Cheating
In the Spring 01 class three students received Fs for cheating on the first exam. They brought graphing calculators to class with prepared essays for the exam. They created a fiasco because they had to get an exam of a particular color. Other students were so pissed off that they turned them in. After thinking about the matter for a long time I have come to the following conclusion. Students who cheat are likely to become white collar criminals. The executives at Firestone killed more people than a serial killer through their negligence and stonewalling. When it comes to cheating I plan to press for the maximum penalities allowed by the Dean of Students.
I had some students who had completed the course early walk around the class during the last quiz to see how students cheated. I was horrified to find out that after increasing the number of quizzes from two to six, the cheaters were still busy at work. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!
Plagiarism
In order to avoid problems I want to clearly specificy what I am going to do in the case a student plagarizes on the project.
1. There is now a plagarism service for faculty. I plan to sent the report that is 'too good to be true' to the plagarism service to find out how good a job they do.
2. I plan to post the winners on the WEB to provide the current events for the next test. If a group that lost, points out to me that a winner plagarised then the group that points out the plagarism takes their place.
3. In cases 1 and 2 the group is no longer in the contest and they will receive no bonus points. I will ask the group leader to give up the plagarist(s). If the group has a code of silence, that matter drops with the group getting zero points on the project. If the group leader gives up the plagarist(s), then we will follow the appropraite procedures as set in the Dean of Students Office. I will ask for an F in the course. You will have a black mark on your record. If an investigator finds a black mark on your record even if the record is sealed, you may lose an opportunity for a job.
A TA who grades papers for a small class in Industrial Organization was telling me that some students do not have a clear understanding of what plagarism is. Let me give you a procedure to avoid even the appearance of plagarism.
If you find a good article that take notes on the important points. When you write up your summary look only at your notes and not at the original article. This way you will avoid copying sentences after changing one or two words. Paraphasing (legal) means writing in your own words.
Now some of your are not good writers. You may write a covering paragraph and then use quotes from several sources. Using several sources shows me that you made a real effort and if the quotes capture the essence of the material that is great. When you quote you must say where you got the material.