What's the best way to prevent plagiarism among college students?

Question

I'm a grad student TA, and I have already faced a ridiculous number of plagiarism cases in my short tenure TAing for political science classes at a medium-sized public university in New York State. For me, this is especially bothersome because, not only am I an aspiring academic, but I'm known as the Citation Master in the department... I would sleep with the Chicago Manual of Style under my pillow if it weren't so thick. As a TA, I don't have much control over the assignments themselves or the punishments for plagiarism, but I do have control over how I present the problem to my students. We already require that they turn in assignments in electronic format, and we make it very well known that we use Turn-It-In to check for plagiarism... and yet it still happens!!!

Answer 1

I am so sympathetic to your position. I direct a graduate program, and my grad students act as TAs for the undergraduate courses I teach. We have a weekly pedagogical practicum in which we discuss these very issues (among others, of course). Here's what I advise my grad students to do:

Tell them horror stories about students who were caught and punished for plagiarism. Three times. (In my experience, you have to tell an undergraduate ANYTHING three times if you expect them to retain any of it.) I furnish my grad students with illustrative examples of former students who were expelled.

If you have your own syllabus (like for your own discussion section) feature the university's policy on plagiarism IN BOLD on the first page of the syllabus. (I post this on all of my own syllabi.)

Also, SHOW them in class (again, three times) what constitutes plagiarism. Show them an incomplete citation. Show them a paragraph lifted from a website. Show them a paraphrase of an uncited source. Basically, scare the bejesus out of them.

You could even make them sign a declaration of academic honesty at the beginning of the semester, or before each assignment, and turn it in to you. Here's an example:
1. I understand what plagiarism is and I am aware of the University's policy in this regard.
2. The essay/report/project/assignment/dissertation/thesis........... is my own work.
3. Where other people's work has been used (either from a printed source, internet or any other source) this has been carefully acknowledged and referenced in accordance with departmental requirements.
4. I have not used another student's past work to hand in as my own.
5. I have not allowed and will not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his/her own work.
Signature________________________
(my source for this: http://upetd.up.ac.za/authors/create/plagiarism/prevent.htm)

Finally, speak to the professor about this problem. Ask her/him to be sure to vary the essay prompts each semester, or to base essay assignments on a specific quotation from a specific source. In other words, ask your professor to design plagiarism-resistant assignments. You could even design a few examples yourself, and present them as preliminary thoughts toward new assignments.

Best wishes to you. I truly understand how frustrating this problem can be.

Answer 2

If they're intentionally plagiarizing, there's not much you can do but fail their assignments, turn them in to the honor board, or whatever your dept. policy is and they'll learn the hard way. You're already laying down the rules and even warning that you do verify. They've been students long enough to know that plagiarism is unacceptable and that they run major risks by trying it. If they refuse to do their own work, it's their own fault and they should be held responsible. If you stick to your guns, chances are that word will get out that you don't tolerate it. If word isn't getting out, tell them flat out that every semester, some of your students have failed the class or been put on academic probation or whatever due to plagiarism.

It also might help to discuss the problem with other TAs and your coordinator. Chances are you're not the only one with this problem. They may have additional insight or at the very least back you up if it comes to an appeal. You may also be able to make a case for changing essay topics every semester or year and making them unique enough that they're unlikely to get their hands on a ready-made paper for the topic.

If it's unintentional, i.e. not copying someone else's work outright but just negligence concerning citations and giving due credit, maybe you could give them an handout at the beginning giving examples of what does and doesn't need to be cited, how to cite what, etc. and make them do a simple homework assignment or quiz based on it. If they do horribly, quiz them on it again later.

I laugh, because the Chicago Manual of Style is sitting on my bed now, open to chapter 17 on documentation (working on an article).

Answer 3

The Internet makes the temptation of plagiarism much more pronounced. It's so easy to cut and paste text and is a real time saver. The only thing a university can do is instill a sense of ethics among new students. Beyond that, examples must be made of some students. If I heard that one of the other students got expelled for plagiarism, I might think twice about doing it myself.

Answer 4

Well, I think 3.0 and above it good. The reason why I am saying that is: most scholarships for masters students require that to made 3.0 or better even before bothering to apply in the first place.l I am in my 2nd semester(1st year) studying BSc Agriculture. 6 out of 7 of last semester's courses result are out and it is around 2.57. I want to push harder and make better than 3.0 in the future.

Answer 5

Enforcement.

As a recent college grad, I know that people will always cheat. And it is only encouraged since people are rarely caught and if they do get caught, they can usually weasel out of it. A few Fs here and there or maybe even an academic expulsion would help.

Answer 6

Get them to write in-class essays. You can let them do research beforehand but make them actually write the essay in front of you. Its a little harder to read handwritten papers but at least you know that its not plagarised.

It may seem old fashioned using pen and paper but its a proven age-old method and it still works.

You can mark the papers as they come in or read while you watch them. I wouldn't do this for all assignments but do it once and a while as an alternate assignment. You can even compare their handwritten work to their other work as a clue as to their real style.

Answer 7

I don't think you can prevent this problem. As a student, recently I submit a rough version of my term paper to be check by Turn-it-in and I failed the test. I don't think that it because I knowingly plagarized, but if you use any information without proper quotation and citation, it will fail you. It will be hard to prevent this because students do this without knowing that they are in fact plagarizing.

Answer 8

Stop giving Essay questions, or if the class is small enough assign a different topic to each student.

Answer 9

give them a lower grade if they are plagiarizing. If they see that they are getting lower grades because it's not their work then they are going to be discouraged to continue plagiarizing.

Answer 10

Public shaming.