Research shows plagiarism went up in '08
Andrea Frainier and Selma Skokic
Issue date: 9/25/08 Section: News
Incidences of both cheating and plagiarism increased slightly last academic year from the year before, according to a recent statistical report released by the university.
During the 2007-08 academic year, a total of 212 violations of the Academic Integrity Policy were filed with the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. According to a news release issued by the Director of Student Conduct and Ethical Development, 65 of the incidents involved cheating and 147 involved plagiarism.
The news release stated that the College of Engineering had the highest number of reported cases of violations while the College of Applied Sciences and Arts had the lowest.
Sigurd Meldal, the chair of the Academic Senate, said violations of the Academic Integrity Policy have not gone up, but faculty has been better at reporting incidents.
"It's easier to plagiarize and easier to catch," Meldal said.
With new tools, such as Turnitin.com, it's easier for faculty to catch plagiarism than it has been in the past, Meldal said.
Turnitin.com helps prevent plagiarism by having students submit their written work through its Web site, and then generate reports that display the work alongside any matching sources. This report allows educators to recognize any incidents of plagiarism.
"I think Turnitin.com works pretty well with catching plagiarism," said Kamen Jekov, a junior mechanical engineering major. "Sometimes it works a little too well in catching something that I didn't mean to plagiarize."
Barbara Conry, the interim dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts, said professors need to tell students at the beginning of classes that there are consequences when you cheat.
"I think one thing that is very important is for instructors and professors to address the issue of academic integrity at the beginning of class," Conry said. "They are here to facilitate the process of learning and mentor them. In CASA, we all have partnerships in the community through internships, and we are not going to send a student to go out and do an internship if they don't have integrity."
At the beginning of the academic school year, the university emphasized the importance of ethics through the annual Academic Integrity Week, an attempt to teach students the importance of academic honesty.
"If you cheat your whole way through college, you're not going to know what you're talking about," said Jeanette Villanueva, a senior psychology major.
She said that some students might plagiarize by accident if they do not know how to cite their sources properly, but that students should know how to attribute sources at this point in their college career.
"You get out of school what you put into it. If you're going to cheat, what's the point?" said Jessica Paredes, a graduate student in nutrition.
"I think (cheating is) despicable," she added.
During the 2007-08 academic year, a total of 212 violations of the Academic Integrity Policy were filed with the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. According to a news release issued by the Director of Student Conduct and Ethical Development, 65 of the incidents involved cheating and 147 involved plagiarism.
The news release stated that the College of Engineering had the highest number of reported cases of violations while the College of Applied Sciences and Arts had the lowest.
Sigurd Meldal, the chair of the Academic Senate, said violations of the Academic Integrity Policy have not gone up, but faculty has been better at reporting incidents.
"It's easier to plagiarize and easier to catch," Meldal said.
With new tools, such as Turnitin.com, it's easier for faculty to catch plagiarism than it has been in the past, Meldal said.
Turnitin.com helps prevent plagiarism by having students submit their written work through its Web site, and then generate reports that display the work alongside any matching sources. This report allows educators to recognize any incidents of plagiarism.
"I think Turnitin.com works pretty well with catching plagiarism," said Kamen Jekov, a junior mechanical engineering major. "Sometimes it works a little too well in catching something that I didn't mean to plagiarize."
Barbara Conry, the interim dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts, said professors need to tell students at the beginning of classes that there are consequences when you cheat.
"I think one thing that is very important is for instructors and professors to address the issue of academic integrity at the beginning of class," Conry said. "They are here to facilitate the process of learning and mentor them. In CASA, we all have partnerships in the community through internships, and we are not going to send a student to go out and do an internship if they don't have integrity."
At the beginning of the academic school year, the university emphasized the importance of ethics through the annual Academic Integrity Week, an attempt to teach students the importance of academic honesty.
"If you cheat your whole way through college, you're not going to know what you're talking about," said Jeanette Villanueva, a senior psychology major.
She said that some students might plagiarize by accident if they do not know how to cite their sources properly, but that students should know how to attribute sources at this point in their college career.
"You get out of school what you put into it. If you're going to cheat, what's the point?" said Jessica Paredes, a graduate student in nutrition.
"I think (cheating is) despicable," she added.
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