Comments on: A Handy Guide to Not Plagiarizing

By: The Other Caitlin

The Other Caitlin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:36:58 +0000

In high school we had to include bibliographies with our assignments but we did not have to cite throughout the main body of the essay. We learnt to do that in first year of university, but they did spend a time teaching us how to do this (we had a choice between Harvard method or footnotes) and what constituted plagiarism. The web didn’t start until some time in my second year of university, so I doubt that plagiarism was quite as rife as I understand it is now.

By: MomTFH

MomTFH — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:37:58 +0000

@snarkysmachine – love the John Fogerty reference. Sting got in trouble for plagiarizing himself too, on the Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing.”

He should have tried my patented new-tab-and-toggle trick. I came up with that myself. Maybe. It’s so hard to keep track.

By: aleks

aleks — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:47:31 +0000

Oh. That certainly puts a different shine on things.

By: fatsmartchick

fatsmartchick — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:17:22 +0000

@ Aleks I’m almost positive that DRST was talking about the university level. At that point our students are over 18 and we cannot legally talk to parents or social services about our students.
I also hope that DRST doesn’t think that I was trying to tell her how to run her classroom. I just wanted to point something out that maybe she hadn’t considered…or maybe she had.

By: chava

chava — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:58:00 +0000

So, I get that you weren’t talking about me, but the comment actually *did* have “@chava” at the top, which was why I thought it was directed at me in the first place.

I think the first bit was supposed to be at me and the second bit…wasn’t? Shrug.

By: aleks

aleks — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:38:39 +0000

Alexander Erin: I was explaining why I continue to subordinate students’ language use to my own.

fatsmartchick: I don’t think students who lie about dead relatives pick aunts, uncles and grandparents because they care less about them but because the school’s less likely to keep track. A boy who lies about his father’s death might have some explaining to do after parent/teacher conferences. I also suspect most schools have social workers who inquire when a student’s parent dies. Certainly friends usually all know.

By: littlem

littlem — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:40:12 +0000

@ chava –

We’ve worked that part out, yes? That unless they said “@ chava” at the top, my comments weren’t directed at you in the first place?

By: fatsmartchick

fatsmartchick — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:55:24 +0000

@drst

Your family policy really hit a raw nerve with me. I think its the implication that grandparents and aunts/uncles are less important than parents and thus easier to lie about. A lot of students are raised by grandparents and aunts/uncles. We also have no way of gauging how important a various family members are to a student. If you consider that a good chunk of students probably have a total of 4 grandparents (not including great grandparents), 7 deaths out of 200 students doesn’t sound all that strange

As a university instructor, I use the school’s policy on excused absences. I’ve yet to have a student who had a problem with giving me a quick glance at a funeral bulletin. I also don’t accept late work. Believe me, that takes care of the lying issue real quick. I can make exceptions when needed but usually students don’t even ask because they know the policy.

Sorry to be off topic but this week is the second anniversary of my grandfather’s death and the idea that a student is more likely to lie about a grandparents than a parent just steams my clams. :)

By: Alexandra Erin

Alexandra Erin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:06:29 +0000

@aleks – I didn’t find what you said douchey. I simply don’t understand the point you’re trying to make to me. What has what goes on in your classroom to do with me, or even with you when you’re not there?

By: Alexandra Erin

Alexandra Erin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:44:19 +0000

@Phoenix Woman: That’s okay, you’re just pre-quoting yourself to make future citations easier. We should all start doing that to make things easier on important journalists.

-Alexandra Erin