This week’s readings, in all fairness, projected a very dismal and perhaps existential climate about a world where things are grey. People will resort to underhand measure in a bid to survive and fare well. It’s week 9, after all.
I feel that one cannot inspire a very enthusiastic stance in students against plagiarism. The dissemination of this information can at best be procedural. In most cases, students find this information boring. I wonder if the class has any suggestions to lighten up this information heavy process. In all honesty, I am big supporter of the 'Honor Code' as that in my mind, places the individual on the highest ontological pedestal. But, I don't know if undergraduates honor such lofty goals at their age, but it surely does suit the graduate students. I like Davis' idea of holding a class discussion on cheating and paying special attention to international students as they may have different notions of academic integrity.
Having the students critically analyze a paper from an online purchase paper site, is a good way of putting things in perspective for them. It helps them realize the obvious pitfalls of mediocre writing and price scams of such enterprises. I agree with Lang’s view that the temptation to cheat can be decentralized and spread across greater number of exams and tests, as opposed to just a couple of exams in the grade pressure cooker. However, as counter measures for plagiarism, I want to understand the class’s view on the legality and ethicality of websites like turnitin.com.
In case a student is found involved in some suspicious activity tantamount to plagiarism, I like Davis’ approach of calling it ‘copying or citing insufficient sources’ as opposed to blatant plagiarism. This ensures that the students don’t go on their defensive side immediately, as they are more worried about the consequences of such an act. Lang suggests that students be given the benefit of the doubt, should a minor case of cheating arise. However, in case of indubitable evidence toward plagiarism, it’s better to follow the institution’s policies and keep a detached stance to the situation. It’s true that one wouldn’t want to be known as ‘the second-chance’ teacher on campus.
I agree with Davis that one’s learning outcomes for students should form the framework for an exam. So, if I focus on Bloom’s Knowledge, Comprehension and Analysis skills in the cognitive skills hierarchy for my students’ learning outcomes, then I should test my students on the same. Using different testing formats for students with different learning styles should also address the problem of test validity and reliability. Since, students are not being judged on just one format, they have the option to show the diversity of their intellect. In that vein, I like Lang’s idea of creating unique assignments and test for students, which require them to invest their own thoughts into the venture. I can see how this might reduce the possibility of plagiarism.
As concerns my teaching philosophy, essay and matching tests gel in well with my goals. I am also with the idea of cumulative testing as that ensures students can reference the text back and forth and make deeper connections while prepping. The concept of portfolio is interesting, but what is the time commitment on the instructor’s part at keeping track of it and eventually grading it?
I like the idea of giving the students the freedom to decide the number of tests they can take and/or combine with another element of testing (exam). For multiple choice questions, I like the idea of ‘You are the teacher’ and ‘assertion-reason’ types of questions as they focus on my goals for higher learning in students. It’s a good idea to acknowledge cultural differences in grading, especially with international students.
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