1	Why Do Students Cheat? Mike Palmquist Institute for Learning and Teaching
2	Overview Basic Concepts Teaching Strategies Signs of Plagiarism Intervention Strategies
3	Basic Concepts: Cheating Types of Cheating on Exams and Quizzes Copying from others Text messaging Cheat “sheets” (gum wrappers, caps, etc.) Obtaining copies of exams in advance Completing “blue books” ahead of time Using “ringers” Correcting mistakes and asking for grade change Improper collaboration on take-home exams
4	Basic Concepts: Plagiarism Unintentional: using someone else’s work without properly acknowledging where the ideas or information came from. The most common form of plagiarism A pedagogical issue
5	Basic Concepts: Plagiarism Intentional: copying someone else’s work and passing it off as your own. The most serious form of plagiarism An academic integrity issue
6	Basic Concepts: Plagiarism Unintentional Intentional
7	Basic Concepts: Causes Unintentional Plagiarism: Lack of knowledge of proper citation practices Quotation Paraphrase Citation Lack of understanding of the issue Can’t restate or integrate new information into the overall argument
8	Basic Concepts: Causes Cheating and Intentional Plagiarism: Students Lack Confidence in their Ability Response: Help students locate assistance. Lack of Interest Leads to Lack of Time: Students put off assignments that don’t interest them. Response: Allow students to customize assignments.
9	Basic Concepts: Causes Cheating and Intentional Plagiarism: Time Management Problems: Students procrastinate, or genuinely fail to recognize how much time is needed to complete an assignment. Response: Stage assignments. Economy of Effort: It’s takes less work to cheat Response: Remind students why they’re taking a course: to learn, to understand, to develop skills.
10	Basic Concepts: Causes Cheating and Intentional Plagiarism: Values Shift: Students value “success at all costs” Response: Remind students that careers can be ruined by youthful indiscretions. Awareness of Cheating by Others: Students fear they’ll be left behind by others who cheat Response: Use the “vicious circle” argument. Students Believe They Won’t Get Caught Response: Explain that you care about and understand how to detect “problems” with assignments.
11	Basic Concepts: Causes Cheating and Intentional Plagiarism: Students See Little Value in a Course: Lack of commitment by instructors, assignments that require little or no original thought. “When the course is just an obstacle to a career goal, it will be dispatched by the most expeditious means possible.” – Rebecca Moore Howard (2004)
12	Teaching Strategies: Policy Statements Include academic integrity statements in your syllabus and discuss key concepts in class: Distinguish between academic dishonesty and unintentional plagiarism Explain how your institution addresses academic dishonesty Discuss consequences (for the assignment, course, degree program) Explain how cheating and plagiarism can be detected (not in detail, but enough to let them know you have some resources to deal with this issue)
13	Teaching Strategies: Raise the Issue Early in the semester, ask your students to describe or define “cheating” and “plagiarism." Please take five minutes to answer the following questions: What is cheating? What is Plagiarism? Why are they inappropriate? Why might a student cheat or plagiarize? What do you feel the consequences for cheating and plagiarism should be?
14	Teaching Strategies: Class Discussion Discuss the causes of unintentional plagiarism and provide an overview of: Accepted citation practices (quoting, paraphrasing, documenting) Use of common knowledge Fair use practices (useful for images and any documents that might be published on an open Web site)
15	Teaching Strategies: Research Ethics Characterize academic work as an honest exchange of information, ideas, and arguments. Ethical behavior involves: Acknowledging sources to show respect for others’ work Accurately and fairly representing the arguments, ideas, and information in your sources Citing sources so readers can see how you’ve drawn conclusions and understand where to locate the sources
16	Teaching Strategies: “Stay Cool” Downplay the adversarial nature of detecting cheating and plagiarism. Instead, address cheating and plagiarism as a teaching/learning issue. Treat your discussions of cheating and plagiarism as an opportunity for students to learn.
17	Teaching Strategies: Work in Stages Avoid single-draft research projects on open topics Avoid standard (generic) assignments – consider: Scenario-based assignments Alternative genres (Web sites, magazine articles, scholarly essays or reports for specific journals, letters, etc. Real-world assignments (reviews by colleagues, etc.) Require specific types of sources Require recent sources (older essays on the Web will have older sources)
18	Teaching Strategies: Work in Stages Collect intermediate assignments Conduct a knowledge inventory Require a research log Conference with students Use oral reports or poster sessions Use “postscripts” to reflect on projects
19	Teaching Strategies: Benefits When Assignments are Staged: Students learn how to manage time. Students learn to understand writing as a process. You can identify students who are struggling or have special issues. You can view work in progress and won’t have to comment as much at the end. If you suspect plagiarism but can’t prove it, you can give students who don’t turn in their work periodically throughout the semester a low or failing grade.
20	Signs of Plagiarism Variations in style, tone, voice from previously submitted work Variations in style, tone, voice, and citation styles within an essay Marked variance in quality (of writing, of thinking) from previous work Internal inconsistencies (I, we, my, our, etc.) Formatting inconsistencies (font, format)
21	Intervention Strategies If you suspect plagiarism: Ask yourself if this is a case of academic dishonesty or evidence of a pedagogical problem. Do some detective work Check sources Do phrase searches on the Web Consider using plagiarism tools, such as Turnitin.com or Eve4
22	Intervention Strategies Discuss the situation with a trusted colleague: Don’t disclose the student’s identity. Explain the situation in general terms. See what sort of options you have, what others have done, etc.
23	Intervention Strategies Meet with the student: Ask the student to bring sources, drafts, notes, etc. Begin by discussing your questions about the draft. You might notice some inconsistencies in citation practices, shifts in style, divergence from earlier work. Ask what might explain that. Treat this as a teaching moment. Don’t accuse. If this isn’t effective: Ask questions about the research process Ask questions about the sources Ask questions about the essay (problematic passages)
24	Intervention Strategies If you’re convinced plagiarism exists – and only then – express your concern that this seems to be a plagiarized assignment. If the student agrees with you, consider your options (institutional requirements vs. teaching opportunities). If the student denies plagiarism, but you still think it happened – and have enough evidence to back up your suspicions – explain your plans to address the situation with the student and then take it to the next level.
25	Conclusion When students cheat, and are caught at it, they should be held accountable. When students plagiarize unintentionally, it’s a sign that they have not gained sufficient skill as writers and researchers, or have not gained sufficient understanding of an issue. In these cases, use the situation as a teaching opportunity.