In Other (People's) Words: Plagiarism by university students--literature and lessons

This paper reviews the literature on plagiarism by students, much of it based on North American experience, to discover what lessons it holds for institutional policy and practice within institutions of higher education in the UK. It explores seven themes: the meaning and context of plagiarism, the nature of plagiarism by students, how do students perceive plagiarism, how big a problem is student plagiarism, why do students cheat, what challenges are posed by digital plagiarism and is there a need to promote academic integrity? It is concluded that plagiarism is doubtless common and getting more so (particularly with increased access to digital sources, including the Internet), that there are multiple reasons why students plagiarise and that students often rationalise their cheating behaviour and downplay the importance of plagiarism by themselves and their peers. It is also concluded that there is a growing need for UK institutions to develop cohesive frameworks for dealing with student plagiarism that are based on prevention supported by robust detection and penalty systems that are transparent and applied consistently.     

Rural Communities: Human and symbolic capital development,fields apart

This article considers the nature of rurality as a social construct and its possible implications for policy makers considering lifelong education in the developed economies of the world. The article is based around research carried out in rural England and informed by similar studies underway in Atlantic Canada. Discussion is shaped around three key questions: what is rurality? What effect has rurality on cultural identity and what are rural and urban young peoples' perceptions of formal education? The article argues that rurality has a cultural identity which cuts across other social divisions in society and that using the anthropological definition of ethnic to describe rural people may well represent their interests better.     

Comparing Family Functioning of Counselors in Training With the Family Functioning of Noncounselors

The authors compared level of family-of-origin dysfunction of counseling and non-counseling master's-degree students. Counseling students' families had significantly higher levels of dysfunction, but counselors did not score lower in level of graduate adjustment.     

A Problem-based Learning Approach to Civil Engineering Drawing

Civil engineering drawing courses need to relate to the students expectations, and discipline and maintain their interest. The main objectives of the drawing course in the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University are: to teach students the main drawing techniques; to enable students to read and transmit the details on these drawings into understandable information and instructions; to develop the visualization skills of students; and to teach them to present their ideas using drawings. These aims are not uncommon, the main innovation in teaching this material was the introduction of a problem-based learning approach in the progressive assessment. A problem was set and the students asked to solve it progressively. The course was built around a particular civil engineering structure; a house. This allowed many of the students to relate the drawing to their experience and expectations. The house was used as a basis for the development of ideas and the presentation of these ideas using a large number of drawing types. Students' reaction to the course was positive. Statements like “This course is real engineering” were common. Areas for further improvement in the approach are highlighted.