Academic Integrity (Part 1): Avoiding Plagiarism

_{Each Flipped Learning Module (FLM) is a set of short videos and online activities that can be used (in whole or in part) to free up class time from content delivery for greater student interaction. At the end of the module, students are asked to fill out a brief survey, in which we adopt the minute paper strategy. In this approach, students are asked to submit their response to two brief questions regarding their knowledge of the module.}

In this FLM (Part 1 of a two-part series), students are asked to complete a fill-in-the-blank outline which accompanies all three videos, covering the topics of plagiarism, the extent of collaboration and its consequences. The completed outline will enhance the students’ note-taking skills and will serve as a summary of the FLM that they may refer to in the future.

See Frequently Asked Questions about the Academic Integrity FLMs here.

Key Terms

definition of plagiarism, intentional and unintentional, consequences, cultural differences, common knowledge, excessive collaboration, academic code of conduct

Module Overview

What is Plagiarism?

Intentional vs. Unintentional Plagiarism

Excessive Collaboration

Cultural Differences

Common Knowledge

Consequences of Plagiarism

Download Video Transcripts

Worksheet: Academic Integrity Part 1 Module Outline

Video 1: What is Plagiarism?

Avoiding Plagiarism Online Activity 1

Video 2: Intentional vs. Unintentional Plagiarism

Avoiding Plagiarism Online Activity 2

Video 3: Consequences of Plagiarism

Avoiding Plagiarism Survey

Avoiding Plagiarism In-Class Activity: Option 1

Working in small groups, decide whether or not plagiarism has occurred in any of these three scenarios; why or why not? Explain.

Steve’s assignment is to summarize and analyze a book about pollution. He knows that his criticisms of the logical flaws in the book are good, because his professor complimented his analysis during class. However, he gets stuck while trying to write the summary because it’s hard to find different vocabulary to express the author’s most complicated ideas. He goes online and finds the publisher’s page for the book. Even though Steve doesn’t agree with all the praise that the publisher quotes to get people to buy the book, the summary of the book’s content seems objective. He copies the most useful phrases into his summary, integrating them into his own sentences.
May worked hard on her paper about Angela Carter. In one section, she wrote the following: “No matter in 1979 or contemporary, people always look at women with unfair judgment. Angela Carter strongly advice people there should not be a certain stereotype for any groups of genders. In Carter’s journal, he mentions about the wrong definition people usually assumes about the women, that they are weak. That is the stereotype of women which is brought by the entire culture, and this bias is not even fair and reasonable.” May thinks her ideas are good, but she knows that she makes a lot of grammar mistakes and wrong word choices, so she asks her roommate to proofread for her. Her roommate corrects and revises the passage as follows: “Whether in the 1970s or today, unfair prejudices about gender have always existed. Angela Carter strongly warns readers against these sexist stereotypes. In her story, she points out that people wrongly assume women are weak and demonstrates that this widely held cultural bias is unfounded.” May thinks it sounds much better.
Jane is struggling to come up with ideas for her paper on the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” She finds an online discussion forum where other students are talking about classic American literature, and she shares her assignment prompt and asks if anyone can help her come up with ideas. One user from another school replies and says he wrote a paper on that topic a few years ago, and he’ll send her a copy for $10. She sends him the money, and he sends her the paper. Jane changes some things around to fit the assignment’s requirements and submits it to her professor.