating study’,
The Advertiser, Aug 3, p. 15, Adelaide
Tjomsland, P.
2002, ‘Ethics 101: Cheating, Plagiarism, Site Evaluation, Copyright
and Your Students, Connected Classroom Conference’, Seattle 2001,
http://www.kalama.com/~zimba/plag&cheat.htm
Laurie, V. 2003, ‘Unoriginal sins’, The Weekend Australian
Magazine, July 19, p 17
Midolo
and Scott, 2003, ‘Teach Them to Copy and Paste’, http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/cmis/eval/curriculum/copyright/islandjourneys/ij4.htm
Werhane, P. H., 1999, Moral Imagination and Management
Decision-making, OUP, New York
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