It’s on the
Net, So I Can Use it.
A guide for
detecting Internet plagiarism
Created By Erik
Heinemann
In a Current Events article dated January
9, 2004 one can find the following passage:
A survey by U.S. News and World Report found that 80 percent of "high
achieving" high schoolers admitted to cheating;
51 percent of high schoolers surveyed didn't think
cheating was wrong. Ninety-five percent of surveyed students who cheat said
that they had not been detected.
For the full article click on the link here
for Current
Events or type in the URL
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EPF/is_15_103/ai_112354637
There seems to be a growing problem with
cheating on both exams and in the form of plagiarism in schools across the
country. It has become increasingly easy
for cheaters to cheat and the question for teachers is, “What can we do?”
The
nature of the problem
The problem is one that has been around for
as long as there have been tests in schools.
Students often try to find the quick and easy way to cut corners for a
quick grade rather than complete an assignment for the learning itself. In today’s society, however, the scope of the
problem has included the use of technology and the availability of resources
that are hard to detect. It is becoming
commonplace to the point that students do not even think its wrong
anymore. The article whose URL is listed
provides statistics and information about recent studies performed on the
subject.
Remedies
The burning question is, “what can be
done?” The answer is simple. Information on the net is so easily accessed
that students can use it to cheat. But
teachers can access the information just as quickly. Use the Net beat the cheaters at their own
game. There are a variety of search
engines and software packages that can help teachers type in key words and
search to see if work is plagiarized. There is also a variety of information
available to help teachers look for clues to work that has been copied.
Listed below are websites that provide
information on looking for clues, software packages for teachers, and locations
from which students often may go to find work.
Plagiarism definitions and helpful
sites:
Plagiarism or http://www.indiana.edu/%7Ewts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
. This website is organized by
Virtualsalt or http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm
. This site provides some
rational behind cheating and some hints, clues, strategies that can be used to
combat it.
Turnitin or http://turnitin.com/static/home.html
. A site from
which anti-plagiarism software can be purchased. On of several there is also Eve or
http://www.canexus.com/ , Plagiarism Finder or http://www.m4-software.com/ and many
others.
www.google.com and other search engines may
be a less expensive way of searching for plagiarism by typing in questionable
phrases and the like. They are not as
effective in filtering ads and other things though.
Sites that the students may use
Be aware of
these and let students know that you are aware of them. Students can find entire papers at no cost on
just about any subject.
Turmpapers or http://www.turmpapers.com
There are
many more sites that can be used by students, but these are some of the more
popular ones. I hope this information
helps teachers.
About the
author Author’s web-index