>
Hello Duncan,
I just broke off efforts at writing a new edition to my previous (2002)
Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism to check my email - oh the joys of
procrastination - and found your message. Some break! I have spent most
of the past year (on and off) and most of this month actively wrestling
with exactly the points you make. I leave aside for the moment your final
point about the connection between discussions and disagreements and 'the
plagiarists' behaviour and choices ..... Im always wary of seeing causal
connections when two things happen at the same time.
Is there an 'emerging legislative approach'? Well, I hope so in one sense
in that I would encourage people to start realising that we deal with
these matters under civil law and therefore the balance of probabilities
and the central place for academic judgments can be strengthened and
reinforced. That happens more now than 5 years ago. It's not
'international' yet where legislation is concerned (in my experience)
because some places have very different over-riding legal frameworks. For
example, I did a fascinating and very useful lecture tour of Sweden in May
where I found that all plagiairsim is defined by the word 'fusk' which
means cheating. I argued as strongly as I could (being a guest with a
very rudimentaruy grasp of Swedish laws.....) for a new legislative
framework that recognises the very real place for misunderstanding and
inability to apply the rules as well as deliberate attempts to break them
for unfair benefit.
Back home on the UK, there may be an emerging quasi-legislative approach
as more and more institutions review and revise their policies to
recognise the realities of 2006 student behaviour and 2006 opportunities
for cutting corners at best and actual fraudulant behaviour in a growing
number of cases. (See, for example, the rash of publicity last week for
the organisation ukessays.com that featured in the Guardian and many other
media outlets.) I am not sure that the two are connected though each is
clearly aware of the other.
Finally ....(drafts! not emails I tell myself) .... what about the fact
that we who are interested disagree and see things differently and that
those who watch see this and express varying degrees of critcism? Well,
that's to be expected, surely. We are dealing (as we so often do in HE)
with complex matters. As I often say in workshops, as an American by
birth, I see it as one of my roles in life to say loudly that complex
matters are complex and need complex solutions - I say it even louder in
the last month. This complexity has been recognised. I myself and
three other colleagues were awarded a very large sum of money by HEFCE
last year to set up a centre for excellence in assessment. The award, I
think, recognised exactly how difficult it is to reach agreements on what
we expect of students and how they in turn struggle to understand and
comply. That's because all such judgments require tacit and implicit
understandings of such seemingly simple statements as 'use your own
words'.
Is there a common approach in the offing? Well, I can see in the UK
something moving towards that - certainly much more 'common' now than
when I wrote the first Handbook nearly five years ago. And I see all over
the world common efforts to address the issue with due respect for its
complexity. And I know this takes time. In my own university, we now
have a tariff agreement that matches the level of breach of regulations
with a small number of stated penalties. It took four years to achieve.
Be patient, i say.
And finally finally, how nice to get a more ruminative and holistic
message on this list! Thanks for the break.
Jude Carroll
One point that has worried me for a while now but which I have not shared
> with anyone is the extent to which there is an emerging national and even
> international legislative approach to plagiarism.
>
> I see a lot of initiatives and discussion. I see conferences aplenty and I
> see software and hardware solutions.
>
> I then see colleagues on this list arguing and counter arguing over
> policies
> and procedures. We even argue over the definition of plagiarism and the
> approaches to be taken on the detection of it.
>
> So, is there a common approach in the offing or are we continuing to make
> the life of the plagiarist so handsome by being as fragmented as we are?
>
> Duncan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Netskills [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 08 August 2006 10:03
> Subject: Netskills workshops in London: e-Learning, Plagiarism and Project
> Management (September 2006)
>
> Dear Colleague
>
> Netskills will be running the following workshops at Metro New Media,
> London:
>
> 1. Design Solutions for e-Learning, 19th September
> -----------------------------------------------------
> This workshop is aimed at those who are currently delivering or preparing
> to
> deliver some aspect of their teaching provision online. It investigates a
> range of design solutions for pedagogically effective web-based course
> design to aid and support the teaching and learning process.
>
> 2. Content Solutions for e-Learning, 20th September
> -----------------------------------------------------
> For e-learning to be more than just page turning, you need to provide
> learners with engaging content. This workshop introduces the skills you
> need
> to create such content, the tools that can help you and how to reuse and
> repurpose existing learning resources.
>
>
> 3. Assessment Solutions for e-Learning, 21st September
> -----------------------------------------------------
> Assessment, when used well, has long been recognised as a key element of
> developing effective learning. The rise in recent years of online
> assessment
> has brought a range of assessment tools and techniques into general use.
> While they provide an important framework to facilitate the delivery of
> online assessment, questions remain regarding the effective design and
> development of pedagogically fit online assessment.
>
> 4. Project Management for the Education Sector, 21st September
> -----------------------------------------------------
> This workshop introduces a project management methodology that can be
> adapted for any size of project and is specifically tailored to the needs
> of
> the education sector. The day is interactive, providing a structured
> approach to project management and investigating a number of examples.
>
> 5. Communication and Collaboration for e-Learning, 26th September
> -----------------------------------------------------
> Communication and collaboration are key elements of the online learning
> process. Whilst many tools facilitate these activities, using them
> effectively requires careful design, planning and management.
>
> This practical workshop will enable you to engage learners in
> collaborative
> learning through best use of the online environment.
>
> 6. e-Assessment: Tools & Techniques, 27th September
> -----------------------------------------------------
> This workshop focuses on tools available for creating online assessment
> and
> the practical techniques required to use them effectively. Participants
> will
> have the opportunity to evaluate a range of assessment tools that can be
> used to create different types of assessment. In particular, we will focus
> on the emerging assessment management system TOIA, which is
> freely-available
> to UK HE and FE. These tools will be considered in terms of their
> functionality and interoperability with other tools and systems such as
> VLEs.
>
> 7. Detecting and Deterring Plagiarism, 28th September
> -----------------------------------------------------
> The issue of plagiarism has been around for centuries, but its impact has
> escalated with the growth of the world wide web, with its vast range of
> content, easy opportunities for cut-and-paste, and growing market of
> commercial sites helping the potential plagiarist. The education sector
> has
> seen a significant increase in cases of plagiarism in recent years, with
> observers suspecting that many more cases go undetected and/or unreported.
> While sophisticated online services can help with the detection of
> web-based
> plagiarism, long-term deterrence lies with appropriate course design and
> effective institutional policies.
>
>
> These workshops also support our BTEC-accredited qualifications:
> www.netskills.ac.uk/content/products/accreditation/pdp/index.html
>
> Further details these workshops and of all Netskills events are available
> from:
> www.netskills.ac.uk/content/products/workshops/
>
>
> Regards
>
> Jamie Stogden
> Netskills
> University of Newcastle
> Newcastle-upon-Tyne
> NE1 7RU
>
> tel: 0191 222 5000
> fax: 0191 222 5001
> web: http://www.netskills.ac.uk/
>
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