Plagiarism is one of the unavoidable topics that must be talked about in higher education. Instead of discussing how common it is and/or how to detect its occurrence, according to Dustin Wax, there are significant lessons that can be learned from someone who plagiarizes. Wax, an instructor and published author, believes that there are five overarching ideas “we can all learn from plagiarists.”
Here are the lessons that Wax feels people can learn:
1) Never do anything that would embarrass you if anyone knew about it.
2) Never underestimate the intelligence or resourcefulness of others.
3) Own your actions.
4) It’s never too late to seek a second chance.
5) Sometimes, the most important lesson you can learn is failure.
Matt Hill, a respondent to the article, offers some insightful thought, saying “Much education is about imparting knowledge; it often fails to teach people how to think. If your educational establishment is rife with student plagiarism, I’d wager that the students haven’t been taught how to think for themselves.” In the web page you can read other interesting comments that many people have made in response to Wax’s ideas.
May 29th, 2009
Below is an excerpt from the article about a college student’s inquiry into Wikipedia and journalism in the digital age. What he found out might surprise some of you or even cause a reconsideration of using Wikipedia in the classroom. Read the full article
here.
Here are some highlights (quoted here, not “lifted”)
Irish student hoaxes world’s media with fake quote
DUBLIN -
When Dublin university student Shane Fitzgerald posted a poetic but phony quote onWikipedia, he said he was testing how our globalized, increasingly Internet-dependent media was upholding accuracy and accountability in an age of instant news.
His report card: Wikipedia passed. Journalism flunked.
The sociology major’s made-up quote — which he added to the Wikipedia page of Maurice Jarre hoursafter the French composer’s death March 28 — flew straight on to dozens of U.S. blogs and newspaper Web sites in Britain, Australia and India.
A full month went by and nobody noticed the editorial fraud. So Fitzgerald told several media outlets in an e-mail and the corrections began.
“The moral of this story is not that journalists should avoid Wikipedia, but that they shouldn’t use information they find there if it can’t be traced back to a reliable primary source,” said the readers’ editor at the Guardian, Siobhain Butterworth, in the May 4 column that revealed Fitzgerald as the quote author.
Walsh said this was the first time to his knowledge that an academic researcher had placed false information on a Wikipedia listing specifically to test how the media would handle it.
How do you handle the use of Wikipedia in your courses and/or your own research?
May 13th, 2009
A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education discusses the importance of using recall to learn new concepts and ideas. According to the article, two psychology journals just published papers showing that the strategy of recall works.
According to the author David Glenn, recall is when students put down the text or notes that they are studying and recall everything they can. Students can either write down everything they remember or day it out loud. This active recall, such as using flashcards and other self-quizzing, is the most effective may to add something to your long-term memory.
These recall techniques, according to Dr. McDaniel, a researcher in the field of biology and teaching techniques, “If you ask people to free-recall, you can generate a better mental model of a subject area, and in turn that can lead to better problem-solving.”
This idea of free-recall has also generated some critiques from educators. Some professors have voiced concerns that recall is simply teaching students how to memorize instead of increases levels of higher learning and thinking. Dr. McDaniel argues that although these techniques may aid students in the often- required tasks of memorization, the free-recall tasks actually help to give students the skills needed apply their knowledge.
Read more about this article by clicking here.
More strategies for effective learning can be found at the University of Memphis Department of Psychology’sPrinciples of Learning page. Topics include
All of these topics provide concrete strategies for faculty and students to use to increase learning. Give them a try!
How do you encourage your students to use free-recall techniques or practice retrieval?
May 11th, 2009
