Conceptualising plagiarism: using Lego to construct students' understanding of authorship and citation

The transition from further to higher education is marked by a series of challenges for the new student, not least the requirement to learn the discourse of academic practice, and referencing as a part of that. By perceiving what it means to reference, students should also come to understand what it means to write, including the problematic areas of authorship and ownership of ideas. Academic writing and paraphrasing are demanding concepts that require the student writer to enter into the academic discourse and relinquish their hold on the worlds of a text and embrace instead the argument behind them, in a form of ‘language-game’. Taking an interpretative, dialogic approach to referencing, the inherent playfulness of learning is emphasised through the use of Lego, used as a metaphor for the students' construction of meaning and to exemplify the discipline of citation and attribution. This paper outlines a method that metaphorically and literally enables students to construct and make visible the underlying theoretical philosophy of referencing and plagiarism by using Lego as a mode of authorship, in the context of the nature of academic discourse and what it means to write. In addition, the personal, engaging nature of the activity meant that it would be a more memorable activity too.     

The Academic Setting of the Dishonest Student

ABSTRACT

Constructionist principles provide fertile ground for developing innovative approaches to learning. Using a grounded theory qualitative research design, we analyzed participant reports of their experience in an online course in which they collaboratively authored a book. Our qualitative analysis suggested that participants experienced extraordinary engagement and motivation, which they interpreted as being related to the collaborative process, their own agency in the project, and the externalized value of creating an artifact intended for a public audience. A new metaphor for learning emerged from the study based on the concept of authorship. Our authorship learning construct sees learning as a process of authoring understanding and skills while simultaneously authoring at multiple levels of agency, including authorship of processes, roles, goals, artifacts, meaning, self, group identity, and society.     

Drawing a line in the sand: Identifying the borderzone between self and other in EL1 and EL2 citation practices

Current concerns about academic plagiarism in student writing assume qualitative and quantitative differences in the writing of students for whom English is a first language (EL1) and English is a second language (EL2), but lack precision in measuring those differences. I examined the citation practices of EL1 and EL2 students in a timed writing proficiency assessment essay by applying Web-Based Interactive ESL Text Evaluation System (WIETES) software to identify borrowed texts by classifying these references in 16 bounding and documenting categories on a Reading Reference Grid. Results showed few differences overall between EL1 and EL2 referencing practices, as all students shared three common weaknesses in citation practice: vague references, patchwriting and confusion of quotes and paraphrases. Moreover, all students seemed to go through four stages in their development of coherent citation practices, although no EL2 students functioned at the highest level of citation practice. Interviews with the students about their referencing practices indicated that both groups claimed ownership of ideas from the source materials which they expressed in their own words, and they cited correctly more often when they had prior knowledge of the topic of the reading. I conclude with a call to administrators of writing assessments to include judgements of bounding and documenting practices in analytic rating scales.     

Web Publishing and Educational Scholarship: where issues of form and content meet

This essay explores new forms of publication that are gaining wider and wider use within scholarly communities across a range of disciplines. The most important of these include: on‐line journals; publication (of a sort) within listservs or other on‐line discussion groups; self‐publishing. Each of these can take a variety of forms. My primary concern here is with how these new forms of publication are influencing the kinds of scholarship that are taking shape in on‐line contexts and how these new types of scholarship, in turn, raise new questions about credibility, authorship and intellectual ownership and the criteria used for academic evaluation.     

Addressing research at the intersection of academic literacies and new technology

Academic literacies research has significantly informed educational practice across a range of disciplines. But this influence has largely been through a focus on genres of written language. The growth of new information and communication technologies demands a broader view of academic literacy and how it now informs situations of learning. This challenge is discussed in relation to a number of characteristics associated with computer-based communications, including representational diversity, non-linearity and new conceptions of authorship and responsibility. It is argued that educational practice must recognise new demands on reading these new forms as well as new divides and disillusionments associated with them. However, there are also new opportunities to be seized for learner participation in the creative process. Finally, examples are recruited to argue for research in this area that is both more ecological and more developmental in orientation.     

International engineering students—avoiding plagiarism through understanding the Western academic context of scholarship

Despite the best attempts of academic staff to teach students the mechanics of citation, the rules of referencing continue to be broken, particularly by those new to Western university systems (either first-year undergraduate students or international students from different cultural backgrounds). In late 2003, 16 postgraduate international engineering students failed an assignment as a result of plagiarism. In response, collaboration between the lecturers and the learning support staff over three years yielded significant improvements in academic scholarship. The improvement in performance was achieved by making cross-cultural assumptions about academic scholarship in the Western context explicit, while putting in place additional workshops for students. Instead of focusing on policy, remediation and punishment, staff worked to foster an understanding of critical scholarship in the Western academic context. The approach also demonstrated the benefits of partnership between engineering faculty and learning support staff.     

Developing students' referencing skills: a matter of plagiarism,punishment and morality or of learning to write critically?

Just as plagiarism is viewed poorly in the academic community, so is plagiarism viewed poorly in student writing, with a range of sanctions and penalties applying for not displaying academic integrity. Yet learning to cite effectively to progress one's argument, position or understandings is a skill that takes time to develop and hone. This paper examines the skills underlying effective use of citation and the problems students have in citing effectively. It compares these to the messages that beginning students receive about citation through a focus on academic integrity, plagiarism and punishment. It examines the prevalence of plagiarism and the development of citation skills in student writing when the teaching focuses instead on developing critical writing abilities through the skillful selection, use and acknowledgement of sources.     

Cameos,supporting roles and stars: citation and reflection in the context of initial teacher education

Background: Reflection is well established as an important part of teacher education, but it is also the focus of critical enquiry. This means that reflection is of interest to those who wish to explore its use to produce ‘better’ teachers. It is also of interest to scholars who are interested in the wider implications of reflection, for example, in relation to power and social control. Academic articles are the primary medium through which ideas and practices are communicated. However, they can only contribute if they are accepted for publication on the basis of making a contribution to knowledge. To be seen in this way, a journal paper needs to cite earlier work to show understanding of this work and how this is being augmented.

Purpose: This paper aims to initiate an academic debate of citation practices which, it argues, should be based on an awareness of current practices and a willingness to share, and even change, them. To facilitate the debate and the development of a better understanding of citing and its implications, the paper offers a tripartite citation framework.

Sources of evidence: The extensive citation analysis literature is reviewed to provide a context for an examination of the variety of citation practices found in 24 papers, which all focus on initial teacher education and which cite the same critical paper (Fendler, L., Teacher reflection in a hall of mirrors: Historical influences and political reverberations. Educational Researcher, 32, no. 3: 16–25, 2003; doi: 10.3102/0013189X032003016).

Main argument: This paper argues that there is value in differentiating three categories of citation, labelled ‘cameo’, ‘supporting role’ and ‘star’. These categories do not make judgements about what counts as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ referencing. Rather, they provide a way for authors to assess how they are citing and what the possible consequences may be. These can include an apparent lack of understanding not just of a cited paper but also of the wider literature. This means that citation that is not being carefully managed can undermine an argument.

Conclusions: This paper concludes that there is there is a need to initiate an academic debate about citation which is premised on the development of self-awareness about current practice and its consequences. Such a debate could bring about a number of benefits. It would encourage individual scholars to develop self-aware and ethical citation; it would also clarify current expectations about citation and enable academic communities to reflect on whether enquiry is well served by them.     

Can Turnitin be used to provide instant formative feedback?

New students face the challenge of making a smooth transition between school and university, and with regards to academic practice, there are often gaps between student expectations and university requirements. This study supports the use of the plagiarism detection service Turnitin to give students instant feedback on essays to help improve academic literacy. A student cohort (n = 76) submitted draft essays to Turnitin and received instruction on how to interpret the ‘originality report’ themselves for feedback. The impact of this self‐service approach was analysed by comparing the writing quality and incidence of plagiarism in draft and final essays, and comparing the results to a previous cohort (n = 80) who had not used Turnitin formatively. Student and staff perceptions were explored by interview and questionnaire. Using Turnitin formatively was viewed positively by staff and students, and although the incidence of plagiarism did not reduce because of a worsening of referencing and citation skills, the approach encouraged students to develop their writing. To conclude, students were positive of their experience of using Turnitin. Further work is required to understand how to use the self‐service approach more effectively to improve referencing and citation, and narrow the gap between student expectations and university standards.     

Literature reviews,citations and intertextuality in graduate student writing

Literature reviews are a genre that many graduate students do not fully understand and find difficult to write. While the genre, language and rhetorical moves of literature reviews are widely researched, less research focuses on citation use in literature reviews. Teaching students ‘how-to’ write the literature review through explicit genre awareness is not enough. What is needed, is a focus on the discursive nature of citations since citations are a core ingredient in literature reviews. The complexity of citing, referencing and using sources is difficult to teach in university classrooms, especially in courses that focus on content knowledge. When it is taught, it is often imparted to students as conventions with particular organisational features around citation styles. Or it is taught within the discourse of morality and academic dishonesty that surrounds plagiarism. What is lacking is a pedagogy that relates citing to the more complex discursive practices that are implicit and deeply embedded in particular time-bound contexts. The purpose of this research was to explore citation patterns in 23 draft and final masters’ student literature review papers to better understand the ways in which students use sources in literature reviews with the aim of informing pedagogy. Findings indicate that the concept of intertextuality, specifically, transgressive intertextuality, intertextual engagement and discursive intertextuality can help with the teaching and learning of literature reviews and citation use.     

Referencing and identity,voice and agency: adult learners' transformations within literacy practices

Referencing skills contribute much to the emergence of voice in students' academic writing. Such skills have a bearing on the identity of learners as writers. In referring certain ideas to certain sources, the writer is able to distinguish voices of others and, in doing so, provide space for the hearing, or establishment, of their individual voice. However, an understanding of the rationale behind referencing and taking on the techniques required for its conventions often proves a complex, intimidating affair for students. Much fear is incited within learners by the convention of referencing, together with the scourge of plagiarism. Thus, rather than learners being ensconced within the academic environment through being able to relate to and engage with other voices, thereby acquiring agency in their writing, issues around referencing can actually serve to alienate them from the academic environment and deter them from their own agency. It may involve much practice and discussion before students see referencing as an asset in their writing. This process entails deconstructions, renegotiations and reconstructions of relationships with ideas and identities. This paper focuses on the relationship of agency and the issue of referencing in the development of an authorial identity for adult learners in the academic institution.     

浅议委托作品

委托作品在现实中是关系复杂的作品。我国现行法律对它的权属问题的规定不明确、不具体,法学界的解释也具较大的随意性。包括委托作品在内的著作权立法,既要借鉴国外著作权法普遍接受的基本原则,又必须顾及我国的基本国情。立足我国委托作品著作权保护的立法现状,借鉴国外相关立法经验,委托作品的著作权保护立法,可以"独立合同说"为基本取向。     

Participation in science practices while working in a multimedia case‐based environment

The purpose of this study was to investigate how two female students participated in science practices as they worked in a multimedia case‐based environment: interpreting simulated results, reading and writing multiple texts, role‐playing, and Internet conferencing. Using discourse analysis, the following data were analyzed: students' published web posters, Internet conferencing logs between American and Zimbabwean university students, and a focus group interview. Three constructs supported the development of these students' identities in practice: (a) multimedia cases creating emotional involvement; (b) authoring web posters, and role‐playing situated in cross‐cultural social networks; and (c) altruism associated with relevant global topics. The investigators argue that educators and developers of online learning environments consider social contexts, authoring, and opportunities for cross‐cultural interaction to support participation in science practices. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1116–1136, 2010     

Undergraduate plagiarism: a pedagogical perspective

Student plagiarism is a pervasive and increasing problem at all levels of study in tertiary institutions. This study attempted explicitly and implicitly to address issues of plagiarism within the broad context of an academic writing framework in tutorials in a first‐year module at the University of KwaZulu‐Natal in South Africa. Despite these interventions, a quarter of the students were judged to have plagiarised in an essay assignment. The study revealed little deliberate intention to deceive but instead poor understanding of both technical matters such as correct referencing norms that had been addressed in the module and higher‐order issues such as writing as process, knowledge as constructed and the establishment of authorial voice through language and referencing. Lack of real engagement with plagiarism and referencing issues was also a problem, with certain groups of students being more at risk in terms of committing plagiarism than others. It is argued that, particularly in a demographically diverse society, acquiring values, attitudes, norms, beliefs and practices that help prevent plagiarism should be viewed as a long‐term and iterative process.     

Academic integrity: a quantitative study of confidence and understanding in students at the start of their higher education

Establishing a positive, proactive approach to issues such as plagiarism requires that students are equipped with the skills and experience to act with integrity, and that educators are fully aware of the attitudes and ability of students, particularly when they start university. This project used a questionnaire-based methodology to probe the attitudes, ability and confidence of undergraduates newly enrolled at a university in the UK, with a focus on concepts relating to written assignments. New undergraduates were confident in their understanding of plagiarism, yet performed poorly on simple tests of referencing. Students were generally of the opinion that academic misconduct should be modestly penalised compared to the standard penalties imposed by the UK higher education sector. Positive correlations were found between confidence, performance and recommended penalties, suggesting that confident students did better on tests of simple tests of referencing, and recommended more severe penalties for transgressions of academic integrity. These correlations were supported by findings that new postgraduates were more confident than new undergraduates, recommended more severe penalties and performed better in the simple tests of referencing. Findings are discussed in the context of educational needs identified for students, educators and institutions.     

我国百所高职示范院校发表期刊论文的文献计量学研究

通过对百所高职示范校作者自2006-2010年发表在期刊上论文的文献计量分析研究,得出近五年来百所高职作者学术研究的进展和趋势。从论文产出地区分布、机构分布,反映出地区之间、高职学院之间成果产出存在的巨大差异,而深圳职业技术学院是百所师范校中的佼佼者。还可以看出核心作者群体和录用高职论文较多的期刊情况。     

George Wallis (1811–1891) and Ernest Beinfeld Havell (1861–1934): Juxtaposing Historical Perspectives on Nineteenth‐Century Drawing Books in England and India

Drawing books can be seen as a vital component to teaching and learning art. They serve as an excellent resource for understanding the historical context of teaching drawing. As the industrial revolution geared forward in the nineteenth century, drawing books became a crucial source for sharing and disseminating educational philosophies for the teaching of drawing as well as understanding artistic practices. Serving many informal and traditional educational contexts, drawing books can be seen as evidence of how people learned or were taught. Although many accounts of teaching of drawing are known, little is documented about the many drawing manuals developed by art educators in England and its colonies, specifically India. This article examines nineteenth‐century drawing books by George Wallis (1811–91) and Ernest Beinfeld Havell (1861–1934) and the subsequent influence of these books on art education in England and India. Through comparison between the different approaches of authoring these drawing books, one could argue that both Havell and Wallis pursued nationalistic and personal goals by juxtaposing the authoring styles of their books. It was evident that George Wallis’ authorship of his drawing books was grounded in his philosophy of education, appreciation for design education, and dedication to England. Havell's drawing books, on the other hand, attempted to provide students with the knowledge of Indian sculpture, architecture and painting thereby exposing them to India's artistic heritage as well as raising awareness about utilising Indian art as the basis of instruction at the Indian art schools as part of the larger Indian nationalist movement against British rule. Their histories cumulatively bring to print a specific account of drawing manuals used during the nineteenth century and their influence on the teaching and learning of drawing in England and India.     

从学术腐败治理的角度谈文章的署名

在现实中，学术腐败有五花八门的表现。其中，在文章的署名上，“花钱买名”、“挂名”等形式则大行其道。要治理在文章“署名”上的学术腐败，除了加强学术道德建设外，还应当建立防范和惩处的机制。     

Using collaboration to foster academic integrity

Abstract

For students new to higher education, the task of developing their academic writing skills, and particularly the principles and practices of source-referencing, can be daunting. Although institutions and teachers can and do provide positive guidance on this score, all too often students veer into inadvertent plagiarism through lack of confidence and confusion. This case study identifies opportunities through collaborative work to help students approach referencing with greater clarity and confidence. A project with first-year Arts students engaged in collaborative writing encouraged them to attend to their recording and writing-up of source references using individual ‘reading and referencing’ logs and then passing on completed references to their group’s designated bibliographer. Checks on later, solo, assignments by these students indicated that they were less likely to stray into inadvertent plagiarism, whilst feedback from the students themselves pointed towards improved confidence in their academic writing skills and development of study habits conducive to effective self-monitoring.     

对外汉语本科专业基础教材参考文献的内容分析

文章以9本对外汉语本科专业基础教材中的参考文献为研究对象,对参考文献的数量、所涉学科领域、语种、类型等多方面进行系统考察与分析,探讨此类教材中使用参考文献的特点,并借此分析这些对外汉语本科教学类专业基础教材的优点和不足。研究发现,部分专业基础教材存在引文数量偏少,所涉学科较为狭窄,编者学术视野不够开阔的问题。作者据此对未来汉语国际教育本科专业基础教材的编写提出了一些建议。