Ethics Question

Hello All,

I did something tonight, and although I'm pretty sure I did the right thing, I just wanted to see what you all think. After all, I could be totally wrong.

In one of the courses I'm taking we had to do a book review. Our professor assigned members of the class another person's review, and we had to do a review of the review using a rubric the professor provided. As I was reading my assigned paper, I noticed it sounded a lot like the reviews of the book I had read on Amazon.com. I re-read it several times and compared it to the online reviews. There were definitely parts that were taken word for word from the internet and others which were taken, yet slightly modified. It's obviously not the original work of my classmate.

Regardless of the potential plagiarism, I reviewed the paper using the rubric and submitted it to the professor. In the email I included a simply note bringing up the similarities to the postings on Amazon.com. He responded with a "Thank you for the heads up."

Now I'm thinking about this. Should I have even done this? Was it my place to inform the professor. Is that "snitching"? Should I have told my classmate first?

As a teacher myself, I'm used to finding copy and paste jobs in student papers, but high school students are a different breed than graduate students. I know I would've wanted to notify a colleague if I knew one of his students had plagiarized, but is it my duty or responsibility to notify a professor?

What do you all think?

Thank you,
-Matt

 

Do you want to graduate with dishonest people that got their degree by cheating while you worked hard?

I think you did the right thing.

 

Well... I'm sure I graduated from undergrad with a few folks who cheated, so I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up getting another masters with people who also cheated. Yes, I think cheating is definitely wrong, but is it my place to call out another student? Or should I just leave it up to the professor?

-Matt

 

I would almost call this "begging for it". If someone cheats and makes it that easy for others to catch him he deservers no better.

 

"Should I have even done this?"
In the grand scheme of things you did the right thing. People need to know that they are expected to work for their reward, whether that reward is a degree, a paycheck, or anything else.

"Was it my place to inform the professor."
As you were assigned with evaluating then it is your place to evaluate. Perhaps suggest to the teacher that he include protocol of how to handle such situations in the future, or how far to take your evaluations.

"Is that "snitching"?"
Yes, you did snitch. That doesn't mean you did anything wrong.

"Should I have told my classmate first?"
If the opportunity presents itself and one is feeling generous, one could point the suspected plagarism to the student before completing the evaluation and give the student a chance to do the work (or a chance to do a better job of cheating). I do not see an obligation to warn a cheater.

Another thought is that the student actually wrote the original reviews and was simply repeating his/her own work. I'm not sure about the ethics of that situation. It doesn't sound like this is your situation though.

 

Just a follow up

I thought I'd pull this thread back up to give an update.

In a twist of humor, I was assigned to review another piece of work from this individual who had plagiarized the book review from Amazon.com. This time, however, she pretty much copied and pasted from Wikipedia. Again, I notified the professor, but provided specific examples this time. I'm not sure if anything was done about it.

Just for kicks, I decided to check out her discussion posts. Apparently most of those were plagiarized too. This makes me wonder. She had earned her BA from the same school. Did she get through her whole BA program plagiarizing papers, and if so, how was she not caught? Surely if a ho-hum high school teacher like me could figure it out, why couldn't a slew of professors? Furthermore, was she doing this on purpose? Did she get away with it once, and just figure she could keep going? Or, perhaps, did she not even realize what she was doing? I would like to hope that an undergraduate student (and especially a graduate student) would know what plagiarism is and what it involves...

-Matt

 

This just happen in a class I teach - kind of. Two students posted the same thing. I found the source and posted the source with a reminder that it is considered plagiarizum if you do not cite the source. That is a nice "gentle" way of saying "GOTCHA". Take that approach or remind them that a copy that is word for word must be in quotes!

 

She could be buying papers online She's likely in over her head with the subject matter. To be honest, she really doesn't sound like she knows what she's doing -- that's a rather poor set of cheats. I'm sure she knows what plagiarism is though (I mean, come on ).

And there's no guarantee that she's "getting away with it" as she could be getting Fs for most items (who would know?). At least, one would hope.

PS: Yes, I do think you did the right thing. Your students wouldn't get away with it, why should a master's student?

 

I mentioned to our professor that they might want to look into something like TurniItIn.com or some other plagiarism software. I've personally never used TurnItIn.com, but the Biology teacher at my school who also adjuncts swears by it.

Do any of you have experience with that?

-Matt

 

Thumbs up

Yep, done good. I tried to just comment with the "thumbs up" icon, but that was apparently too short to post.

 

Students can use TurnItIn for a small fee (they also have a demo):
http://writecheck.turnitin.com/static/home.html

They also highlight areas that match other texts, so that students know if they've missed a citation. It takes 5-15 minutes per paper to have TurnItIn check it. Other than the cost, it's the only real downside.

The cost for the "Thesis Package" (40 paper credits, +40 resubmissions) is $50 -- that's the only package that is a good deal. Otherwise, 1 paper credit is $5. That's not a whole lot to possibly enhance your grade and avoid missing citations.

 

Turnitin.com

Hey Matt,

As a fellow teacher, I lament the fact that so many highschoolers simply "cut and paste" much of what I read. Regrettably, there are not enough hours in the day to adequately scrutinize the grammatical heresies that surface daily. Perhaps I shouldn't be a teacher...

I'm sure that every generation has struggled with learning the essentials of writing...but the brevity implied by "text speak" is serving to undermine the essence of communication. I have many students who cannot transition from abbreviated speech to formal English. Addiction to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the like have deteriorated communication skills by instilling narcissistic shortcuts as a viable communication methodology. I, to the chagrin of former classmates, do not embrace using social networking sites or texting in the classroom.

GCU uses Turnitin.com and I found it to be an encouragement to cite enthusiastically.

 

Back in the day my high school teachers could spot plagiarism from encyclopedias - remember those tomes? - based on the known writing-style of each student. The Internet was the domain of government, universities, and the military during my high school days in the Dark Ages. In the Age of Enlightenment I wonder whether teachers face increased instances of plagiarism. Copy-and-pasting from another source without proper citation and attribution should be punished and in some schools results in course failure and academic expulsion. In the case of accidentally omitting a citation for a quoted extract (the quote marks surround the text) more leniency is justified.

 

I've been saying that for about 16 years now. Texting only made it worse. The commercials about "IDK, my BFF Jill," rang so true.

 

Matt,

Like you- I would have caught it. I look for stuff like that too, for right or wrong, it's just my personality lol. Let's assume that the professor isn't just being a busy-work-lazy-grader, and intends on this activity to be a graduate level educational activity...

then here are my two cents- I think that if the teacher is empowering students with the authority (requiring?) to critique another student's content- then you do have the authority and separately, the moral obligation, to report what you find. Honestly, I don't think you are required to use plagiarism software- run her quotes through google or some other "above and beyond" measures, it's not a journal article...but, if you find it- then call her out. Personally, I think reading critically through the lens of suspicion and scrutiny is a necessary skill of a master's degree holder

 

Matt,

I think you definitely did the right thing, but it sounds like your school might not be. If you've turned in this individual for two separate cases of plagiarism and no action has been taken, you need to question where your school's priorities lie. I know that in both of my programs, the punishment for a first offense of plagiarism was an "F" grade on the assignment, and for a second (if you were stupid enough to have a second), the punishment was to fail the course. I don't know what the policy is where you go to school, but it seems too lax to me. If people can skate by cheating, that's going to affect the value of your degree negatively in the future.

Fortunato

 

I agree with Fortunato. You may need to consider whether the program really fits your needs and if it is worth your time, money and effort.

 

This is true. When it first happened I looked up the plagiarism policy at WNMU. It seems like it lies on the instructors to initiate punishments. To be honest, I don't know what my instructor did. He may have given her an F and then failed her for the course. I really don't know, and personally, I don't really think it's my place to ask if anything was done.

When I first started the courses at WNMU, I did not like the professor's way of scheduling things. However, I have come to appreciate his comments and such on my assignments and such. I don't think he would stand by and do nothing considering he's also one of my advisors for the program. I'm going to have a bit of faith and believe that he will handle the situation professionally and in accordance with the policies of the school.

My concern was really with the individual doing the plagiarism. I just wonder if she has been doing this all along and has never been caught before. I'd just hate for someone to have earned a BA by plagiarising everything...

-Matt

 

My concern was really with the individual doing the plagiarism. I just wonder if she has been doing this all along and has never been caught before. I'd just hate for someone to have earned a BA by plagiarising everything...
>>


Here is where I think you need to let it go.

 

Yeah, I know. But I can't help but wonder. I fully acknowledge that the only one I can control is myself. I know I didn't plagiarize. I didn't cheat. I earned my degrees the right way, and will continue to do so

-Matt