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Why, Those Little Cheaters!
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Wednesday, June 14, 2006
12:29:00 PM EDT
Hearing Moon River -- Petra Haden & Bill Frisell
Those wacky kids are using the Web to do bad, bad things -- academically, anyway:
One in every five American teenagers admits using the Internet to plagiarize material for school assignments, according to a CBSNews.com poll.
The survey found that 24 percent of the boys and 14 percent of the girls said they had done so at least once. The actual number of teens who behave in this fashion could well be higher.
“Survey respondents sometimes find it difficult to admit to an interviewer they’ve done things that are illegal or unethical. While teenagers might be less susceptible than adults to this, there’s a good chance the actual percentage might be higher,” said Kathleen Frankovic, director of surveys for CBS News.
This is why sites like Turnitin.com are doing such gangbuster business. But I suspect that most teachers don't really need to use one of those to figure out when one of their students has cut and pasted something from the Internet into their own work, just as, I suspect, you'd be able to tell if I dropped something from a professional artist into some doodle I was doing. Kids: contrary to what you see in movies and television, your teachers aren't actually stupid. They know.
In defense of today's kids, however, I suspect that 20% of teenagers when I was a teenager also cut and pasted big blocks o' text into their work via the old school way -- typing in paragraphs from one of them there book thingies. So it's not as if today's teens are more malfeasant than they were in my day. I do think that some of today's kids are under the impression that since the Internet is so vast, they won't get caught. Ironically, it's almost certainly easier for a teacher today to track down possible plagairism than it was back in my day: All you do is enter an entire suspect sentence into a search engine and let it do all the heavy lifting for you. To reiterate, kids: Teachers. Not dumb. Just so you know.
But I suppose the bright side to all of this is we have evidence that kids know how to use today's technology to find things. Hopefully some of those currently using it to plagiarize will outgrow that particular use sooner than later.
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12:29:00 PM EDT
Hearing Moon River -- Petra Haden & Bill Frisell
Why, Those Little Cheaters!
Those wacky kids are using the Web to do bad, bad things -- academically, anyway:
One in every five American teenagers admits using the Internet to plagiarize material for school assignments, according to a CBSNews.com poll.
The survey found that 24 percent of the boys and 14 percent of the girls said they had done so at least once. The actual number of teens who behave in this fashion could well be higher.
“Survey respondents sometimes find it difficult to admit to an interviewer they’ve done things that are illegal or unethical. While teenagers might be less susceptible than adults to this, there’s a good chance the actual percentage might be higher,” said Kathleen Frankovic, director of surveys for CBS News.
This is why sites like Turnitin.com are doing such gangbuster business. But I suspect that most teachers don't really need to use one of those to figure out when one of their students has cut and pasted something from the Internet into their own work, just as, I suspect, you'd be able to tell if I dropped something from a professional artist into some doodle I was doing. Kids: contrary to what you see in movies and television, your teachers aren't actually stupid. They know.
In defense of today's kids, however, I suspect that 20% of teenagers when I was a teenager also cut and pasted big blocks o' text into their work via the old school way -- typing in paragraphs from one of them there book thingies. So it's not as if today's teens are more malfeasant than they were in my day. I do think that some of today's kids are under the impression that since the Internet is so vast, they won't get caught. Ironically, it's almost certainly easier for a teacher today to track down possible plagairism than it was back in my day: All you do is enter an entire suspect sentence into a search engine and let it do all the heavy lifting for you. To reiterate, kids: Teachers. Not dumb. Just so you know.
But I suppose the bright side to all of this is we have evidence that kids know how to use today's technology to find things. Hopefully some of those currently using it to plagiarize will outgrow that particular use sooner than later.
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
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This entry has 11 comments: (Add your own)
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I get a lot of email from kids asking for answers to study questions about L'Engle. "What is the exact theme of A Wrinkle in Time?" was one of the more memorable ones. To be honest, I don't look at that screen name's email much, partly because I don't want to deal with the kids who want me to do their homework for them. But I've noticed a pressure element too, in the tone of some of the questions. It's not that some of these kids don't want to read the book, although there's plenty of that. Some if them are just afraid they won't come up with the "right" answers on their own.
One of my UoP professors insisted on getting every paper by email aswell as hard copy. That made it easier to run it through a plagiarism program. I find that just a little chilling. There are a finite number of words you can use to define the Uniform Commercial Code - and if you use them, you'll get a 20% score on the cheat-o-meter. -
What is really bad is when adult students do the ol' cut and paste. Every quarter, I warn my students not to try it, and every quarter I have at least one who tries anyhow and gets caught. Like I tell them--I am an internet junkie, I know all the ways to figure out if you got it off the internet, I will find you out. My accuracy rate is 95%. Don't try it.
When I do catch a student, I always make a copy of the webpage I found that they copied and staple it to their document. Then I write on webpage "Look familiar?" and then add the final touch of a big, round zero.
Betcha can't tell how I feel about cheaters...
The stupid part is that in the time it took for them to cheat, they could have actually created a decent piece of their original work.
Jess
http://journals.aol.com/aurielalata/CIWTheOtherInvisible -
You have to remember... most of these kids aren't going to be working in the fields that today's schools have classes in. Therefore, it's important for teachers to award points for things like creativity in problem solving... even if it is slightly shady.
If I have a poor kid who is working 6 hours a day after school to make sure there's steak with the beans and rice for the little brother's dinner, I could give a fuc* if he steals some Napoleon article.... as long as there was at least some effort to cover his/her tacks.
I look at an "A" as something excellent that the kid researched and wrote his/herself. A "B" is the same thing, just less excellent. A "C" could either be a moderate paper, or an excellent theft. A "D" is a rotten paper, or a piss-poor job of covering tracks on a theft. An "F" is simply awarded when no assignment is turned in.
If I felt like busting balls, I'd take a kid who obviously stole something... and make him/her read it in front of the class... and question them extensively about it as they read it. Why let all that research go to waste? -
I had a student give me one of my own stories back- note for note- without knowing it was me. I gave him an A for taste, and a stern lecture.
6/18/06 11:28 AM