A posting from John Wakeford
Head, Missenden Centre for the Development of Higher Education
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Peter has raised important points which raised some thoughts for me in
preparing for our seminar on the subject in June.
1. Isn't plagiarism endemic in academic culture as in the culture of
other professions? How much of what we include in our teaching is in
any pure sense wholly original? We are steeped in the knowledge and
perspectives of our disciplines. Our lectures, textbooks, note sheets
and writing are fundamentally translations of ideas we have absorbed
from others. On what basis do we decide to credit each source of our
output?
I understand that 'borrowing' is traditional in music. Senior
scientists publish their PhD students' work without giving adequate
credit. Journalists rewrite the exclusive stories from other papers for
their own without attribution. Number 10 lifts material from the web.
And is it wholly realistic (as I heard a student ask on Radio 4 last
week) to expect every student of English Literature to come up with
entirely original ideas on the writings of Thomas Hardy?
2. Hasn't plagiarism has always been a feature of academic writing, as
Tom Lehrer's satire painfully illustrated? Perhaps our concern is a
product of our times? The increasing commodification of knowledge and
the development of sophisticated tools for detecting identical text may
have contributed to making it a current issue - and a lucrative source
of income for Elizabeth Hall Associates?
3. Peter is right that we should be clear and honest about it - and
recognize students' rights. For instance, some of us will remember the
Edinburgh 117 in 1999. They shared information in line with their
courses handbook to find out later that the University had subjected
their projects to software check on their 'sentence structure,
vocabulary, phrases and syntax'. Their marks were reduced. Some were
awarded zero, and, according to the report on the BBC news, 'a small
number will be reported to faculty officials under the University's code
of discipline with the prospect of suspensions, fines and reprimands or
even expulsion.' Small wonder that the father of one threatened to
launch a defamation action against the University:
'"The issue is one of integrity. My daughter has been accused of being
a cheat. She is not, and we are willing to prove that"' (BBC News
August 25 1999).
So, I wonder whether our seminar at Missenden Abbey could discuss how we
raise these issues in our courses, avoid criminalization, and be honest
with ourselves?
John Wakeford
Head, Missenden Centre for the Development of Higher Education
[log in to unmask]
www.missendencentre.co.uk
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