A Tale of Plagiarism and a New Paradigm

Abstract

Prevention, not detection, is the best way to reduce plagiarism, Mr. Freedman writes. He shares his own hard-won experience in coming to this view. I AM a teacher of teachers. Oh, how I wish my grandfather could see me now -- the first of his lineage to graduate from a university. To be a teacher, in his eyes, was the epitome of all vocations, and now I have reached the lofty position of a teacher educator. I teach preservice elementary teachers how to teach science. I am very proud of what I do and how I do it. My students give me positive evaluations on my teaching, and I am having some success at inculcating in them a belief in the value and efficacy of teaching science as inquiry. Yet all is not well in my world. As I complete this year's classes, ennui consumes me and fills me with fatigue, frustration, and failure. Let me share with you, my fellow teachers, the source of my ennui and the dilemma that plagues me. The Setting The capstone assignment in my course is to develop an inquiry-based science lesson appropriate for elementary school students. The is to include a motivational piece leading to an inquiry statement. Then the science concept is developed, reinforced, and expanded on with a student-centered, hands-on science activity, which is followed by an assessment of the child's learning. This assignment is not unique; it is, arguably, the most common main assignment for any teacher-preparation course that emphasizes content methodology. Students are not required to create an science activity -- a difficult task even for a science major -- but may borrow from extant sources, as long as they provide a proper citation. Indeed, specific class time is dedicated to using resources -- the Internet in particular -- to find and select sample hands-on science activities and lesson plans. The assignment's assessment criteria emphasize the student's ability to integrate and adapt information into a coherent, original, and creative lesson. Most of the student work I have received to date has ranged from good to excellent. I am always heartened by the efforts of my students and encouraged by the creativity in their inquiry plans. Up to now, it had been a great experience, clearly meeting my expectations. So, why the ennui? The following account of the watershed event explains it best. The Crime There I was, comfortably ensconced in a seat on my commuter train, reading a lesson about clouds and formation. About two paragraphs into the plan, it all started to look familiar. Was this deja-vu? Hadn't I seen this before when reviewing Internet sites for sample science lessons and activities to suggest to my students? I could read no further. When I arrived at home, I dashed to my computer, entered cloud lesson plan as my Google keyword search, and, within seconds (with my cable modem), was rewarded with an exact replica of the lesson I held in my hands. In disbelief, I compared the two plans and found the student's original work to be a word-for-word duplicate of the on my computer screen. This search, which appeared so fruitful, was just the beginning. Now I was searching through the full range of emotions. Shock! Was this really happening? Anger! How could they cheat (yes, there was no other word for it) so blatantly? Hurt! How could they do this to me? What did I do to deserve being placed in the position of having no recourse but, at the very least, to fail the student on the assignment? Frustration! Was my assignment the cause of this aberrant behavior? The search for answers to these burning questions was just beginning, but my consternation was to grow as I continued to grade other students' plans with a new and jaundiced eye. In short, with 40- to 60-second searches, I found two more culprits. Now my anger was unremitting. My eyes ablaze and my heart racing, I lay awake most of the night, plotting what I would say when confronting the offenders at our next meeting. …