In the 2012 film The Words, an aspiring author uncovers a manuscript written by an unknown old man and chooses to publish it under his own name, resulting in devastating consequences. Because he copies the old man’s narrative, young writer Rory Jansen is plagued with ramifications. The film presents Jansen’s motivations for his participation in unethical plagiarism as literary fame and affirmation from his wife, but the actions he takes create an infamous author whose theft of the old man’s story finalizes the separation between him and his wife. Although the film leaves some questions unanswered, it definitely presents the idea that Rory will pay a steep price for his theft. Despite differences between literary and academic forms of plagiarism, …show more content…
Two types of codes, traditional and modified, help to shine the light on the importance of academic integrity and motivate students to make wise choices throughout their academic involvement at code institutions. Traditional codes put the responsibility of reporting plagiarism on students, where modified codes work to develop “a sense of community responsibility for academic integrity” (2002) among students and faculty alike. McCabe and Trevino analyzed data from colleges with and without academic honor codes and found that “self-reported cheating was . . . lower at . . . schools [with a traditional or modified honor code] compared with . . . noncode campuses surveyed” (2002). McCabe and Trevino also found that “Not only do more students cheat on noncode campuses, but those that do, cheat more often (2002). Traditional academic honor codes put the responsibility of reporting plagiarism on students, where modified honor codes work to develop “a sense of community responsibility for academic integrity” (2002) among students and faculty alike. It is clear that honor codes can deter students from plagiarism, but having a policy or updating a rulebook does not provide any assured reduction of student cheating. In order to bring plagiarism to the forefront of classroom discussions, faculty must start the conversation. Current results are not surprising because research suggests that staff members do not dissuade students from cheating or pursue the necessary punishment when an incident is suspected. By creating a “culture of integrity . . . that makes cheating socially unacceptable among most students” (2002) faculty foster the growth of a plagiarism-free learning environment. Sociologist William Bowers, who conducted studies throughout the 1960’s, theorized that “peer disapproval” (2002) was the most effective deterrent to
The essay, “Standing Up for the Power of Learning,” by Jay Mathews explained how one of many students was accused of academic dishonesty. During the regular school session of the year 2001, three fourths of 187 students at Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) were found guilty of cheating. This was because they collaborated on an assignment in a computer science (CS) course with friends. By communicating with others about the project, the students violated the course honor code that prohibited the discussion among students for that particular class.
Plagiarism means to steal or borrow someone’s original ideas without their consent and labelling them your own. It can be done in different ways and has been labelled a serious offense in the contemporary world. Deriving ideas from an existing source in one’s work without citation of the work is a form of plagiarism. Also, using a production without crediting the source and committing literally theft are forms of plagiarism that can be charged in a court of law as copyright issues. It is considered fraud because it is stealing someone else’s work and making people to believe that it is your own. It is possible for different individuals to have similar ideas but the manner in which they are expressed cannot be the same. In writing
In “Why Colleges Should Ditch Honor Codes” Susan Greenberg is trying to inform the audience as to why society does not require the honor code anymore. The rules that lie behind this regulation are becoming outdated and more students are finding themselves punished for disobeying it. A lot of honor code schools are trying to get rid of this process because it only brings the students more pressure. Typically, students that are in honor code schools tend to cheat more than schools that do not possess it. If a student is enrolled in a more prestigious school, he/she is more tempted to cheat in order to maintain his or her good grades. Greenberg explains a situation that took place in Stanford University that led more than 100 students in academic
Over the past ten years teachers have witnessed a drop in student preparation and a rise in apathy and cheating. Students who cheat do so from a variety of motives. Making this situation even more difficult is that faculty members do not even define plagiarism the same or punish it consistently (Howard, “Sexuality” 473). Some surveys even show that teachers simply ignore the problem or do not report plagiarism because: “they do not want to be bothered, because they think only the student who cheated is actually harmed, or because of the unpleasant bureaucracy and documentation ramifications” (Moeck 484). Alschuler and Blimling add to this list the fear of litigation, student reprisals, administrative reprimands and lack of support (124). With such diversity and outright dissention among teachers, finding solutions to these problems will require not only a common purpose but also an understanding of what may be at the heart of these issues. One potential answer lies in educating ourselves about the history and nature of plagiarism. Another potential answer lies in analyzing how so many students arrive at college ill-prepared and apathetic. Freire’s theories on banking education may explain some of these problems concerning student preparation and academic integrity.
Across the nation, schools, colleges and universities have established honor codes in their campuses to discourage cheating and promote academic integrity. Whether or not their honor codes are effective is a topic well debated and both sides have merit. At my school, Brookwood High School, the honor code should be revised, for only in an environment where the students are involved, consequences for cheating are high, and a culture of honor and integrity are established, can such as system thrive and succeed.
...rofessors are having a challenging time discovering the offense. The Honor Code Committee modified and modernized the Academic Honor Code in an effort Steiner 8 to elucidate what denotes cheating. The result was a broader, more encompassing definition that was clearly more strict and rigid. With the revised conduct code plagiarism cases have escalated out of control. Perhaps the problem may also be due to the increased drains on students time, in which young adults are trying to work, achieve in school, engage in extracurricular activities, and volunteer. Competition has become fierce, and the result has been an increase in plagiarism. The problem is educators have put more effort into stopping the spread than into understanding the causal factors for the upsurgence. With the increase in plagiarism, educators feel they must have a firm defense against what they see.
The fact that plagiarism has become easier and benefits the students academically means that the temptation to cheat outweighs the consequences greatly. This reveals that the rules at Paloma Valley need reinforcement. Jennifer Dirmeyer along with Alexander Cartwright, authors of the article “Honor Codes Work Where Honesty
The Honor Code system is the moral expectation of trusting students to confront and report their fellow peers when they see that he/she is not obligating the honor code policies. The Schools should eliminate all honor code policies. By eliminating the honor code policies the high schools and colleges will accept that the non-reporting of lying, cheating, and plagiarism is inevitable whether or not the students sign the honor codes. The schools will gain back the trust and respect of the students by changing the overall atmosphere. Not all schools have the abilities to prove these honor codes effective.
That stomach churning feeling of guilt for many seems to appear as a small price to pay when completing an act of academic dishonesty. Colleen Wenke wrote an essay on cheating eighteen years ago called “Too Much Pressure”. In the past fifty years, the number of students who admit to cheating has increased fifty to seventy percent(Gaffe). Many people wonder what leads the students to make this unjust decision. Today, the reason for a rise in cheaters is because of how easy it has become, leading many students to the false conclusion that they aren’t breaking any rules; It is simply viewed as a shortcut to success in the classroom and beyond.
The first thing observers will notice is the “readability issue” when they read George Brown College’s student code of conduct and discipline, in particular, the part of the definition of plagiarism. It is full of long and wordy sentences, which can make readers confused and disoriented. Seneca College’s academic honesty, on the contrary, has a highly ordered structure so that readers can see the flow of the rules. It is arranged in order that why the academic honesty policy has been written and what types of things might be regarded as academic honesty
On a research paper, how much information can you “borrow” with or without citing the original author? How do you cite the resources you “borrowed” or quoted from the original author? Will anyone know if you submit a friend’s research paper? No one can see you taking an online test from your living room – should that change how you take a test?
...y, I’ll go next week. You do the reading this week, I’ll do it next week.” (24) These students and others usually do not find sharing work to be a form of cheating. They simply help each other. However, colleges with honor codes feel that by placing students in an honest environment, they are more likely to be honest themselves.
Academic integrity has been a major concern among many colleges and universities across the world. Many people may ask the question: what is academic integrity? University of Missouri’s Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (n.d.) states, “Academic integrity is the core set of values and principles that underwrites the very mission of the University itself; integrity, honesty, hard work, and the determination to translate personal and professional principles into behavior.” Some also may view academic integrity as the act of sustaining honest and rightful behavior in an academic setting that avoids, prevent and provide disciplinary actions for those who commits academic dishonesty, plagiarism and cheating of any kind. Majority of college and universities in all disciplines has academic ethics and honesty policies for all students regardless of their academic statues as undergraduate or graduate students. For example, Webster University’s Statement of Ethics (n.d.) for both graduate and undergraduate programs says, “Those who elect to partici...
Cheating on academic work is a serious issue that most students admit to doing at some point in their academic career. Elite students are surprisingly the culprits of cheating, but hide it well. (Romm, para 5) Cheating is such a large issue that “70% of students from a sample of 1,800 from nine campuses said they had cheated at least once during their college careers.” (Schneider, para 9) Students cheat on academic work because of different, ongoing pressures in their lives. Understanding the student’s motives and pressures are essential to preventing cheating from occurring in the future. Students cheat for different reasons specific to them regarding their priorities, pressures and because of how easy it has become. Even though eliminating cheating will not happen, there are actions that educational professionals can and should take to prevent most of it from happening so often. Therefor cheating problems are minimized and have a positive impact on the student’s education and understanding of concepts.
As students of high school and college, and even in the professional world, we are asked to research and write on subjects that are seen to be important. The research that we are asked to do, has been done many times in the past, which means people are bound to use others’ ideas and words with no recognition, sometimes without even knowing it. This leads to plagiarism, which is something many people have heard of, but never learned the true definition and the harm it can create. Schools and society need to be more proactive in explaining what plagiarism is, how to write correctly in order to prevent it, and teach the consequences plagiarism has.