English students learning from plagiarism Web site

Faculty reported 150 incidents of plagiarism to the Office of Student Ethics in the 2002-2003 academic year -- the highest total in the last five years. \nIU's English Department is trying to lower that number by using the plagiarism prevention site, www.Turnitin.com to do more than just catch cheaters. It's now using the site to teach students how to avoid plagiarizing altogether.\nProfessor Kathy Smith, associate chair of the English department and composition program coordinator, said eight to 10 sections of W131 Elementary Composition I are currently part of a pilot program geared at teaching students how to use sources correctly.\n"We wanted to devise a way we could not just catch students but teach students how to avoid plagiarism," Smith said. \nSmith said some of the associate instructors using the Turnitin site had students summarize an article. The instructors then compared the students' summaries with each other, as well as to the original article. The instructors then were able to use the similarities the site found to discuss how to properly summarize and site sources. \n"Summarizing is extraordinarily difficult," Smith said. "You can't put something into your own words unless you really understand it. One of the nice things about the program is it gives the teacher the opportunity to show students the legitimate and illegitimate use of sources." \nPlagiarism includes more than just stealing someone's words verbatim. According to IU's Code of Student's Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct students must credit the source whenever they paraphrase or use another person's idea, opinion or theory.\nAssociate Dean of Students Pamela Freeman said while the number of plagiarism reports is rising, it's difficult to say if the rise is being caused by an actual increase in the number of students plagiarizing or whether instructors are just getting more sophisticated at catching plagiarizers.\nFreeman said poor planning and waiting until the last minute often lands students in trouble. She said many of the students she's seen because of plagiarism thought the plagiarized words were actually theirs. They just lost track of what they cut and pasted and forgot to cite their sources appropriately.\n"It's still plagiarism, even if it's unintentional," Freeman said. \nFreeman said the consequences of plagiarizing vary according to the seriousness of the misconduct, and can range from an automatic grade of "F" in the class with no option to "FX," to expulsion. On top of receiving an "F," students are often also placed on disciplinary probation. Students on probation are barred from studying abroad until the probationary period ends.\nDirector of the Teaching and Learning Technologies Centers David Goodrum said at least 150 IU faculty members are currently using www.Turnitin.com, and many more faculty use Google to check students' work for plagiarized passages. \nGoodrum said faculty can help prevent plagiarism by carefully constructing class assignments. He said www.Turnitin.com isn't perfect.\n"It just adds to the arsenal of tools available to faculty to teach students about plagiarism," Goodrum said.\nAll IU instructors have access to www.Turnitin.com through a pilot agreement between the University and the Web site. Goodrum said those interested in learning more about the site and its uses should contact the Teaching and Learning Technologies Centers at TLTC@indiana.edu. \nThe W131 pilot is set to continue next fall. Smith said her department will continue to evaluate the program before making any decisions about whether or not to adopt it for all W131 sections.\n"This is not something we want to enter into lightly," Smith said. "We want to make sure the investment pays off."\nFreeman recommended students talk to their teachers if they are unsure if they're putting their assignments together correctly. She also recommended students plan their assignments in advance to make sure they're not doing them at the last minute. \n"No one wants something about their integrity to be on file at the Dean of Students Office," Freeman said.\n-- Contact staff writer Daniel Wells at djwells@indiana.edu.