Helpful Stategies: Learning a new skill — This is a tutorial on the problems of modern plagiarism. Useful for students, teachers and researchers. Very useful.
I think much of todays most common form of plagiarism comes from students who are not trying to do much more than crank out something fast. It stems from lack of pride and laziness more than an ego boost provided by being credited with great thinking that is now your own. Those looking for an ego boost tend to be writers who exaggerate or make up stories then sell them as fact. Stephen Glass is probably the best example of that.
other resources:
plagiarism.org
Generally speaking, the global trend in virtually everything is toward commoditized, accelerated, cheap solutions. We want it all, we want it now, and we don’t want to pay a penny more for it than the next guy. It manifests itself in retail (Wal-Mart, anyone?) as well as academia, where students go through the mechanics of meeting course requirements.
Students who plagiarize ultimately cheat not only themselves, but the society around them that places a value on the degrees they (dishonestly) obtain. Technology, like turnitin.com, can help. But at some point, the moral metronome needs to swing the other way. Thank you for highlighting this here.
Carmi Levy
http://writteninc.blogspot.com
I am not a student; I am not a good writer.
Most of my life I lived in labor, speaking in lines of crap useful for ones physical job.
I worked for the federal government as a laborer.
I never said or wrote anything until I read the accounts of the some of the stories coming out of sixties.
So when I started writing I wanted to speak my mind and not quote or plagiarize someone else’s account of what I went through.
I have no skill at writing but I am persistent and if you read enough of what I write you will get the message.
If enough young folks understood what I write they would not need to plagiarize they could just speak their mind.
Words spread rapidly on the Internet and our young folks have no clue in the power of this press (Internet).
Also the subject of a 2003 movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0323944/
I think you have it right, John. The love for learning is all-but-gone… today’s university experience is essentially a trade school.