At Hull, we too have reviewed our regulations and procedures relating to
plagiarism and other forms of cheating. We have introduced a warning
system for first offenders in their "developmental" stage, to allow a
more constructive approach to helping students to learn from their
mistakes, rather than having to punish from the start.
It's too early to tell what difference this will make, but the response
so far has been encouraging.
We must do all we can to help students to avoid these errors. I do
believe that in most cases, it is a genuine error and lack of knowledge
of the requirements rather than a determined attempt to get away with
something. The trick will be to educate all involved, staff and
students.
There is also the problem of trying to spot the determined cheat from
the accidental case of poor referencing (for example). I leave that one
to my academic colleagues!
Derek.
_________________________________
Derek Ord
Head of Student Administrative Services
Integrated Student Services
University of Hull
(01482) 465980
-----Original Message-----
From: Plagiarism [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Macdonald, Ranald F
Sent: 26 January 2004 13:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Thank goodness!
On a slightly different tack .
We have recently introduced Academic Conduct Panels (ACPs) at Sheffield
Hallam University - and thanks again to Jude for sowing the seeds of
the idea with us through her description of Oxford Brookes' Academic
Misconduct Officers. Running briefing sessions across the University in
recent weeks has made me even more aware of the massive staff
development need that exists. Many staff still do not take seriously
enough
their responsibility for helping students avoid plagiarism through clear
guidelines, developing the students' skills, and designing
opportunities and rewards for plagiarism out of their assessment.
One of the keys to the success of our ACPs looks to be the fast-track
process for dealing with minor cases. These are dealt with and
reported to the Chair of the ACP for verification to ensure that the
actions taken are in line with University policy and practice. By
introducing the ability to provide a written warning rather than just
failing the students more staff have said they will deal with the
issue whereas previously the system was too onerous and draconian. As
well as a warning, students are told where to seek help to avoid
plagiarism in the future. We believe that it is no good just telling
students they have done something wrong if they still don't understand
what it is and why it is wrong.
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