Compare and Contrast/ Plagiarism Sample
Compare and Contrast/ Plagiarism Sample Introduction
Plagiarism is an act of taking words and ideas of other people and using them as one’s own original work. It can involve similarity in a text, quotes, ideas, graphics and diagrams, charts tables and figures and any other electronic devices (Barry 106). The discussions by both Finken in the book by Debra and from the article “right from wrong” have both highlighted the increasing rate of plagiarism. The two readings have attributed this phenomenon to increased web access by students. Such student’s either fear or are under pressure to meet the deadline set by their lecturers and the various expectations. Teachers have therefore come up with various methods of detecting any form of plagiarism in their student’s work. These include using search engines such as Google and anti-plagiarism services like turnit.com (Anderson 78).
Finkel in the book by Anderson on the “collage culture and student’s success” reveals the challenges related to plagiarism facing today’s universities and collages (Anderson 78). Writing his “write from wrong” book, Barry also contributed to this topic by underlining the lessons that schools should learn about plagiarism. Both Finkel and Barry tried to expose the challenges overlying the use of electronic devices like turitin.com in addressing the issue of plagiarism (Barry 107). Finkel noted that not all students are typing, and that not all are plagiarizing from the internet and therefore a more exclusive approach was needed to address the issue (Anderson 78). Some students copy from one another while some are even assisted by a third party in doing assignments. Barry also noted in his book that some students use cell phones and some copy from neighbors or writes on the pencil they use in the classroom (Barry 108). The teachers must therefore seek to be creative in coming up with research topics they give out.
Noting that plagiarism can cause guilt in students, Finken proposes discussion between the teachers and the students as the way forward to address both students’ behavior and their learning environment (Anderson 79). Barry also noted that students are simply avoiding plagiarism because they are afraid of consequences and not because they have learned that plagiarism is wrong. This was supported by McCabe who noted that to most students, plagiarism is not a serious issue (Barry 108). Plagiarism has therefore become a habit to some students.
Both Finkel and Barry seem to agree that there is need for the approaches which look at the root causes of the problem. Barry noted the need to readdress the school culture and policy. Denis quoted by Barry, remarked that the culture of cheating begins at high school after which students grow believing that there is nothing wrong with the practice (Barry 108). McDowell agreed that most students who plagiarize do not realize that they are doing it. Some students simply never did any research while in high school and don’t understand it (Barry 108).
However, the two readings seem to agree that there are certain advantages of the internet. According to Finkel, the electronic devices enable the students to educate themselves. Barmak agreed that the internet also discourages plagiarism because of lots alternative sources of information it gives and possibility of paraphrasing (Barry 110). The internet is also seen as a resource for collages students and a get way to a culture based on a shared information.
In conclusion, the high level of connection among students that has come with internet requires some level of vigilance from the teachers. However, best approaches must be sought to address the issues such as values and ethics. The universities must also be clear to the students on their expectations on assignments while also making sure that students understand what is expected of them. Hills Borough’s Lambert’s words advice of giving preference to installing values over installing fear should be taken seriously. The teachers must also show good example to the students. Measures should also be put in place to ensure that these challenges are addressed right from secondary schools.
