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Academic Support Information
Source: Faculty Handbook 16th Edition: 2001
http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/AcadAffairs/handbook/acadsupp.html
Student Academic Offenses - The maintenance of academic integrity is of fundamental importance to the University. Thus it should be clearly understood that acts of plagiarism or any other form of cheating will not be tolerated and that anyone committing such acts risks punishment of a serious nature. The University Disciplinary Committee holds hearings and recommends action in cases of alleged academic dishonesty. The Committee functions through the Dean of Student Life. Procedural guidelines are outlined in the current issue of Hilltopics: A Handbook for University Life.
Academic Dishonesty - It is the responsibility of each faculty member to maintain at all times conditions that discourage academic dishonesty in any form. Faculty should be careful to insure that class records and examinations are not accessible to those not entitled to such information and should make every effort to inspire in students the proper attitude and respect for honesty in academic work. The Dean of Student Life is available for assistance in dealing with cases of dishonesty.
Plagiarism - To represent ideas or interpretations taken from another source as one’s own is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offense. The academic work of students must be their own. Students must give the author(s) credit for any source material used. To lift content directly from a source without giving credit is a flagrant act. To present a borrowed passage after having changed a few words, even if the source is cited, is also plagiarism.
Cheating - No student shall receive or give assistance not authorized by the instructor in taking an examination or in the preparation of an essay, laboratory report, problem assignment, or other project that is submitted for purposes of grade determination.
Disposition of Offenses - Students who commit any act of academic dishonesty may receive from the instructor a failing grade in that portion of the course work in which the act is detected or a failing grade in the course without possibility of withdrawal. The faculty member may also present the case to the University Disciplinary Committee through the Office of the Dean of Student Life for disciplinary sanctions. Students who believe a faculty member has dealt unfairly with them in a situation involving alleged academic dishonesty may seek relief through the Student Complaint Procedure.
Other Types of Academic Dishonesty - Other types of academic offenses, such as the theft or sale of tests, should be reported to the Office of the Dean of Student Life for disciplinary action.
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Academic
Offenses
Source: WKU Student Handbook
http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/StuAffairs/StuLife/handbook/P1Policy/14AcademicOffenses.htm
The maintenance of academic integrity is of fundamental importance to the University. Thus it should be clearly understood that acts of plagiarism or any other form of cheating will not be tolerated and that anyone committing such acts risks punishment of a serious nature.
Academic Dishonesty - Students who commit any act of academic dishonesty may receive from the instructor a failing grade in that portion of the course work in which the act is detected or a failing grade in a course without possibility of withdrawal. The faculty member may also present the case to the Office of Student Life for disciplinary sanctions. A student who believes a faculty member has dealt unfairly with him/her in a course involving academic dishonesty may seek relief through the Student Complaint Procedure.
Plagiarism - To represent written work taken from another source as one’s own is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offense. The academic work of a student must be his/her own. One must give any author credit for source material borrowed from him/her. To lift content directly from a source without giving credit is a flagrant act. To present a borrowed passage without reference to the source after having changed a few words is also plagiarism.
Cheating - No student shall receive or give assistance not authorized by the instructor in taking an examination or in the preparation of an essay, laboratory report, problem assignment or other project which is submitted for purposes of grade determination.
Other Types of Academic Dishonesty - Other types of academic offenses, such as the theft or sale of tests, should be reported to the Office of Student Life for disciplinary sanction.
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Lessons Learned from WKU Faculty -- Preventative Actions
“I have included a copy of WKU’s plagiarism statement in the syllabus for each course and explain the statement as it relates to the work they will be doing in that course. I define what type of behavior I expect during an exam: no talking/signaling to anyone except me, no disruptions, cell phones/beepers turned off, no use of notes/books (I have made exceptions for non-native English speakers to use language dictionaries), etc….. Explain exactly what you mean by cheating and define plagiarism as it relates to the course. Define all expectations for assignments and exams in the beginning and reiterate these expectations throughout the semester.” Heather DeHart, Biology
“From my first semester at WKU, I have distributed a handout called ‘academic integrity.’ The handout describes plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, multiple submissions, and cheating. The handout specifies the penalties I use for infractions, and it includes a brief description of the appeal process that is available to students. During the overview of the course, I call their attention to the section in the syllabus titled ‘Academic Integrity.’ It is worded as follows: “Please be aware that plagiarism will not be tolerated under any circumstances. The penalty for plagiarism will be a zero for the assignment. As graduate students in this program, you should be aware of the guidelines for using research materials. If you have any questions as to what constitutes plagiarism, ask me! Furthermore, cheating on exams and/or assignments will not be tolerated, and the penalty is an automatic “0” for the test or an “F” in the course. This penalty works both ways, which means your copying someone else’s work OR allowing someone else to copy your work is forbidden. Do not put yourself in this unfortunate situation—risking a poor grade does not begin to compare with getting an “F” for the entire course. Be advised that I will not hesitate to enforce this policy if necessary. This applies to all assignments including homework! Keep your eyes on your own paper, and do your own work!”” Patricia Minors, Public Health
“I write a paragraph in my syllabus about the University policy on plagiarism.” Cecilia Thomas, Spanish
“A definition of plagiarism is in my course syllabus. During the first class session I discuss plagiarism and use several examples.” Bud Schlinker, Educational Administration, Leadership and Research
“I refer all my students to Dr. Joe Glaser’s web page on plagiarism.” http://www.wku.edu/~joe.glaser/plag.htm Jan Garrett, Philosophy and Religion
“We have engineering ethics (really professionalism) as components of at least one class per academic year. In addition to talking about ethic issues later in their professional careers, we do cover academic ethics issues too.” Kevin Schmaltz, Engineering
“I have found that most students do not really understand the meaning of plagiarism and how it varies from paraphrasing. The issue is not so much an attack on their integrity as it is a discovery of knowledge . . . The suggestions I make in class are ways to keep students out of trouble, not ways to “catch them.” There are many ways to catch students, but I don’t think that should be the focus of teaching.” Ruth Hand, English & Religion, BGCC
“I try very hard to discourage this sort of thing before it happens.
I even warn my class how easy it is to catch plagiarism on the net, just
as I’ve explained above. I also explain exactly what plagiarism is,
according to the course catalog/student handbook.
Many students believe that they can change a word or two or rearrange the
sentence structure and avoid plagiarism. Not so. Plagiarism is the stealing
of other people’s IDEAS and using them as your own, not merely their
words. I refer them to pg. 27 of their undergraduate catalog, which reads:
“To present a borrowed passage without reference to the source after
having changed a few words is also plagiarism.”’ Barry
Adkins, MLIS
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(Mis)Understanding
Plagiarism
Many students don’t see cheating/plagiarism the same
way as faculty.
“As it turns out, my own graduate assistant that was in the class too, and proceed to ‘help’ half to two-thirds of the class with the test by sharing his answers with them. I learned about it and asked the GA ‘why?’ The GA reasoned that it was wrong to take answers from another’s paper, but on the other hand it was OK to give someone else the answers because this was being helpful.” Patricia Minors, Public Health
“A husband and wife in the same graduate level class turned in the
same paper with minor changes and then took offense when confronted. They
were given the option of resubmitting the written requirement or receiving
a failing grade for the assignment.
On a later assignment, which was to be submitted via email the same couple
submitted the assignment with both of their names attached. Again they could
not understand why I would not allow them to submit one assignment and give
both of them a grade. They said that they had been doing “it”
for a long time in their course work. I graded the assignment and then gave
each of them half of the total possible points, which effectively failed
them on the assignment. I had no more problems with them for the rest of
the semester. ” Bud Schlinker, Educational Administration,
Leadership and Research
“Several students told me that they did not understand the rules regarding plagiarism because in their homelands they had not been required to write research papers, and mine was the first graduate course at WKU in which a research paper was required. (This is not surprising in the business school since many courses are case and problem-oriented.)” Gabe Buntzman, Management & Information Systems
“In a lab course I teach, students often work in groups on experiments/projects, but are required to submit their own analyses of these projects. Students have mistaken working in groups on the project with working in groups on the follow-up assignment/report. They either met as a group and turn in exactly the same written work or they had one member of the group write up the answers/report and the others copied it. ” Heather DeHart, Biology
“I once had a student who wrote a brief paper on the ethics of plagiarism itself and who took descriptions of plagiarism from sources that I had recommended to the class. She inserted these descriptions unaltered into her paper without attribution and without proper quotation.” Jan Garrett, Philosophy and Religion
“The student was upset, believing nothing wrong had occurred and went to the department head in tears. Instead of condemning the cheating, the department head backed the student saying that the unspoken understanding with any take-home test is that it’s OK to share the work.” Anonymous
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Faculty take several approaches when addressing cheating and plagiarism
in lectures, and they range from an instructional tone to a more stern approach.
“stress the penalty” Art Shindhelm, Computer Science
“…I also try to explain obvious things like why cheating is wrong and why stealing is wrong and why students ought to perhaps get their money’s worth by actually learning and doing their work themselves. I explain that if doing the right thing isn’t a good enough reason, then they should realize that they are just ripping themselves off when they cheat.” Barry Adkins, MLIS
“In the future I will explicitly discuss plagiarism in class, sternly warn the students against plagiarism, and the consequences of violations will be much more severe.” Gabe Buntzman, Management & Information Systems
“The hardest part is letting students know that you are serious about it. Some students come to WKU with the expectation that they can get away with plagiarism and cheating. The entire university and student body can suffer from a reputation such as that. The reactions must be swift and painful because news travels fast among students.” Patricia Minors, Public Health
“I share with the students on the first day of class how I make photocopies of any plagiarized essays and the on-line copy of it for my files, and tell them that I immediately fail any student from the whole course when I catch them. I emphasize what a nice person I am until that happens; then I grow horns and a forked tail. ” Paul Bush, Liberal Arts and Sciences, BGCC
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“In my Ethics courses, after introducing a relatively simple ethical
theory and a set of basic moral guidelines, I ask the students to think
about a specific case of plagiarism whose description they are given and
to apply the guidelines. That way they can think
about how plagiarism relates to honesty, justice, and over-all social consequences.
This is done early in the semester, before any major papers are due. ”
Jan Garrett, Philosophy and Religion
Hats and Exams
Can you tell a student to take off that hat during an exam?
“The professor should state, either on the syllabus or to the class
prior to the exam, that students will be required to store all books, book
bags, purses, hats, coats, etc. under their desks during exams. If a student
has a medical condition or a religious affiliation that makes compliance
with these measures difficult or impossible, the student should be advised
to consult with the instructor prior to the exam to arrange for an accommodation.
Deborah Wilkins, WKU Legal Counsel
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“I make two forms of all tests and hand them out alternately. We also have two instructors monitor the final test. I have had students write answers on the soles of their shoes and had students circle the test question, so that another student could answer the question while the instructor was distracted at the end of class.” Nancy Rascoe, Associate Degree Nursing Program
“Rearrange class seating twice a semester, before midterm and before final exam. One way to do this is rearranging the class alphabetically.” Cecelia Thomas, Spanish
“If the classroom is small and students are close to one another
during testing time, don’t make it so tempting … make more than
one copy of a test or quiz. Shuffle the questions around.
If the classroom is large or there are empty seats have the students move
around. This is a better environment for test-taking….be sure to have
them put everything away. Look for things like open book bags, folded papers,
purses, date books, organizers, and even food containers.
One of the worse places for cheating is the desktop. Now you see it, now
you don’t. Walk around the room; carry a book if you feel uncomfortable.
It helps them focus on their task. If you have time, offer a study session
a day or two before an exam.” Ruth Hand, English &
Religion, BGCC
“Giving two different quizzes—then, when a student puts down the answers to the OTHER quiz, don’t hand the quiz back to that one individual. He/she will ask about it and then I indicate to come to my office to discuss. In my office, I query about how the student got those answers—anticipate crying from the student at that point, when they figure out you know that they were looking at the other quiz! The student will typically drop the class then.” Jan Colbert, Accounting
“After observing obvious cheating during exams I have had students (graduates) use a cover sheet and to spread out in the classroom.” Bud Schlinker, Educational Administration, Leadership and Research
“Test understanding of concepts.” John White, Public Health
“If possible, students sit with an empty desk between them on test days. However, as class size is increasing, this becomes untenable. So I print up two or three separate exams with questions in different order and randomly give them out. I have also asked students not only to give the “book” answer but provide an original example from their own knowledge or experience.” Suzanne Hillin, KY Science & Math Academy
“I design 3 versions of each exam. I use a program called MicroTestIII,
which isn’t very user friendly to learn, but has lots of advantages
when you get used to it (I have typed up instructions for how to use the
program if anyone would like a copy). I enter exam questions into a pool
then select the ones I want for the exam. It only takes a couple of clicks
to print multiple copies of an exam. The order of the questions are scrambled
and the answers within multiple choice questions are scrambled, but the
material is the same for all exams. It even prints an answer key for each
version of the exam. I number the exams in such a way that students don’t
really know how many versions I’ve made, but I assure them that if
they copy off a neighbor they will be very disappointed! I carefully proctor
exams by actively observing students taking the exam. I also walk around
the room and down each aisle of desks at least once, but I try not to hover
or make them nervous. I inspect desks and exams that are to be reused by
another class.
I know colleagues who have other rules: not allowing anyone to begin an
exam after the first person has finished and left, … no sunglasses
(unless medically required), feet on the floor and not crossed, written
answers in ink only.” Heather DeHart, Biology
“Students in the past have skipped exams, manufactured legitimate excuses (i.e., doctor’s visit with evidence), and had friends in class who took the exam brief them on the questions.
Solution: A make-up exam that is different from the regular exam. Problem: It is difficult, if not impossible to match the difficulty of the two exams.” Reagan Brown, Psychology
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“Copying student’s projects from previous years--caught them by comparing work and gave the students D’s and F’s ...very time consuming ” Art Shindhelm, Computer Science
“I graded the assignment and then gave each of them half of the total possible points, which effectively failed them on the assignment. I had no more problems with them for the rest of the semester. ” Bud Schlinker, Educational Administration, Leadership and Research
“When assigning papers, I tell students that they are doing literature reviews, not giving their opinions or their own knowledge. Therefore, EVERY sentence or paragraph should have a reference.” Suzanne Hillin, KY Science & Math Academy
“I have largely abandoned open-ended term papers for most students.
I give students a list of topics and sources to consult. I try to specify
questions they must answer within their papers. It is more difficult to
find a prepackaged paper to meet such requirements.
They can bring in outside sources to supplement the sources I recommend,
but absence of attention to the latter raises a red flag.
I have also tried two ways of helping them write a high quality paper by doing preliminary work, which I grade and on which I give them feedback. One way is the argument analysis: a set of questions regarding purpose of the article, main conclusion, intermediate conclusions, key concepts, stated premises, and unstated assumptions. A second way is an outline of the paper (which should meet certain general specifications I state in advance). I then insist that they return the graded outline or argument analysis when they turn in their final version of the paper. If the two were completely unrelated, of course, that would be a red flag.” Jan Garrett, Philosophy and Religion
“Things to do: when I return the plagiarized paper, I give them a copy and keep the original. I don’t accuse them on paper, but tell them we need to talk. . . . If I can’t find the original on the Internet, I request that the student give me drafts of the essay, since in most cases the reason I know they’re cheating is that the work is so “not theirs”; ergo, no drafts. If they have no drafts but still insist they wrote it, I ask them a bunch of questions about the essay—its claims, conclusions, big words.
I avoid traditional research papers on topics about which neither they nor I know much. I much prefer writing that responds to readings we’ve done in class, in which case I emphasize synthesis and understanding rather than mining for quotations. This only works if the material for the class goes beyond what most textbooks offer—i.e., it’s primary sources, substantial, interesting, critical, challenging articles.” Jane Olmstead, Women’s Studies
“In order to prevent cheating, I have my English 100 students write the really rough drafts of the research essay and I notarize the paper with my old notary seal. This draft must be turned in with the final draft so that I can see if it is similar or if the final draft got mysteriously ‘perfect.’” Paul Bush, Liberal Arts and Sciences, BGCC
“My assignments are sufficiently unique unto my classes that they are not available on the Internet or from any other source than a student in the same class. ” Alan B. Anderson, Philosophy and Religion
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“Telling classes about the [plagiarism detection] software program[s] and relating tales of misconduct and the consequences is a good deterrent…. The department purchased a license for ‘Turn-It-In” software, which offers plagiarism and cheating detection. As an example, within the first few weeks of use, the software caught a graduate student who turned in a research paper that had been purchased from a commercial site.” Patricia Minors, Public Health
“Turn it in.com subscription to scan papers. I’ve been able to warn students about possible plagiarism in their draft documents. Turn it in also has several handouts that are available free which discuss plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty.” John White, Public Health
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“The final example concerns a class that was proctored by a GA when I was out of town. The GA documented several students’ passing notes to each other. Later, another student in the class reported the cheating and gave me one of notes that had been intercepted. I asked the students involved to come to me voluntarily (that is, I didn’t call out names) to discuss the situation with me privately, and I gave them a deadline. All but one student confessed and they received an “F” for the test. As for the remaining student, I gave the student a “0.” Then I notified the Office of Student Life regarding the cheating incident and confronted the student. The student had a meeting with the assistant dean and the repercussions for the cheating came from that office.” Patricia Minors, Public Health
“I tend to be easy on my students, though, opting usually to only fail them for the assignment (a zero on a 100pt assignment is usually devastating enough) instead of failing them for the entire course or turning them over to the Dean of Student Life for disciplinary sanctions. Some cases certainly warrant these harsher punishments, but I’ve yet to resort to them myself.” Barry Adkins, MLIS
“Students cheating on homework. I deducted half the points and wrote them notes telling them the next time, they might want to make sure they don’t write down EXACTLY the same thing.” Suzanne Hillin, KY Science & Math Academy
“In the past two semesters, I’ve had students ignorant enough to believe they can download an essay directly from the Internet and pass it off as their own despite my warnings on the first day of class. I despise cheating, so I immediately failed both of them for the whole course (after showing them their essays and the on-line versions that were word for word the same). No excuses. No appeals.” Paul Bush, Liberal Arts and Sciences, BGCC
“Enforce rigidly.” John White, Public Health
“I failed both and reported them to the Athletic Department where both were student/athletes. What action was taken after that I do not know.” Reed Bergen, Theatre & Dance
“Usually when I discover plagiarism or cheating, in the next class,
I offer a sort of amnesty. If the students who cheated or plagiarized turn
themselves in to me, I am more lenient. If the student confesses, is apologetic,
and remorseful, the punishment is
an “F” (50%) for the assignment or test. If the student says
nothing, the punishment is a “0” for the assignment. The “F”
hurts, but not nearly like having a zero grade. ” Patricia
Minors, Public Health
“I recently received two identical papers, including misspellings. I gave both students an F on that assignment. Previously I had two instances of students “collaborating” on their in-class quizzes. In one instance, neither knew enough to pass, they regularly received F’s on their quizzes, and flunked the course. In the second instance, the students denied they were cheating so we agreed that a) that quiz would be the quiz they dropped (each student in the course had the option of dropping or skipping one quiz) and b) they would not sit next to each other on subsequent quizzes.” Alan B. Anderson, Philosophy and Religion
“Sharing of papers: giving both an “F” if it is the same term. Turning in an answer from the previous year’s take home exam: “F” for course.” John White, Public Health
“Cheating on computer assignments is most prevalent, but also easiest
to verify. I prefer to avoid this problem by giving different problems to
different students. With obvious instances of copying I have split the grade
between the collaborators, since the work was shared - so each gets a failing
grade even if the assignment was done properly. This perhaps discourages
the one who did the work, since they are punished the most. I prefer not
to elevate the issue higher unless it’s repeated. I also have had
the students include the following statement:
‘“In completing this assignment I have refrained from any form
of academic dishonesty or deception such as cheating or plagiarism. This
work is solely of my own origin.”’ Kevin Schmaltz,
Engineering
“…This [plagiarism] was discovered during finals week, the student was gone, and there was no opportunity to discuss the matter. The student was given a zero for the paper, which is 20% of the total grade. I notified both the program coordinator and the Department Head of both the incident and my reaction, and in turn received their support.” Patricia Minors, Public Health
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Plagiarism/Cheating
Resources
Book:
Whitley,
Bernard E., Jr. and Kieth-Spiegel, Patricia, Academic Dishonesty: An Educator’s
Guide. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Majwah, NJ (2002). Available
from FaCET.
Video:
Primetime Live ABC News Special Cheating Crisis in America's Schools, available from
FaCET.
Websites:
Plagiarism in Colleges in the U.S. @ http://www.rbs2.com/plag.htm
Discusses legal issues in plagiarism, including fraud and intellectual property,
and court cases about student and faculty plagiarism.
Center for Academic Integrity @ http://www.academicintegrity.org/
Plagiarismtest.org @ http://plagiarismtest.org/ Has a very clear tutorial for students and a test for the student to complete.
Academic Integrity at Princeton @ http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/integrity/pages/plagiarism.html Another good tutorial.
Seven Antidotes to Prevent Highway Roberry in an Electronic Age @ http://fno.org/may98/cov98may.html As a bonus, the antidotes encourage critical thinking.
Downloadable Term Papers: What's a Prof to Do? @ http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Ecenteach/resources/ideas/term-paper-download.html
In Praise of Plagiarism @ http://www.stthomasu.ca/~hunt/plagiary.htm (in the interests of providing a variety of views)
Plagiarism: A Misplaced Emphasis @ http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/94jie.html Examines institutionalized plagiarism (e.g., ghostwriting, taking credit for graduate student writing).
Turnitin Sites:
Turnitin, a popular plagiarism detection software @ http://www.turnitin.com/
A sample of non-commercial sites concerning Turnitin:
University of Auckland's Turnitin.com trial Evaluation Report @
http://www.auckland.ac.nz/docs/teaching/pdfs/Turnitin%20eval%
20report.pdf Very thorough
Florida State Evaluation of Turnitin @ http://online.fsu.edu/turnitin/fsufindings.html
University of Maryland University College FAQ @ http://www.umuc.edu/library/turnitin.html
Negative commentary on Turnitin @ http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/technotes/techtiparchive/ttip060501.htm
Turnitin responses to New Jersey Institute of Technology queries about
intellectual property etc @ http://www.njit.edu/old/tlt/turnitin/legal.htm
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