Plagiarism on the Net
Grade level?
Sixth Grade Science Class integrating Ethics in Technology (can
integrate with any other subject, just change the report topic).
Unit objective?
Teach students what Plagiarism is and how to avoid it in the
context of writing a class report. This is to be the first time
during the school year that you cover or teach how to write a
research report using the internet.
What resources do I need?
Access to a computer lab that has access to the internet.
Web sites to use?
Student sites:
1. Avoiding
Plagiarism
2. Plagerism...
an ugly word
3. University
of Northern British Columbia article on Plagiarism
Teacher sites:
1. From Now
On, The Educational Technology Journal, Vol 7|No 8|May|1998,
article on Plagiarism
2. Cut-and-Paste
Plagiarism: Preventing, Detecting and Tracking Online Plagiarism
Active learning activities for
students?
Students will learn how to search the internet for information on
a teacher selected topic for an internet research report, read a
few websites on plagiarism - what it is and how to avoid it - and
write the report, correctly citing the resources found on the
internet.
The lesson:
Spend some time in class defining and discussing what plagiarism
is (this could be done in the lab also, using the student web
sites or in class after students have had a chance to review the
student web sites in pairs).
An example of a lesson on Mt. Saint Helens can be found at:
Mt.
Saint Helens Lesson
Have students complete the report in the lab. I actually tried that lesson with my sixth graders but didn’t emphasize the plagiarism part as much as do here. I’m adding this to my lesson. An example of the kids’ work can be found at: student's work. As you can see, the bibliographies are sorely lacking. I found three to four visits to the lab wasn’t enough and had so much trouble with students losing their work and having to start over. What I did to avoid the whole plagiarism issue, and what caused the losing work dilemma, was require that students take notes from the internet sites on paper by hand. I didn’t teach them how to copy-n-paste so none of them even tried. With the web sites and a lesson on plagiarism, I feel more comfortable now going ahead and showing my students how to copy-n-paste.
Specific outcomes for students at the
end of this unit?
Emphasis here is on learning the steps needed to research using
the internet as well as to learn about plagiarism and how serious
an offense it is, and to learn how to avoid it.
How will students demonstrate those
outcomes?
As teacher guides the student through the lesson, teacher watches
for correct use of search engines. As students begin to copy the
information, teacher helps students quote and paraphrase the
information found. Students are encouraged and praised for
writing their own thoughts and feelings about the information
they found. Finally, the final product is checked for correct
citations in a bibliography.
How much time will it take?
Three to four 1-hour computer lab sessions with some in-class
build-up and follow-through.