Are You A Thief?

A WebQuest About Plagiarism

anna_wilder@khsd.k12.ca.us

Introduction

We've all been tempted to take something that doesn't belong to us at one time or another - a candy bar from the store when we were little, answers on a difficult test, or maybe something even bigger and more serious. Big or small, stealing what belongs to someone else is unethical. In writing, when you use someone else's words and pass them off as your own, it is called plagiarism. In this WebQuest you will explore what it means to plagiarize and then develop a plan for how it can be avoided.

Task

Imagine that you and the other members of your group have been assigned to your high school's Freshmen Orientation Team. Their job it is to help 9th graders transition into the more demanding expectations of high school. The teachers at your school have decided that one area that needs to be addressed, in preparation for the 9th grade research project, is the area of plagiarism and how to properly document sources. Your group's task is to design a PowerPoint presentation that you will give to all 9th graders during their required Library Orientation session. The PowerPoint will help the freshmen understand what plagiarism is, how to avoid it and how to properly document a variety of different types of sources.

Process

Overview: You will work with your group to research what plagiarism is and how to avoid it by properly paraphrasing and documenting sources. Each member of the group will choose one of the following roles in designing the presentation:

Step One: Choose roles and research your chosen area.

Researcher #1: Guiding Questions: What is Plagiarism? What is Paraphrase? What do they look like? Your role is to research what plagiarism and paraphrase are and to find examples that you can use in your group's presentation. You will design the PowerPoint slides for this first part of the presentation. Make sure to include definitions of plagiarism and paraphrase as well as a few clear cut examples of plagiarized passages vs. paraphrased passages, noting the differences. You should consult with the design expert for advice on slide layout. Go to the following websites for information:

http://www.georgetown.edu/honor/plagiarism.html

http://www.turnitin.com/research_site/e_what_is_plagiarism.html

http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html

http://www.as.wvu.edu/~sharris/noplag.html

http://annex.ncwc.edu/writing_lab/nc/handouts/setv/prints/SETV8P.html

Researcher # 2: Guiding Questions: How Do I Document My Sources? How Do I Write A Bibliography? Your role is to create the part of the presentation that focuses on proper citation techniques. You will research style guidelines and develop PowerPoint slides that show proper citations for a variety of commonly-used sources as well as a sample bibliography. You should consult with the design expert for advice on slide layout. Go to the following websites for information:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html

http://oslis.k12.or.us/secondary/howto/cited/

http://www.lib.ohio-state.edu/guides/mlagd.html

http://www.lcs.k12.wi.us/~lmc/BIB.HTM

Ethics Expert: Guiding Questions: Why is Plagiarism Wrong? Why Not Plagiarize? Your job is to research the ethical question of plagiarism and develop slides that explain why plagiarism is a destructive practice and why it should be avoided. Consider the legal copyright issues as well as other ethical issues such as ("It's stealing someone else's work" and "It cheats you out of learning for yourself.") You should consult with the design expert for advice on slide layout. Go to the following websites for information:

http://www.csubak.edu/ssric/Modules/Other/plagiarism.htm

http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm

http://www.engl.niu.edu/comskills/students/plagiarism/Plagiarism.html

http://www.faculty.hcc-nd.edu/abaldinger/wwwsp102/plalgiarism.htm

http://fiat.gslis.utexas.edu/~bjansen/CopyrightPlagiarismSecondary.htm

Presentation Design Expert (and Presenter): Guiding Questions: What is the best way to organize the information presented in the slides? How can I draw attention to what's important? Your job is to design the layout and choose the order of the slides to best focus the presentation on what is important. You will give advice to the other members of the group on how to word and organize the information they want to include as well as aesthetic issues such as visuals, fonts, bullets, spacing, etc. You will also design the title page of the presentation and be the initial presenter for the presentation. You will give a short introduction at the start of the presentation and then go through the slides (along with other group members - you will need to decide who says what). Go to the following sites to get information on presentation techniques:

http://www.actden.com/pp/

http://www.clt.binghamton.edu/howppt03_files/frame.htm

http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~brd/Teaching/Giving-a-talk/giving-a-talk.html

http://www.locusinc.com/partnerarea/HOWTOPowerPoint.pdf

Step Two: Work as a group to create the PowerPoint presentation on plagiarism. You will need to fuse the slides each member creates into a coherent and unified PowerPoint.

Step Three: Present your group's PowerPoint presentation to the class.

Evaluation

Your performance on this project will be based on the quality of the PowerPoint presentation your group creates, how well the presentation presents the issues of plagiarism, how well your group works together and the presentation you give to the class. Use the following rubric to help you complete the project.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4
Group Cohesiveness	Group does not communicate or work well together to create final product.	Not all members communicate or participate in helping create final product.	ALL group members communicate with each other and work together to create the final product.	ALL group members communicate well with each other. They work efficiently and closely together to create the final product.
PowerPoint Layout and Design	Layout is sloppy or hard on the eye. Information is disorganized. There are no pleasing visual attributes.	Layout is somewhat lacking. Information is somewhat organized. There are few pleasing visual attributes.	Layout is functional. Information is organized. There are pleasing visual attributes.	Layout is superb. Information is well organized. There are several pleasing visual attributes.
PowerPoint Content	Slides are incomplete or lacking information. Information is inaccurate.	Slides are somewhat complete but may lack information or be somewhat inaccurate.	Slides are complete and contain required information. Information is accurate.	Slides are complete and contain more than minimum information required. Information is detailed and accurate.
Presentation	Group seems highly unorganized and unprepared. Poor communication techniques and lack of knowledge evident.	Group seems disorganized and unprepared. Some problems communicating. Some lack of knowledge.	Group seems somewhat organized and prepared. Communicates effectively and knows subject.	Group seems highly organized and prepared. Communicates well and reflects thorough knowledge of subject.

Conclusion

Plagiarism is a serious issue that it is important to understand. Learning now, what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, will help you in the future, both in high school and beyond into college by helping you be a better (and more ethical) writer.

References

Last updated on May 14, 2004. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page