Same old, same old… · Fri Oct 13, 22:37 by Eleri Straker
Over the years, I’ve made the same speech over and over again to my GCSE classes. It’s about plagiarism. I explain what it is and how it incurs serious penalties if the student is found to have done it. And every year, to varying degrees, one or more students try it.
The best one was a few years ago when Macbeth was on the GCSE syllabus and one of my students, a boy who believed that work was for other people, handed me his coursework essay on the Scottish play. I was very pleased as the work was about six months overdue and the exam was getting close. Then I read the essay.
The moment I read the bit about the ‘dark designs of the wyrd sisters’, I knew I had a problem. Had this boy been an A student, I wouldn’t have bothered checking, but the most this character had ever achieved was a D, so I was immediately suspicious. I went on the Web…and there it was. The complete essay. He hadn’t even bothered to alter any of the words; it was just a download. So I downloaded the essay myself and went to find the boy. When I found him I asked him if the essay was his own work.
“Yes of course,” was the reply. So having given him the chance to come clean, I showed him the essay I had just downloaded and asked him how it was that I had found the identical piece of work.
Unbelievably he still claimed the work was original and all his own!
Then on the day that it was announced that coursework would be phased out, owing to students cheating, it happened again.
The Chav princess of my year 11 group, who hasn’t done any work at all for the last eighteen months as, like the boy mentioned above, believes work is for other people, handed me two essays.
As she has claimed of late that she has turned over a new leaf and is now going to catch up, I was very pleased. Then I read the first essay. The language was polished and slick. And way beyond anything Princess could ever manage. So, with a sinking heart, I switched on my computer and did a search. It didn’t take long. In fact it was the first item on the page I sought. Her film review, a media coursework piece, was a download, right down to the pictures. The only thing she had changed was the by-line. Then I read the second essay and yes, that too was from the Web. OK, it wasn’t a complete download like the first piece, but it may well have been.
At the end of the next lesson I asked Princess to stay behind as I didn’t want to embarrass her in front of the class then asked her if the work was her own. She replied that it was, then added that her mum had helped her a bit then blurted out that she hadn’t looked gone on her computer… Of course, as I hadn’t mentioned the Internet her guilt was clear. I explained as calmly as I could that I couldn’t accept the work, as it wasn’t original. In fact, I didn’t even manage to complete the sentence as she tossed her head, told me that she didn’t have time for this and flounced out.
A week has passed since then and Princess still hasn’t done the work. But oddly enough, considering her appalling behaviour of the last year, I feel no anger towards her, only a sort of sad weariness. Princess has little going for her and she is, apparently under parental pressure to get her act together or else… The grade report that will go home next week will reflect the fact that she still has not completed the required work. She will get a hard time from her parents and will have to suffer the consequences. But the work still has to be done.
I actually understand why Princess cheated. I think she was desperate. She knows that she has really messed up and is panicking. So I haven’t said anything. She knows she is in the wrong and I hope that sometime soon she will realise that I haven’t punished her (I don’t need to do I?) and she will either come to talk to me, or, actually hand in some original work. At least, that’s what I hope will happen. I’m going to give her time to do this as I hope she will see this as some sort of saving face. But of course, I could be completely wrong and she will convince herself that the plagiarised work is acceptable.
But it depresses me to think that so many students, both from school and university feel that plagiarism is the way to go if they can’t do, or can’t be bothered to do the work themselves. It’s sad and ironic that most of these students would never, ever steal money or property, yet see nothing wrong in stealing thought.
