 |
 |
The one good thing to say about Frank's articles is that they certainly do stimulate discussion. I think I recall a previous articles from the Times Higher where he discussed whether students were 'customers' and he has also brought up whether 'spin leads to litigation' in reference to the advertising standards of universities. Personally I think I would want to actually look deeper at the writing and argument styles used by Frank before being carried further on a wave of discussion and criticism of either teaching or learning and the good work that it being dome in this area. His first paragraph opens subjectively .... a young colleague (suggests an inexperienced academic to me - new to the job) working in a university in the North-East ( ? Northumbria)..... 18 students .... 15 plagiarised - why the high rate on her particular module? What exactly was the purpose of the advice from the more senior academic - maybe it was meant as guidance to a younger inexperienced colleague not to expose her inefficiencies as a teacher............and I could go on. Frank certainly presents us with a very slippery slope! It is interesting that he notes that 'many academics and administrators are privately horrified' - there was I thinking that they were in publicly funded jobs and actually had a duty to carry these out professionally. Lets return to reality - I think that working from the opposite point of view - i.e. that my job primarily serves to defend and assist students when they become embroiled with procedures - that Jude comes fairly near my own viewpoint - but the problem is that more academics like Jude are needed as at the moment there are far more people willing to sensationalize plagiarism for their own agenda or hawks that have little insight into their own failures in failing to provide a quality service. Margarita Rainford Academic Affairs Co-ordinator USSU Jude Carroll wrote: >Dear Bobbie, > >Thanks for doing that scanning, Bobbie. I meant to make an effort to >find the article and you saved me time. > >I also agree with your comments that "we could do a lot more about this >problem" which I take to mean the problem of institutions just sort of >giving up on dealing with plagiarism or devising policies and procedures >that treat it as an ordinary, reasonably high-volume part of everyday >life. > >There are some good models about of institutions who DO deal with the >problems of under-reporting and the pressures to look away rather than >deal with individual cases. But many have procedures that are more >suitable to the one-off surprises of finding a case that may have been >the norm in the 1980s. I agree that the June conference should keep >this these alive and maybe encourage papers to address this. > >I also noticed your comment, Bobbie, about cultural differences in the >way academic work is derived, presented and assessed. You write that >you don't want unacceptable practice excused and I agree. The thing is, >students have learned all kinds of way to show they know things, many >differing significantly from how it's done in the UK FE and HE sectors. >As far as I can see, many students need to learn new skills instead of >those that have served them well in the past on, maybe, A-level courses >or classrooms in other countries, or even out in the world of work. >That takes time. The question for me is how do we support students to >learn the new skills? How long should we wait until we insist they play >"our academic game" by "our rules" - as I believe we are perfectly >entitled to do..... eventually? How do we signal as they are practicing >these new ways that their writing is not there yet and they need to keep >on paying attention? > >For me, the big issue I'm struggling with at the moment is: How can we >in FE and HE help International Students in particular feel brave >enough to try out these new ways of writing. All the research shows >that when students are stressed, under pressure or doing things they are >not sure about, they very frequently revert to strategies like copying, >memorizing, and lifting chunks from books. Even when they have been >told and told that this is not acceptable. Most International Students >are definitely stressed, under pressure to succeed, unsure of their >academic skills etc etc. > >Anyone found good ways? > > >Jude Carroll > >************************************************************************* >You are subscribed to the JISC Plagiarism mailing list. To Unsubscribe, change >your subscription options, or access list archives, visit >http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/PLAGIARISM.html >************************************************************************* > > ************************************************************************* You are subscribed to the JISC Plagiarism mailing list. To Unsubscribe, change your subscription options, or access list archives, visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/PLAGIARISM.html *************************************************************************