Journal # 3

A War of Words, By Jim Paterson

The article by Paterson pins two opposing sides on an important issue, plagiarism. The increased occurrence of plagiarism in education has produced a number of software programs that helps students with the proper ways to research a topic. Paper Tools Pro or P.T.P helps students research, site sources, paraphrase and organize the research on note cards. P.T.P also shows students the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarizing. The research notes then can be sorted and placed into a word processing document. Maribeth Mohan, a teacher in Glen Ellen, IL. Thinks this is a great learning tool to help students as well as fight the problem of plagiarism.
Mohan’s acceptance and approval of P.T.P. is not shared by everyone. Charlie Rowe, a professor and spokesperson for the Conference on College Composition and Communication is opposed to these programs. The CCCC feels these anti plagiarism programs create the wrong atmosphere for writing. The programs put the student in a position of being guilty until proven innocent, and it violates student’s rights. Rowe is in favor of teaching about plagiarism and the proper way of researching a topic with plagiarizing it. Rowe’s stance is that this technology reduces quality teaching and turns the technology into a babysitter or watchdog.

Questions.

1. How will I address the topic of plagiarism in my classroom?
As a teacher I would teach proper ways of research, edit and paraphrasing. I would make sure that my students understood that plagiarism is wrong. I would also combine the use of some of the tools used like Paper Tools Pro to give the students help when needed.

2. What would I do if I had a student who plagiarized a paper?
All problems or mistakes are an opportunity to learn. As a teacher I would find out the reasons for the plagiarism and proceed from there. Consequences would be given based on reasons for the mistake.