GC&SU students plagiarize to get through classes
Plagiarism is the problem, and Georgia College & State University faculty members are working toward a solution.
The GC&SU Student Judicial Board has heard 11 cases so far this academic year concerning plagiarism violations. They heard nine for the 2001-2002 academic year.
According to Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, dean of students and vice president for student affairs, these numbers do not include the number of instances that faculty punished plagiarism by grade penalty instead of referring the case to the Student Judicial Board.
Dr. Jennifer Hammack, assistant professor of Government and Sociology and an advisor to the Student Judicial Board, has organized a faculty committee designed to define what plagiarism is at Georgia College & State University, what levels of plagiarism merit charges and how to combat the problem.
According to Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, dean of Students and vice president for Student Affairs, the committee is just the beginning of a campuswide initiative to educate students about plagiarism and to enforce the penalties for those who choose to plagiarize.
Hammock said she believes that the sheer number of plagiarism cases brought to the student judicial board proves that plagiarism is a problem.
“It is very evident that you have some first – and second – year students who aren’t aware that what they are doing is plagiarism,” Hammack said.
Several faculty members at GC&SU are currently using software called turniton.com to detect plagiarism in students’ work.
“The software compares the student’s work to online materials and highlights things that are similar,” Harshbarger said.
According to Harshbarger, research from turnitin.com has found that 12 to 30 percent of student work is plagiarized.
The committee will meet in coming weeks to begin work on defining plagiarism at GC&SU and to discuss initiatives to educate students on its consequences.
Members on the board are Hammack, Dr. Jeff Blick, assistant professor of anthropology; Dr. Doug Butler, instructor of economics, finance and marketing; Dr. Bee Crews, coordinator of graduate programs; Dr. Arne Dietrich, assistant professor of psychology; Dr. Wayne Glowka, professor of English; Dr. Kendra Green, assistant professor of nursing; Dr. Mitchell Hammond, assistant professor of history and Dr. Stephen Payne, associate professor of management.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Feb 14 2003. Filed under News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
