2008 Woodie Awards
Plagiarism remains a problem at ISU
Tyler Doyle ; Mass Communication Student
Issue date: 11/19/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 3 next >
The English department does its best to prevent plagiarism, but students still manage to copy work without permission, and cite sources incorrectly.
"It isn't a giant problem, but it happens with depressing frequency," said Professor Terry Engebretsen, chair of the English and Philosophy department.
Engebretsen says that he sees 8 to 12 cases come through his office each semester.
Faculty members say they run into more cases of plagiarism than that. They handle most cases themselves instead of referring them to Engebretsen.
Instructor Brandon Hall teaches a literature class and 2 to 3 English 101 classes each semester.
Hall said two or three students plagiarize in each class every semester.
Assistant Professor Bern Mulvey agrees that plagiarism is a problem.
"In each 101 and in some cases 102 classes, I usually find one student per semester plagiarizing," Mulvey said.
Once, when grading literary analysis papers, Mulvey came across a paper that contained a line of French he said. Mulvey called the student to his office to ask him about the paper.
"The student was clearly caught off guard when he saw a line of French in his paper," Mulvey said.
Mulvey said it was obvious that the student had plagiarized.
"If you're going to plagiarize, at least do it in a language you know," Mulvey said, chuckling.
Engebretson has set up guidelines for the faculty to prevent plagiarism. In the guidelines, Engebretson wants the faculty to teach students about proper citation, he also has suggestions for paper topics.
Assignments should be designed around particular topics that are specific and cannot be easily found on the Internet, Engebretson said.
Mulvey uses four or five articles when picking a topic for students to write on. The articles relate specifically to the topic that the students can quote from. Students can choose quotes from the articles for their essays. Mulvey said that when students use quotes or ideas that are not included in the articles he chose, he can quickly figure out whether the student is plagiarizing.
"It isn't a giant problem, but it happens with depressing frequency," said Professor Terry Engebretsen, chair of the English and Philosophy department.
Engebretsen says that he sees 8 to 12 cases come through his office each semester.
Faculty members say they run into more cases of plagiarism than that. They handle most cases themselves instead of referring them to Engebretsen.
Instructor Brandon Hall teaches a literature class and 2 to 3 English 101 classes each semester.
Hall said two or three students plagiarize in each class every semester.
Assistant Professor Bern Mulvey agrees that plagiarism is a problem.
"In each 101 and in some cases 102 classes, I usually find one student per semester plagiarizing," Mulvey said.
Once, when grading literary analysis papers, Mulvey came across a paper that contained a line of French he said. Mulvey called the student to his office to ask him about the paper.
"The student was clearly caught off guard when he saw a line of French in his paper," Mulvey said.
Mulvey said it was obvious that the student had plagiarized.
"If you're going to plagiarize, at least do it in a language you know," Mulvey said, chuckling.
Engebretson has set up guidelines for the faculty to prevent plagiarism. In the guidelines, Engebretson wants the faculty to teach students about proper citation, he also has suggestions for paper topics.
Assignments should be designed around particular topics that are specific and cannot be easily found on the Internet, Engebretson said.
Mulvey uses four or five articles when picking a topic for students to write on. The articles relate specifically to the topic that the students can quote from. Students can choose quotes from the articles for their essays. Mulvey said that when students use quotes or ideas that are not included in the articles he chose, he can quickly figure out whether the student is plagiarizing.