You have just marked a piece of work in which the student has obviously plagiarised material from printed and electronic information. The student did not show you any drafts of the essay although the class was asked to present drafts. You have not had a chance to discuss the work with him at any stage. 1. What might alert you to the suspicion of plagiarism? 2. What might have led the student to plagiarise? 3. What steps could you take to discourage students from plagiarising? 4. What reflections do you have on this case that might develop your professional practice?

1. Assignment 3
What might alert you to the suspicion of plagiarism?
 Destroyed Student Reputation
 Destroyed Professional Reputation
 Destroyed Academic Reputation
What might have led the student to plagiarise?
 Students may fear failure or fear taking risks in their own work.
 Students may have poortime-management skills or they may plan poorly for
the time and effort required for research-based writing, and believe they
have no choice but to plagiarize.
 Students may view the course, the assignment, the conventions of academic
documentation, or the consequences of cheating as unimportant.
 Teachers may present students with assignments so generic or
unparticularized that students may believe they are justified in looking for
canned responses.
 Instructors and institutions may fail to report cheating when it does occur, or
may not enforce appropriate penalties.
What steps could you take to discourage students
from plagiarising?
 Limit assignments to a few specific topics.
 Assign particular features, like “compare and contrast” or personal observation.
 Insist that students use both online and offline resources.
 Combine writing assignments with other related tasks; for example, ask students to
keep a journal of the writing process in which they discuss their research, explore
the topic and thesis, and even discuss any challenges they faced while completing
the assignment.

2.  Set a schedule whereby students submit an outline, the introduction, portions of the
text, research summaries, conclusions etc., by a certain date. Students could work
on each of these sections in peer review groups.
What reflections do you have on this case that might
develop your professional practice?
Please keep me informed about your actions against plagiarism.