The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 9.1297  Monday, 14 December 1998.

[1]     From:   Larry Weiss <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Saturday, 12 Dec 1998 16:52:24 -0500
        Subj:   Re: SHK 9.1284 Re: Plagiarism

[2]     From:   Linda Stumbaugh <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Sundayy, 13 Dec 1998 17:23:59 -0800
        Subj:   plagiarism


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Larry Weiss <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Saturday, 12 Dec 1998 16:52:24 -0500
Subject: 9.1284 Re: Plagiarism
Comment:        Re: SHK 9.1284 Re: Plagiarism

Lisa Hopkins wrote:

> It is certainly true that a student can far outshine their own previous
> work.

Does syntax count?

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Linda Stumbaugh <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Sundayy, 13 Dec 1998 17:23:59 -0800
Subject:        plagiarism

I have been reading the discussion about plagiarism with interest,
having only once actually found out a plagiarized paper and confronted
the student with it.  I was instructed that I must be very careful in
levying the charge, even though the paper had very clearly been taken
from one of the Arden introductions (the student was amazed that I had
been able to find the source).  Student was on a scholarship with the
baseball team and the upshot of the whole process was that he was put on
probation for a quarter.  No follow up.

In spite of this, I agree with Ethan Wells.  Students do write good
papers; they do improve.  One in-class paper at the beginning of the
quarter tells very little about what a student can do.  Look at the
quality of our own e-mails, many written in haste.  How many of us would
like to be judged on these?

My way of working with the writing in a Shakespeare class was to have
students turn in a one page (typed) paper each week, in addition to two
longer papers during the course of a quarter.  This way, I could monitor
writing skills and improvement, help with critical thinking, and see
what students were capable of under varying conditions.  Students were
allowed to use weekly writings to develop rough drafts of their longer
papers.  Many chose that opportunity.

I am sure that there were more plagiarized papers than I actually found
out.  But what I did find were more engaged (and engaging) students as
the quarter progressed and they were encouraged to speak out both in
class and on paper.  That was of more value to me than having found out
the one bad apple.

Yours,
Linda Stumbaugh

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