How do I plagiarize thee?

let me count the ways...

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

I have students from the Kingdom for whom "writing" is synonymous with "finding"...they keep track of which teacher has seen which paper, and pass them around in such a way that no teacher sees the same one twice, and they don't have to actually write any. Their only weakness is that they have so little concept of what the papers say, that they often hand in one with a topic that is really inappropriate to the assignment, or a shallow mismatch.

Such it was with a reading reaction journal, meant to be about the student's field, but instead being about last term's topic. It had been grammatically corrected and was almost perfect; I recognized that teacher input also, though it wasn't mine. But here was the kicker. On top, in a different font, was the date: Spat, 11 .2007 (sic). This date alone gave a clearer picture of the student's true writing weaknesses- no command of vowels, bad punctuation, no spacing, etc. Of course the whole paper would have been like this, had he written it at that time.

I mention this, because it's a kind of late 9/11 post. Here I have these young guys- all men, all caught between worlds- all desperate, and, at this time of year, all fasting in the day, eating and staying up at night...and I feel like I know them well, to some degree. I know how much easier it is for them to "find" than to "write." It's also easier, by the way, to "see" the right answers on a reading test than to "read" them...to the point that, somehow they've gotten to the top of our program with almost no real reading or mastery of the visual aspect of the language. Which, you have to admit, is a skill in itself. Believe it or not, they feel some sense of pride and entitlement, for "working their way up," which, to some degree, they have.

And there are a few, a distinct minority, who actually do read and write. For them, it's painful. But their actual language progress eventually converges with that of every other learner...until they become fluent, which, in fact, believe it or not, virtually any of them could do...

This is where I was on that day. And, no, I did not forget those people in those towers.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

last word- stepdaughter's letter

Metz Zeman, N. (2007, Sept. 18). Letter: Plagiarism Research. Daily Egyptian, Carbondale, Letter to the Editor.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

the original story

Bartlett, T. (2006, Feb. 10). The Rumor: What really cost Chris Dussold his dream job? The Faculty. Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed 9-07 from:
http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i23/23a00801.htm.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

plagiarism by Americans

Let me preface these remarks by saying: I'm out of my field. Yes, I teach plagiarism every day- but that's to people who don't have a clue what it is, or even why it's wrong. They have seen clearly, lately, at least that it has profound consequences. The ongoing controversy here has several results, but the best of them, for me anyway, is probably that my own students now believe me when I say it can come back and bite them, years later, and it will probably be just as illegal then as it is now.

But, having now read more about this case, and having heard people talking about it for over a week, I'm left with more questions.

1. "Nobody on my committee told me I had to go and put quotes up there," he said, or something like that- one could get through the American school system and not know that? Are we talking about the same thing? A friend of mine at the pool said: "It's plagiarism...there's nothing to discuss." I've always started from the assumption that my students didn't know that they had to quote AND attribute...but I'm not sure I can use that assumption here. Is that possible? Is it possible to not know that you have to do either??? What were those little names doing in those parentheses, anyway?

2. 29 out of 30 of the cases were in the 41-page lit review? (I hope I'm getting my facts right)...this alone has many profound consequences, many of which I haven't quite worked out. The most important being, maybe he didn't read the lit.

3. The dissertation was about education of the "gifted child"...Having children who have been beneficiaries, victims and survivors of the "gifted education program" I'd like to say that singling out children from the k-12 pack and labelling them one way or the other is no small deal, with no small consequences....and I count on our education system, and the body of research that supports it- to be doing the right thing. So here are a few questions: did the main dissertation contribute to the field? If so, in what way? If he copied old lit reviews, or copied old material, does that mean he was counting on someone else, basically, to do the background research? Because he was in a hurry?

4. Assuming that they circle the wagons, and he stays, what happens? Can they argue that they treated C. Dussold fairly? In court? Can SIUC be led with strength and integrity? It seems to me that with time this can only get worse, mostly for SIUC. If we're going to be in the vanguard, let's not be in the vanguard of places where everything, right down to our vision, is second-hand goods...

Saturday, September 8, 2007

plagiarism at SIUC, cont'd

Here are some sources on the events of the last week or so, most recent first, blog style. We here at SIUC are still in shock, or maybe denial, but you can see the story play out here in the local Illinois media- I hope the links last. Being one who writes and speaks on the issue of plagiairism (albeit that of international students, many of whom did not bring with them to this country the cultural tendency to scorn it as stealing and cheating) I cannot remain silent on this issue forever. But for now, I'm saying nothing, for two reasons: One, I still haven't read the parts of the dissertation that are in question, and, two, I know many of the people involved, though I am also not totally familiar with the story of Chris Dussold, SIUE professor, which apparently started the whole thing or at least had a strong part in its development. I will also mention a local guy, Scott Thorne, who has been filling up the Carbondale Bytelife weblog, of which I'm a member, with a fairly balanced running commentary complete with links. Having a local business background (I believe), he has no dog in the fight, so he just gives some useful links (including the ones I provide below) and a neutral perspective. But, oddly enough, I consider myself somewhat neutral also. And I'll stay that way, at least until I've read the stuff, and know what I'm talking about.

Chicago Tribune (2007, Sept. 7). The accidental plagiarist. Editorial. Accessed 9-7-07 from:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0907edit1sep07,0,2218998.story

Crawford, J. (2007, Sept. 6). Department declines to review Poshard's dissertation. Daily Egyptian. Accessed 9-7-2007 from:
http://media.www.siude.com/media/storage/paper1096/news/2007/09/06/Campus/Department.Declines.To.Review.Poshards.Dissertation-2952105.shtml.

Wilson, J. and Crawford, C. (2007, August 20). Poshard defends dissertation against plagiarism charges. Daily Egyptian. Accessed 9-7-2007 from:
http://media.www.siude.com/media/storage/paper1096/news/2007/08/30/Campus/Poshard.Defends.Dissertation.Against.Plagiarism.Charges-2943746.shtml