Not Just About Avoiding Plagiarism: Utilizing Research on the Development of Disciplinary Expertise to Teach Source Integration for Graduate & Undergraduate Writers

Abstract

Throughout coursework and research, graduate and undergraduate student writers must demonstrate an ability to successfully integrate sources in their writing. Further, faculty across the curriculum expect graduate and undergraduate students to develop and deliver both discipline-specific content/technical knowledge and the academic skills needed in order to effectively communicate emerging disciplinary expertise. What, however, is the relationship between disciplinary knowledge and academic writing? At what point(s) in the writing project should source integration be discussed? And how?The purpose of this interactive workshop is to present four approaches to the teaching and learning of disciplinary expertise, with a focus on the role of writing and—specifically—source integration. Utilizing a theoretical framework (Tardy, 2009) for the development of disciplinary expertise, the intersectional nature of four domains "process knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, formal knowledge, and content knowledge" is presented as a tool for the teaching and learning of source integration in the context of authentic graduate writing projects. While these strategies are presented using a graduate context, many of these are also beneficial for undergraduates. The workshop aims to provide faculty with practical tools for helping students (international and otherwise) not only avoid plagiarism but—moreover—understand common academic goals and strategies for utilizing outside sources in disciplinary writing.