<p>So my dopey son wrote a paper for his sociology class. He was so excited! He thought he did an awesome job. He got an F for plagiarism. He copied the definitions of the 2 theories he was using from his text book and failed to cite them. For some reason he thought since they were definitions he didn't have to cite them- go figure. What this amounts to is 4 sentences out of the entire paper but an F for the grade in a course that is in his major. Apparently the paper will account for a large portion of his grade in the course. The professor also threatened him with dismissal from the university. He is dumbfounded.<br>
Suggestions??</p>
<p>Has your son met personally with the professor to discuss this? Some high school students haven't been taught about the full scope of plagiarism, and so come into college not knowing the rules of proper citation. If the reason for your son's misuse was ignorance, and the professor is convinced of this, he may not press charges of academic dishonesty, though I imagine the grade would stand. If the guy is particularly understanding, he may allow your son to re-submit the paper. </p>
<p>If your son attends a school where there is an honor code, there may have been an orientation session outlining academic expectations. There is often a grievance procedure in place for charges of plagiarism. If the professor believes the plagiarism was deliberate, perhaps a meeting with the appropriate dean is the next step.</p>
<p>If your son simply made an ignorant error, I hope this situation can be resolved without severe academic penalties. At the very least, though, he needs to educate himself about the rules of citation.</p>
<p>I think schools are making too much of the plagiarism issue. They all talk about it and have severe penalties, but learning to cite correctly is not easy. Kids need a chance to learn. The professor could have given him an F (without the threat of dismissal from school), explained WHY the grade was so low, and offered to regrade it (perhaps with a SMALL penalty (-1/2 grade level) once the problem was fixed. Two quotes don't make up a paper. This is VERY different from turning in a real plagiarized paper, by which I mean a paper the student did not work on at all and turned in with intentional dishonesty. It d oesn't help that so many high schools don't seem to be preparing students for college-level writing. There was recently a post on CC by a student who was writing a l ong paper for the very first time!</p>
<p>I work in an "average" high school; about half the graduating class goes on to a four-year college. However, the teachers make a huge deal out of citing all references and the consequences of plagiarism. I find it hard to believe that your son did not know he needed to cite words he copied from a textbook, though it is probably more a case of haste than dishonesty. It is worth talking to the professor. I find it a little disconcerting that other parents do not view this as a serious mistake. Cheating is cheating. And schools make it very clear that plagiarism is a very serious offense.</p>
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I find it a little disconcerting that other parents do not view this as a serious mistake. Cheating is cheating.
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It is not at all clear to me, from the original post, that this student was cheating. Obviously he made a serious mistake in failing to cite properly. And if he did so deliberately, it was an ethical/moral lapse, as well. I personally don't have enough information yet to draw that conclusion.</p>
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Cheating is cheating.
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</p>
<p>I’m not a parent, but as a student I take cheating VERY seriously, because hey, when other students cheat, I might suffer. But I disagree with this. I think cheating is one thing, and not understanding/misunderstanding rules of citation is another. I mean, if the only thing he plagiarized were definitions, from the textbook, I find it far more plausible that he was confused. Either that, or he’s a rally dumb cheater, because it seems pretty obvious not to copy something that important verbatim from the textbook if you are TRYING to get away with plagiarism. And I don’t think people (especially Freshmen, who really might not know better) should be punched with possibly being kicked out for a mistake.</p>
<p>Also, I work as a writing tutor, and lots of students come to me confused about what and how to cite. Not all high schools teach that well.</p>
<p>Fiona
yeah hard to believe but true. For whatever reason he thought that a definition of any type (since it is the same everywhere) did not need to be cited. I happen to be a HS teacher and I was amazed that he really thought that this was true. He asked me "so I have to cite Webster too?" He did not inadvertently omit the citation, he really thought that definitions do not need to be cited. It was a deliberate omission! LOL. He just did not deliberately cheat. There is certainly a difference between the two. The professor is not bringing charges but threatened to if it happens again. In HS this would be a teachable moment, at the university level it is not. He does have some options to try and get a change made, if not in the grade than in the professors perception of him. Hopefully he will follow those recommendations.</p>
<p>As a professor, I've seen my share of plagarism. It is a growing and increasingly serious concern on campuses. Oddly enough taking someone's definition is probably the worst sentence you could choose to copy (its far more important intellectual property than say a sentence describing something else). </p>
<p>I understand the need to draw a line very clearly: if writing someone else's defintion as your own is okay, then isn't a paragraph by someone else okay, or maybe an entire page, or a whole assignment (I've seen it all). And I know it can be very difficult it infer motives: how do you separate out the student who misunderstood the rules from a student who did so for self-gain. </p>
<p>However, having said all that, I think this particular prof is unduly and unfairly harsh. Its just my opinion- I think profs vary quite a lot on such things. My thoughts are too many students coming from HS, and even undergraduate studies, who are clearly NOT educated sufficiently about the rules. Hard to believe but true. I also find that our education about it at the orientiation level is just not enough if its not already been entrenched and practiced from years earlier.</p>
<p>Given its a freshman in first term, and given the scope of the offense (assuming the paper is more substantial than describing two theories), I would think the prof would cut him some slack. But again, others may feel differently. </p>
<p>I would encourage him to go back in a week or so after the dust settles, to talk to the professor and see if there is any way he can make amends to offset the lost grade. To be effective, the conversation would have to evolve around an apology and taking full responsibility for what happened, and show a complete understanding of the lesson learned (and not bring up the perceived unfairness of it).</p>
<p>Well, sometimes life's greatest lessons are the most difficult pills to swallow. I will bet my last dollar that he will cite everything and anything from this point on. I said "when in doubt, cite" He said "I wasn't in doubt". LOL. Live and learn. The professor did cancel class for the remainder of the week due to illness. Perhaps when she is feeling better he will approach her as you recommended. I think he should resubmit the paper with the appropriate citation regardless of whether or not a change in grade is given. I'm more concerned with her perception of him as a cheater. His integrity is in question and he feels very badly about that.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, failure to learn how and when to cite is a major problem, which in the end is yet another failure of the U.S. high schools. The problem has been exacerbated by the internet with "cut and paste". In the end, it is a problem with the issue of stealing someone elses intelectual property. The increasing number of suits in of this nature that are occurring in the business world (particularly entertainment) indicates there is a problem that needs serious work. Some schools are moving towards a no tolerance policy after the basic courses (usually freshman year) are passed. As for your child, I would talk to the professor, and quickly learn the rules so as never to have the problem again.</p>
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<p>That student was homeschooled. His or her unfamiliarity with writing papers longer than 4 pages--not to mention the references to "Plato's crap" and Plato's "story" (Plato wrote short stories! Who knew?)--cannot be blamed on a high school.</p>
<p>I too, am skeptical about the student who knew he was typing others' words but didn't think they needed to be cited. However, I can't read students' mind to know for sure. Was student dopey as op said? Or, is this the only excuse the student could think of to cover up? I don't know but I'm not grading his thoughts or his papers. Student isn't <em>a little bit pregnant</em> as the joke goes. Student plagarized, prof caught it.
I agree, wait wk or so, then speak to prof. Explain copied portion as an error, hope prof "buys" explanation then be extra careful in future. Future papers will continue to either reinforce profs' first conclusion OR demonstrate students' explanation as true.</p>
<p>I understand your skepticism, and the professor's. It is difficult to imagine that he has gotten this far in life without someone telling him definitions need to be cited. Unfortunately I think that is indeed the case. At this point it is water under the bridge and certainly a lesson learned. He will need to repeat the class if he doesn't get a C for the semester. Tough lesson for him, wasted $$ for us. Bad no matter how you slice it.</p>
<p>Believe me, many kids have no clue that such things need to be cited. I sub taught in a suburban high school. I bet if I asked the kids about putting a definition in a paper, for the vast majority, it wouldn't cross their minds that it should be cited. In fact, I would get far too many blank stares at the mere mention of "cited." Only the few kids who take AP English courses are even expected to routinely submit works cited pages with their papers. Both of my kids (who did not attend this particular high school) did learn to cite, and my son even has to submit his papers on turnitin.com.</p>
<p>My kids were homeschooled too but their professors made it pretty clear in their first writing classes what plagiarism is and they were taught to cite properly.</p>
<p>Some professors will allow you to submit an early paper which they will go through, mark and allow you to revise. If they find plagiarism, they will tell you and you can then fix it for the final revision which will be graded.</p>
<p>There's a set of English Writing videos from Florida Community Community College at Jacksonville at the iTunes U link below. Lecture 12 covers documenting your sources. Any good writing handbook should have further details. Our daughter's first writing course at her community college had a required small textbook on plagiarism.</p>