One of the biggest challenges facing higher education is the prevalence of plagiarism. It limits students’ higher-level intellectual development and undermines the repute of the institution. It also devalues the learning experiences of students, and ultimately the quality of their graduates. To effectively counter this problem, educators must understand the psychology of plagiarism and develop a plagiaristic behavior model. This article looks at a few of these challenges.
Most learners understand what plagiarism is, but most are apprehensive of the consequences of plagiarizing. While scholars are often careful to monitor for plagiarism, learners often misunderstand the term. Consequently, determining what constitutes plagiarism can be a difficult task. It is important to consider the motivations of both learners and teachers when evaluating plagiarism. Listed below are some of the main causes and challenges of plagiarism.
In scenarios two and three, students were asked whether it was plagiarism if they copied a peer’s work word for word or submitted it to another class. They were asked to describe the reasons why these situations constituted plagiarism, and they responded that they weren’t their own work. However, they did not document their work. In scenarios six, students are asked to submit an assignment from another class that they had learned from their professor.
Another study found that students with performance goals were more likely to engage in plagiarism than those with mastery goals. While students who engaged in plagiarism were mainly motivated by the desire to improve their grades, many students also cheated to gain more expertise in their subject. Anderman and Midgley found that a more performance-oriented classroom climate encouraged students to commit plagiarism. The authors concluded that this study confirms the importance of academic integrity in higher education.
Fortunately, technology is transforming the way higher education is delivered. With the advent of software that detects plagiarism and uses different methods to prevent plagiarism, educators can utilize effective tools to reduce this problem. Using plagiarism detection software can help educators detect content similarity, code plagiarism in programming, and text manipulation. This allows instructors to be more vigilant about the originality of student work. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive list of plagiarism detection tools, check out the Massachusetts Institute of Technology guide on plagiarism software.
The main cause of plagiarism is easy access to information-communication technologies and the Internet. Gender, socialization, and motivation for the study were not significant factors in this study. Nevertheless, the study findings can serve as a basis for comparative studies among different regions in Europe. Further research can also contribute to the discourse surrounding plagiarism in higher education. There are many factors that may influence plagiarism. So, consider all these factors before deciding whether or not to tackle this problem in your institution.
In a recent study, Texas Tech University found that 68 percent of faculty members had seen plagiarism in students. Students often copy a few sentences from a written source without referencing or footnoting. While this may not seem like a huge number, it does suggest an increasingly serious problem. For this reason, universities and colleges need to make it a priority to curb the problem of plagiarism. These efforts are needed, but only if they are being taken seriously.
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