Teachers' Guide to Preventing Digital Plagiarism

Lisa Quraish
991-479-061

Indiana State University
CIMT 513
Proficiency 3
Option #1

July 5, 2012

Quraish CIMT 513

Option #1:

Develop a single detailed outline for a one to two hour teacher in-service program designed
to systematically inform teachers about electronic plagiarism—your content should include,
but not necessarily be limited to: what electronic/digital plagiarism is, the problem it
represents, strategies for identifying it, strategies for preventing it, implications for
administrative policy and practice, and implications for the curriculum. Depending on your
writing and organizational style, I would advise either a sentence outline or a paragraph
outline.

Preface your outline with a two or three paragraph narrative regarding how you will conduct
the in-service, i.e. what media and methods you will use to make your presentation—
examples that come to mind include ice breakers, description(s) of presentation materials,
handouts/support materials, active learning exercises during the in-service, etc.

Aside from the obvious, your outline should also include (but not be limited to) such things
as: detailed examples of two or more instructional activities that might be used in the
classroom to teach students about the problem; sample policy and procedure statements from
other schools; and resources for further information (a brief annotated bibliography for three
or more resources, print and/or web-based).

You will also develop a PowerPoint presentation that will serve as an integral part of the in-
service. The presentation should be no more than 20 slides. It should include a logical
introduction, main content points, and conclusion/summary. Remember that PowerPoint
presentations should be used as focal points for a live presentation. Do NOT be tempted by
text heavy slides—use key words and phrases that will be elaborated upon via the presenter’s
narrative. Be sure to use graphics as appropriate. Proper use of slide builds and transitions
between slides is encouraged. If your knowledge/expertise with PowerPoint is limited, find
someone who has the experience and know-how to provide you with assistance and/or an
honest, constructive critique of your presentation.

Obviously, you will be submitting at least two (2) different files to me as email attachments:
narrative files (outline, handouts, etc.) and the PowerPoint presentation.

The exceptional treatment of this project option will show depth of thought for each aspect of
what the project calls for, not skimp on details, be well-organized and creative.

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Electronic Plagiarism Presentation

I have created a 1.5 hour presentation on electronic plagiarism to be used at the high

school level for teacher in-service/professional development. This presentation will take place in

the high school’s LGI (large group instruction) room which has a permanent ceiling mounted

projector and wall mounted projection screen for the PowerPoint portion of the presentation. As

the teachers enter the room, they will each pick up a presentation packet including a note-taking

copy of the PowerPoint slides, detailed instructions for the inservice activities, and resources

including sample High School policies and honor codes, activities for use in the classroom, and

an annotated bibliography. A laptop cart will be at the front of the room and will be utilized

during the ―Identifying Plagiarism‖ activity.

Additionally, upon entering each participant will receive a filled film canister that will be

used for the opening ice breaker. Canisters will be filled with things such as beans, rice,

paperclips, pea gravel, etc. There will be four canisters containing each substance. Without

opening the canisters, participants will have to find the others with matching canisters by sound

alone. Each group of four will be instructed to sit together, as they will be working together in

groups during the presentation activities.

The presentation will follow a predictable format, and will be divided into the following

segments: opening (15 minutes), PowerPoint presentation (15 minutes), break for activity (15

minutes), continue PowerPoint presentation (5 minutes), break for activity (15 minutes),

conclude PowerPoint presentation (15 minutes), opportunity for Q & A (10 minutes).

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Presentation Packet Contents
1. PowerPoint Slide Note sheets
2. Identifying Plagiarism Activity Sheet – See Appendix I below
3. Creating LPP Assignments Activity Sheet– See Appendix II below
4. Samples of High School Honor Codes –The School for Ethical Education,
http://www.ethicsed.org/programs/integrityworks/pdf/HonorCodeExamples.pdf
4. Instructional Activities for the Classroom – See Appendix III below
5. Additional Reading Annotated Bibliography – See Appendix IV below
Opening (15 minutes)

I. Participants enter the room.
A. Participants pick up packets and film canisters.
B. Begin the ice breaker.
1. Participants shake canisters and compare them to find their group of four.
2. Instruct participants to sit once all four members are found.
C. Call to attention while introducing the topic.
D. Explain packet contents drawing attention to the PowerPoint slides/note sheets.
E. Begin PowerPoint presentation.
PowerPoint Presentation (15 minutes)

II. What is electronic plagiarism?

A. According to Merriam-Webster.com, plagiarism is ―to steal and pass off (the ideas or

words of another) as one's own‖ (―Plagiarism‖ def. 1).

B. Electronic plagiarism refers to the alarming trend of students using the Internet or a

combination of Internet and word processing software to commit plagiarism.

1. In a 2001 study72% of the 4,500 high school students from 25 different schools

sampled admitted to cheating on written assignments (Nagy, 2004).

2. More than half of the students sampled admitted to plagiarizing information

found on the Internet (Nagy, 2004).

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C. Plagiarism takes a variety of forms (iParadigms, LLC, 2012).

1. Turning in a paper written by someone else constitutes as plagiarism.

a) Term paper mills are an easily accessible online source of pre-written

and custom ordered essays and research papers.

b) Friends, older siblings, or groups (fraternities/sororities at the college

level) sometimes provide a ―file‖ of previously turned in papers and old

test questions.

2. Using another’s words and ideas but failing to give credit where it is due.

a) Even the most eloquent and originally paraphrased content is plagiarism

if the original work is not referenced both in text and in a reference page.

b) Quotes should be used sparingly (no more than 10% of the total paper)

with appropriate quotation marks and reference to source (Purdue OWL,

2012).

c) Copying the sentence structure of a source (even if words may have

been changed) constitutes as plagiarism if there is no citation.

d) If the majority of an assignment is a compilation of others’ words and

ideas with little to no original thought, despite proper citation, it is

considered plagiarism (iParadigms, LLC, 2012).

3. Resubmitting one’s own work for a different course is considered self-

plagiarism unless permission has been granted by the assigning teacher.

III. What greater problem does this phenomenon represent?

A. Students’ cyber ethics, or understanding of acceptable behavior on the Internet, are

significantly less developed than traditional ethics.

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1. An example would be the belief that stealing a CD from the store or a friend

would be wrong, yet downloading a CD through a file sharing website is

acceptable (Symantec, 2012).

2. There is a predominate belief amongst youth that everything on the Internet is

―free‖ and belongs in the public domain (Fain & Bates, 1999).

3. Cheating, including but not limited to electronic cheating, is on the rise and is

perceived as ―socially acceptable‖ (Fain & Bates, 1999).

B. Students are under a great deal of pressure to excel at an abundance of extracurricular

activities, meet work, school, and family demands, all the while maintaining high GPAs

(Fain & Bates, 1999).

1. Some students may see committing plagiarism as an act of self-defense in a

high pressure environment where cheating is the norm and sets up unfair

competition (Fain & Bates, 1999).

2. Some students feel they are not naturally gifted writers and would rather risk

cheating than risk turning in poor work (Harris, 2012).

C. Some students view high school as merely a means to an end (diploma or college

acceptance).

1. These students may take advanced courses simply to pad a resume with little to

no interest or use for the subject matter.

2. If an assignment is not considered relevant to one’s future, either in college or

career, it may be viewed as a waste of time, increasing the occurrence of

plagiarism (Fain & Bates, 1999).

D. There are a number of other factors influencing the occurrence of plagiarism.

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1. Some students truly do not understand what constitutes as plagiarism and all of

its forms (Fain & Bates, 1999).

2. Many students are natural procrastinators or are simply so overwhelmed with

activities that they do not allot enough time to adequately complete writing

assignments (Harris, 2012).

3. All schools have those few students who get a kick out of breaking the rules

and like to see how much they can get away with before getting caught or

suffering any consequences (Harris, 2012).

4. Some temptation to plagiarize stems from known teacher behaviors: those who

do not closely read assignments or check for plagiarism, and those who, when

plagiarism is suspected or evident, are reluctant to report it (Fain & Bates, 1999).

IV. How can electronic plagiarism be identified?

A. Sometimes students make detection easy by leaving obvious clues.

1. Inconsistent citation style or format (APA and MLA, for example) can indicate

a copy and paste effort (Harris, 2012).

2. Large sections with no in-text citations or quotations could indicate

―borrowed‖ ideas (Harris, 2012).

3. Formatting issues, such as mixed spacing, font, tabs, or broken lines should be

a red flag for copy and paste (Harris, 2012).

4. If the topic seems like a stretch when compared to the assigned topic or if the

topic or viewpoint seems to change throughout the paper the paper could be from

a paper mill website or a combination of original thought and copy/paste (Harris,

2012).

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5. A reference list with no recent works or text with dated statistics indicates the

possibility of an old paper retrieved from a paper mill or ―borrowed‖ from

friend/family member (Harris, 2012).

6. Writing that seems uncharacteristic for the student in either diction or style

should prompt further investigation (Harris, 2012).

7. Careless mistakes that serve as criminalizing evidence are the existence of

URL’s at the top of the page, a name that is not one’s own, a copyright or

watermark indicating where the paper was downloaded, etc.

B. If suspecting plagiarism, you can prove your case by taking one of the following

actions.

1. Hold a conference with the student asking leading questions and asking for

explanation on areas of concern in an effort to get the student to confess (Harris,

2012).

2. An approach that may seem less threatening (especially in cases where it turns

out not to be plagiarism) is asking students to summarize the process of research,

their findings, or to give an oral presentation (Pearson, 2004).

3. Choose a phrase or excerpt that seems especially unnatural and enter it into a

number of search engines and full-text databases (Pearson, 2004).

4. Using the cloze strategy, delete words or passages of the student’s paper and

see if they are able to fill in the blanks reasonably (in relation to the original text).

(Bates & Fain, 2009).

5. Use plagiarism detection software such as TurnItIn.com to compare student

papers against billions of pages of digital content (Harris, 2012).

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Identifying Electronic Plagiarism Activity (15 minutes) - See Appendix I


V. What can be done to prevent electronic plagiarism?

A. The first and most essential step in the prevention of plagiarism is making sure that

students are well educated on the definition and forms of plagiarism (Harris, 2012).

1. Teach students the proper way to cite and paraphrase, giving both good and

bad examples (Harris, 2012).

2. Explain to students that plagiarism involves both stealing and lying and is a

form of fraud (Harris, 2012).

B. Make sure students know what the consequences of being caught plagiarizing will be

and enforce your policies routinely (Lad, 2011).

C. Create projects with a ―low probability of plagiarism‖ (Johnson, 2004).

1. Assign projects with a clarity of purpose that will teach applicable skills

(Johnson, 2004).

2. Give students choices when possible so that projects spark interest and become

meaningful and relevant (Johnson, 2004).

3. To prevent the regurgitation of facts, ask students to write in a narrative style

about how they went about their research, surprising findings, etc. (Johnson,

2004).

4. Assign projects that focus on higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and answer

real questions (Johnson, 2004).

5. Assign hands-on, creative projects that make use of multiple senses and

technology (Johnson, 2004).

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6. Create collaborative projects and share results with family and friends when

possible (Johnson, 2004).

7. Assign complex projects that can be broken into manageable steps, assessed

authentically, and provide students the opportunity to ―reflect, revisit, revise, and

improve‖ (Johson, 2004).

D. When a more traditional assignment is necessary, require specific components and

process steps (bibliography, outline, rough draft, etc.) to prevent plagiarism (Harris,

2012).

Creating an LPP Assignment Activity (15 minutes) - See Appendix II


VI. What are the implications for administrative policy and practice?

A. Policies need to be put in place to promote a culture of pride in academic integrity.

B. It is believed that schools with honor codes generally have lower levels of cheating

due in large part to an increase in peer disapproval of cheating/cheating regaining a social

stigma within the school community (McCabe & Trevino, 2002).

C. An honor code should cover cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, multiple submissions,

misrepresentation, and unfair advantages (Stanford, 2001).

1. A traditional honor code generally employs ―honor pledges, student-organized

honor systems, unproctored exams, and the requirement of students to turn in

suspected cheating incidents‖ (Stanford, 2001).

2. Modified honor codes ―aim to develop a sense of community responsibility for

academic integrity, particularly among students. Unproctored exams and the use

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Quraish CIMT 513

of a pledge are usually at the instructor’s option‖ and only at the upper college

level (McCabe & Trevino, 2002).

a) Modified honor codes are only effective so long as the school makes an

effort to communicate to students that academic integrity is a major

priority in the school (McCabe & Trevino, 2002).

b) Additionally, students should be permitted to participate in ―judicial or

hearing bodies‖ to review alleged honor code infringements (McCabe &

Trevino, 2002).

VII. What are the implications for curriculum?

A. Actively teach information literacy, including research techniques, citations, and

paraphrasing.

B. Promote good work ethic and a sense of pride in original work by carefully grading

and providing appropriate, constructive feedback to each student.

C. Explain policies on plagiarism and grading at the start of the school year and follow

through with consequences when plagiarism does occur.

D. Assign relevant, authentic projects that inspire creativity and original thought

(Johnson, 2004).

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References

Bates, P. and Fain, M. (2009). Cheating 101: Detecting Plagiarized Papers. Retrieved from

http://www.coastal.edu/library/presentations/plagiarz.html

Fain, M., and Bates, P. (1999, March 5). Cheating 101: Paper Mills and You. Retrieved from

http://www.coastal.edu/library/presentations/papermil.html

Harris, R. (2012). Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers. Retrieved from

http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm

Johnson, D. (2004). Plagiarism Proofing Assignments. Retrieved from

http://dougjohnson.squarespace.com/dougwri/plagiarism-proofing-assignments.html

Lad, K. (2011). Preventing Plagiarism: Tips and Techniques. Retrieved from

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/preventing-plagiarism-tips-and-techniques.html

McCabe, D. and Trevino, L.K. (2002). Honesty and Honor Codes. Retrieved from

http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/2002/JF/Feat/mcca.htm

Nagy, C. (2004). Dealing with High School Plagiarism. Retrieved from

http://www.newfoundations.com/ETHICPROP/Nagy718F04.html

plagiarism. (2012). In Merriam-Webster.com.

Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarize

iParadigms, LLC. (2012). What is Plagiarism? Retrieved from

http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_what_is_plagiarism.html

Pearson, G. (2004). Electronic Plagiarism Seminar. Retrieved from

http://web.lemoyne.edu/~pearson/plagiarism/detection.htm

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (2012). Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words. Retrieved from

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/02/

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The School for Ethical Education. (2008). Honor Code and Examples. Retrieved from

http://www.ethicsed.org/programs/integrity-works/pdf/HonorCodeExamples.pdf

Stanford. (2001). Honor Codes Across the Country. Retrieved from http://www-cs-

faculty.stanford.edu/~eroberts/cs201/projects/2000-01/honor-code/honorcodes.html

Symantec Corporation. (2007). Cyber Ethics. Retrieved from

http://us.norton.com/library/familyresource/article.jsp?aid=pr_cyberethics

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Appendix I

Identifying Electronic Plagiarism

With your group of four, you will read a sample student paper searching for instances of

plagiarism. Before you begin, have one participant from each group get a laptop and a

sample paper.

1. Remember to look for obvious clues!

Inconsistencies

Few citations

Formatting discrepancies

Irrelevant

Change in style or diction

Careless mistakes

2. Find a phrase that seems ―suspicious,‖ either in spelling, jargon, or content, and run it

through a number of search engines. Make sure to use quotes around the phrase!

3. Using your laptop, find your sample paper in the shared folder. Copy and paste the

content into plagtracker.com and read through the detailed plagiarism report. See how

the software’s findings differ from your own.

Questions for discussion:

Did you find plagiarism where there was none?

How can falsely accusing be avoided?

How did the software’s findings compare to your own?

Were all of the software’s findings accurate?

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Appendix II

Creating Assignments with Low Probability of Plagiarism (LPP)

In your groups, use Doug Johnson’s (2004) guidelines for creating LPP assignments,

paraphrased and restated below, to create detailed instructions for an assignment you feel

students would have a hard time plagiarizing, or a low inclination to plagiarize.

Be sure to be specific and have multiple due dates for process steps. Additionally, use as many

of the suggestions below as reasonable:

1. Assign projects with a clarity of purpose that will teach applicable skills (Johnson, 2004).

2. Give students choices when possible so that projects spark interest and become meaningful

and relevant (Johnson, 2004).

3. To prevent the regurgitation of facts, ask students to write in a narrative style about how they

went about their research, surprising findings, etc. (Johnson, 2004).

4. Assign projects that focus on higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and answer real questions

(Johnson, 2004).

5. Assign hands-on, creative projects that make use of multiple senses and technology (Johnson,

2004).

6. Create collaborative projects and share results with family and friends when possible

(Johnson, 2004).

7. Assign complex projects that can be broken into manageable steps, assessed authentically,

and provide students the opportunity to ―reflect, revisit, revise, and improve‖ (Johson, 2004).

Questions for discussion:

How does the assignment created compare to assignments you generally assign?

What will you be most likely to carry over into your classroom?

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Quraish CIMT 513

Appendix III

Activities for Use in the Classroom*

Identifying Plagiarism Activity Sheet –

Provide a worksheet of scenarios in which students have to decide whether the student in

the scenario is guilty of committing plagiarism or not. Be sure to thoroughly go over

answers and reasoning so that students have a better understanding of what to avoid in

their own papers. Consider giving a participation grade for true effort, but avoid giving a

grade on accuracy for students should not be punished for inaccuracy on a learning

exercise.

Journaling Reflection on Plagiarism –

This works best in a class experienced with regular journaling. Following the explicit

teaching of plagiarism and its various forms, ask students to reflect on what they have

learned, why it is relevant, and the impact it has on them personally. Ask students to

write their own example scenarios of plagiarism (as in the above activity) and then offer

suggestions as to how this could have been avoided.

Citation Exercises –

Create a worksheet with examples of text with missing citations (indicated by empty

parenthesis) and a list of fake resources to choose from. After teaching students about

your chosen format (MLA or APA, for example) of in-text citations, assign students the

task of filling in the missing references from the list of fake resources.

*This list has been adapted and modified from: http://www.ehow.com/info_7947070_activities-
plagiarism.html

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Appendix IV

Additional Reading

1. Bochicchio, K. (2008). Beat the Cheat: Teaching Students (and Parents) It's Not OK to Copy.

Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/student-plagiarism-teacher-strategy

Teacher written article on the first-hand experience of cracking down on

plagiarism, and the backlash that can initially come not only from students, but

from parents, as well.

2. Mayfield, K. (2000). Catching Digital Cheaters. Retrieved from

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2000/02/33021

A look into the inner workings of paper mill websites, their legalizing

―disclaimers,‖ and the man credited with trying to put an end to them, TurnItIn

creator, John Barrie.

3. Lee, F. (2003). Are More People Cheating?: Despite Ample Accounts Of Dishonesty, a Moral

Decline Is Hard to Calculate. Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/04/arts/are-more-people-cheating-despite-ample-

accounts-dishonesty-moral-decline-hard.html

Not specific only to plagiarism, this article offers a look into the prevalence of

cheating and attempts to uncover whether it indicates an all encompassing decline

in ethics and morality. Don McCabe and his research on cheating within high

schools and universities is introduced.

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PROJECT SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

NOTE: The most frequently occurring problem with projects has to do with not following
instructions regarding submission. These errors, particularly a few of them, are time consuming
for you and for me to troubleshoot. As a result, the following checklist has been developed in an
effort to eliminate the problem. Failure to include this checklist with each submitted project or
failure to adhere to any submission rule will be costly in my grading of your work—a deduction
of 10 pts.

Each item on the ch ecklist is referenced in the course syllabus, so you might want to check
there for further clarification.

INSTRUCTIONS: Include this checklist as the last page of all submitted project work

 Saved text file in correct format, Word for Windows (.doc file extension) or as Rich Text
Format (.rtf file extension)

 Named saved file appropriately, e.g. John Smith would name his word processing file for
proficiency #1 as smith656prof1.doc.

 Included cover sheet with prescribed information

 Restated project verbatim

 If applicable, adhered to page length specifications

 Included a header or footer with last name and course number on each page of the project

 Used Times Roman or Arial font only

 Unless instructed otherwise, double-spaced body text

 Incorporated pictures and/or illustrations as appropriate

Comments or explanations that you need to make (optional):

hsd 8/2011

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Teachers' Guide to Preventing Digital Plagiarism

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