Plagiarism Imagine what life would be like if you were given an essay to do and you never had to write

it. All you had to do was go onto the internet and find a perfect essay that someone else had already written. You could then copy it, paste it and submit the work as your own. Your prep for a fortnight done in 5 minutes! Would this be cheating? - Of course it would. You are given essays to write to make sure you understand what you are studying. The exercise of assembling your thoughts, making some sort of sense of them, answering a question from this, by putting those thoughts down on paper, in a comprehensible way,

helps you to understand your subject better. Your teacher is not setting you work this way just to be mean (well, maybe not). The essays you write give your teachers an opportunity to assess what you have learnt and how well you should fare when you get round to doing your exams. It also lets them know what you might need some extra help on now.

If you plagiarise in coursework for your GCSEs or A Levels then you may be disqualified from all exams from that exam board and others for life.

By copying and pasting you are cheating not only the teacher but yourself. The problem is that most essays found on the net may well be better than your own work and you want to do well. The trick is to use the information you found in a way that is not cheating.

Plagiarism is when you use someone elses work and put it forward as your own.

The class will be split into two groups. Each group will have to research a subject of their choosing. They will then prepare four short pieces of text. Three of these texts will be copied straight out of the internet and the fourth will be in their own words. As a demonstration follow these instructions: Your task is to decide which one has NOT been copied from the internet. The space next to the text is for you to explain why you think the paragraph is either copied or original. The question was Describe Who Lennie is in Of Mice and Men Answer Number 1 Although Lennie is among the principal characters in Of Mice and Men, he is perhaps the least dynamic. He undergoes no significant changes, development, or growth throughout the novel and remains exactly as the reader encounters him in the opening pages. Simply put, he loves to pet soft things, is blindly devoted to George and their vision of the farm, and possesses incredible physical strength. Nearly every scene in which Lennie appears confirms these and only these characteristics 2 Lennie is unnaturally large and has a shapeless face. He drags his feet when he walks and lets his arms hang. He is mentally retarded and needs George's constant attention and care. He has an infatuation with anything soft and furry. He acts impulsively which gets him and George into trouble numerous times. Is this copied? Why do you say this?

3 Lennie is a big man who is also not clever. Lennie likes small furry animals like mice but he does not know his own strength and sometimes hurts or kills the animals. Lennie often gets into trouble and George usually helps to get him out of it.

4 Lennie Small: A mentally disabled, but strong man who travels with George. He dreams of "living off the fatta' the lan'" and being able to tend to rabbits.

Now that you have done this it is your turn to test others!

Decide on a subject that you have learnt about this year. Formulate a simple question that needs some writing (about a paragraph) to answer it. Write (or type) YOUR answer into ONE OF the boxes below. Find suitable paragraphs from the internet and fill in copied answers.

The Other Team will be doing the same for you. The object of the exercise is to see if you can spot each others real paragraphs amongst the copied paragraphs.

Subject To Be Tested

Question

Answer Number 1

Is this copied? Why do you say this?

Where did the groups get their text from that they copied? Answer Number 1 2 3 4 Source (internet address look in the address bar at the top of internet explorer)

OK so now you know how to be a cheat and how easy it is for Teachers to spot you cheating. What happens if you read an article and want to use the text in an essay or project? You may be asked to compare two opposing views and need to quote them.

This is allowed PROVIDED YOU QUOTE/REFERENCE YOUR SOURCE AND PUT THE QUOTE IN QUOTATION MARKS.

For example you have been asked to give an argument in favour of and against school uniforms. You can quote peoples opinion (and give the source) and then perhaps make your own comments afterwards: Educators, parents, and students site many reasons in favour of school uniforms: School administrators face a complicated task setting a dress code: with inappropriate coverage (for example, strapless, halter, and midriff tops and too-short skirts and shorts) and inappropriate insignia (for example, slogans for alcohol and cigarettes and clothing with vulgar language or representing otherwise objectionable connections, such as gang membership), it may be easier to have a uniform than to detail and enforce independently chosen clothing. Dress code aside, the interest in fashion and fad combined with peer pressure can lead to pressure to spend money that some families can ill afford: school uniforms refocus this issue. Wearing of school uniforms prevents the formation of dress-identified cliques The wearing of school uniforms emphasizes membership and group identity, fostering a community spirit. Crimes involving stealing items of apparel are unlikely to be perpetrated if everyones apparel is identical. Because students can be easily identified, intruders in the school setting can be more readily identified and students on field trips are more easily accounted for. The wearing of school uniforms helps students to realize that a persons unique gifts and personality traits go deeper than their apparel and arent diminished by uniform dress. Other educators, parents, and students are opposed to school uniforms and give reasons like the following: Uniforms interfere with students rights for self-expression. Uniforms are an unnecessary expense and can create an economic hardship themselves. Uniforms are an unnecessary exertion of power by administrators who dont know how to exercise responsible authority. The wearing of uniforms does not prevent the formation of cliques or gangs. The wearing of uniforms does not prevent students from expressing unpopular or inappropriate views in other ways. School uniforms can be ugly and/or unflattering, and having to wear something unattractive or unflattering is not good for students self-image. The wearing of uniforms my delay or prevent students from having to learn how to get alongside of people whose personal taste differs markedly from their own and which they may find unappealing. The wearing of school uniforms may give students the impression that conformity is the way to prevent conflict, and this is not an appropriate message for schools to send. The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), which includes middle level principals, has not taken an official stand on school uniforms, leaving it to be decided school-by-school. Source: http://www.educationbug.org/a/public-school-uniform-debate.html (19/01/10) Then you can put forward your own arguments against this backdrop. (Please note that I put the link to the website in the reference at the end AND I put the date it appeared why do you think we include a date?)

Appendix 1 references for Teachers only.

Although Lennie is among the principal characters in Of Mice and Men, he is perhaps the least dynamic. He undergoes no significant changes, development, or growth throughout the novel and remains exactly as the reader encounters him in the opening pages. Simply put, he loves to pet soft things, is blindly devoted to George and their vision of the farm, and possesses incredible physical strength. Nearly every scene in which Lennie appears confirms these and only these characteristics http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/micemen/canalysis.html

Lennie is unnaturally large and has a shapeless face. He drags his feet when he walks and lets his arms hang. He is mentally retarded and needs George's constant attention and care. He has an infatuation with anything soft and furry. He acts impulsively which gets him and George into trouble numerous times. http://www.bellmore-merrick.k12.ny.us/mice2.html

Lennie is a big man who is also not clever. Lennie likes small furry animals like mice but he does not know his own strength and sometimes hurts or kills the animals. Lennie often gets into trouble and George usually helps to get him out of it. RPW Made up this one.

Lennie Small: A mentally disabled, but strong man who travels with George.[2] He dreams of "living off the fatta' the lan'" and being able to tend to rabbits. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Mice_and_Men#Characters

The lesson is designed to teach pupils what plagiarism is, how easy it is to spot, the implications for copying work and how to use others' work without being accused of plagiarism. This is a self contained lesson you can do in an ICT suite and does involve team working. The worksheet is best printed with the first four pages in an A3 booklet and the last page as a quick reference for the teacher showing that paragraph 3 is the one that the teacher wrote.