Plagiarism as a Positive for Lesson Planning
How Student Plagiarism Can Improve Assignment Design
Nov 2, 2009
When a student plagiarizes a writing assignment, a teacher’s reaction is typically anger and disappointment in the student. Once those initial feelings pass, many teachers choose to use the incident as a “teachable moment,” engaging the student (and, often, the entire class) in a discussion (or reminder) of what constitutes plagiarism, why it is wrong, and how to avoid it.
A savvy teacher, however, will not dismiss the plagiarism incident after her anger diminishes and her students have been properly reminded about academic honesty and citing sources. Instances of plagiarism should force teachers to look inward and ask themselves why students felt compelled to cheat on their assignments in the first place.
Writing Assignments are Generic
Teachers should examine their writing assignments and ask themselves if they are so generic that students could quite easily plagiarize large portions and/or download a completed paper on the topic from a paper mill. A good way to check whether assignments are too generic is to take keywords from the paper assignment and insert them into a search engine search. If several online paper mill sites return in the first page of search results, then the assignment is probably generic enough to tempt students to plagiarize.
Writing Assignments are Boring
If writing assignments are too generic, chances are students find them boring. When students are not invested in a writing assignment, the temptation for them to cheat (thus freeing up time for them to focus on assignments for other classes that they find more interesting) increases greatly. So how can teachers create assignments that are not so generic and boring that students want to plagiarize?
Make Assignments Relevant
One reason students find assignments boring is because they don’t see the connection between the assignment and their everyday lives. Teachers can look for ways to relate paper assignments to issues students care about. For example, if students are being asked to write about the environment and sustainability, they can investigate sustainability in their home or school environment. Not only will they be taking a general issue and making it more specific to their personal lives, but such a paper topic will less likely exist on the Internet for them to plagiarize.
Tap Student Interests
Another way to relate assignments to students’ lives is to have some discussions in class about their interests. What do they want to do professionally? What are their hobbies? Knowing more about students’ interests and future goals can help teachers steer students toward topics that they will engage with and be less likely to plagiarize. For example, in a literature course, students could choose a character to analyze in a play or story who has traits that they admire in someone who works in their field of interest.
Instances of plagiarism in the classroom can do more than just frustrate teachers or provide them with teachable moments regarding academic integrity. If teachers choose to view student plagiarism as a challenge to improve their teaching, then both teachers and students can benefit from redesigned assignments that will be more fun for students to write and more interesting for teachers to read.
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