On Monday I had to confront one of my students about his practice of academic dishonesty. After class I asked, "Is there anything at all you want to tell me about your position paper or the rough draft of the textual analysis?" he replied with a confused eyebrow raise. I repeated, "Are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me?" He responded, "No. I didn't cheat." I then pulled out both essays and the texts he had plagiarized from. I explained that much of his position paper was from Wikipedia (and I had the corresponding sections highlighted) and I handed him a copy of the first 1.5 pages of his textual analysis which had been taken from 123helpme.com. Confused he said, "How did you find this stuff?" and then asked me, "What does this mean?"
He sincerely didn't understand that he had plagiarized. He said, "Well, if I'd have paid for the rest of this 123helpme essay, then could I have turned it in as mine? I'd own it." He also claimed that he had not looked at Wikipedia at all when writing his position paper and that maybe the articles he used had plagiarized from Wikipedia, but he didn't know how he had the exact same words. And when I told him I couldn't pass him for the course he said, "I'm not the one who failed. 123helpme.com failed me. Why do they even put this stuff on the internet if we can't use it?"
While his responses might sound like a lot of BS, I truly think the student doesn't understand the concept of academic dishonesty and plagiarism. And if this were his first offense, I might work with him on these issues, but with the first draft and final draft of the research paper and with the first draft of the position paper, I'd already sat down in one-on-one conferences with him twice and explained citations, paraphrasing, summarizing, and plagiarism. I used his papers and his sources to point out the fact that you can't even take a few words in a row without putting quotes around them (let alone entire sentences, paragraphs, and papers). I gave him a chance to revise his research paper by the end of the term and told him I'd be glad to meet with him along the way to be sure he was understanding paraphrasing. He hasn't met with me once. Also, had already I used 2 class periods to talk about avoiding plagiarism and to allow the students to practice summarizing and paraphrasing before they wrote the research paper. Though I feel really bad that he doesn't understand how to use sources, even if he didn't mean to plagiarize (a fact about which I am uncertain), he can't pass ENG 110 without the ability to paraphrase, summarize, or at least quote his sources.
Once he understood that he truly would be flunking the class, he told me, "Thanks a lot. You've just ruined my summer. I'm going to get kicked out of my house and now I'm going to be living on the streets and sleeping under a bridge. Seriously. I can't believe this. My life is ruined. Thanks." And before he left he said, "Well, you have a good summer. ...I'm going to be sleeping under a bridge."
Now, I know I didn't ruin his life (at least I hope I didn't), but I can't help but wonder if perhaps I failed him in some way. He seems to have spent a lot of time plagiarizing, and he seems to think he was doing what he was supposed to. But I don't know whether he's telling the truth or lying through his teeth. If he is truthfully still confused about how to utilize sources, this seems like a result of my inability to explain the concepts. But at what point does responsibility fall upon the students? I don't know.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Reflection on the 8am Teaching Slot
Because I am a fairly laid back person who tends to sleep in when she has the chance and nearly always wastes time when she has any time to waste, I requested an 8am teaching slot this term. I had heard horror stories about how difficult 8am classes were to teach, but I figured that if my schedule forced me to get out of bed and use my mornings wisely, I wouldn't waste time. As it turns out, 8am classes are incredibly challenging (and I still find time to waste later in the day to make up for the time I didn't waste in the morning).
Last term I had a few people missing each class period, but all in all, the classes felt like an actual "unit." The students got to know each other, I got to know them, and I felt like we made some real progress. Each of my afternoon classes last term had their own "character" and some (not all) of the students actually seemed to enjoy being there.
This semester, most of the semester I've had nearly perfect attendance in my 10 am class. But from week 2 or 3 at least half of my 8am class has been absent every class period. I've only got 2-4 faithful students who I can count on to attend on a regular basis. The rest of the class rotates. I've emailed several students and asked them to come back. I've sent out e-mails to the entire class reminding them how important attendance is to their grades. Yet, I haven't had more than 10 people in class since probably a fourth of the way through the term. A few students even show up only on days when rough drafts or final drafts are due.
This attendance issue makes developing a safe house and an overall classroom atmosphere quite difficult. What's more frustrating, though, is that it makes teaching incredibly difficult. I never know who will be in class for what lesson, and then when subsequent lessons or activities are built on earlier lessons or activities, they tend to fall flat or be less effective than intended because none of the students (save those 2-4) had been there for the earlier lessons.
And now I'm receiving an influx of e-mails offering explanations (perhaps legitimate ones, perhaps not) as to why individuals have not been in class since before spring break or asking if I can still work with them if they start coming back to class now or begging for me to e-mail them all of the handouts and assignments so they can just turn everything in at the final. And I have to say, it's getting more than a little annoying.
I'd say I'm probably going to end up failing about half of the 8am bunch, and to be honest, I don't feel all that bad about it. If they had attended class, they wouldn't be failing. If they had contacted me before 2 weeks before finals to ask me to work with them in the face of difficult health or family situations, I would have worked with them. But they didn't. They rolled over in bed, turned off their alarms, and told themselves they would go to ENG 110 next time.
From now on, I think I will work an attendance policy into my syllabus. I think it would benefit the students and the class as a whole.
Last term I had a few people missing each class period, but all in all, the classes felt like an actual "unit." The students got to know each other, I got to know them, and I felt like we made some real progress. Each of my afternoon classes last term had their own "character" and some (not all) of the students actually seemed to enjoy being there.
This semester, most of the semester I've had nearly perfect attendance in my 10 am class. But from week 2 or 3 at least half of my 8am class has been absent every class period. I've only got 2-4 faithful students who I can count on to attend on a regular basis. The rest of the class rotates. I've emailed several students and asked them to come back. I've sent out e-mails to the entire class reminding them how important attendance is to their grades. Yet, I haven't had more than 10 people in class since probably a fourth of the way through the term. A few students even show up only on days when rough drafts or final drafts are due.
This attendance issue makes developing a safe house and an overall classroom atmosphere quite difficult. What's more frustrating, though, is that it makes teaching incredibly difficult. I never know who will be in class for what lesson, and then when subsequent lessons or activities are built on earlier lessons or activities, they tend to fall flat or be less effective than intended because none of the students (save those 2-4) had been there for the earlier lessons.
And now I'm receiving an influx of e-mails offering explanations (perhaps legitimate ones, perhaps not) as to why individuals have not been in class since before spring break or asking if I can still work with them if they start coming back to class now or begging for me to e-mail them all of the handouts and assignments so they can just turn everything in at the final. And I have to say, it's getting more than a little annoying.
I'd say I'm probably going to end up failing about half of the 8am bunch, and to be honest, I don't feel all that bad about it. If they had attended class, they wouldn't be failing. If they had contacted me before 2 weeks before finals to ask me to work with them in the face of difficult health or family situations, I would have worked with them. But they didn't. They rolled over in bed, turned off their alarms, and told themselves they would go to ENG 110 next time.
From now on, I think I will work an attendance policy into my syllabus. I think it would benefit the students and the class as a whole.
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