Introduction

Picture this: a student in a freshman English class at Elco University is accused of plagiarism and must face a trial in front of the University Honor Court. Will he be found innocent or guilty?

The Quest

Your job is to gather information on plagiarism, from definitions to examples and ramifications. Based on your internet research and what you have learned about plagiarism, your job is to find the student innocent or guilty.

The Process and Resources

Setting up for the 'Trial of the Century'
1. Divide into groups of 4-5 students.
2. Each in the group will need to choose a roll: student, teacher/instructor, original writer, and director of the honor court.

Notice: Save all preparation notes to your student server folder.

Phase 1 - Background: Something for Everyone

Here are general references for preparing for your roll in the trial.

• Plagiarism in Colleges in USA - The site by Ronald Standler examines plagiarism from a legal perspective, with examples, court cases, ramifications from college honor councils, etc. Ronald Standler is attorney in private practice, licensed to practice law in Massachusetts but also licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent Office. He concentrates in higher-education law, computer law, and copyright law.
• What is Plagiarism? - This Georgetown University site provides overall information on plagiarism, from definition to students' defense of plagiarizing.
• Avoiding Plagiarism/ Purdue University Online - This site focuses on how to avoid accidental plagiarism.
• Avoiding Plagiarism/ UC Davis - This site includes a section on why the writer should be concerned about plagiarism and examples of plagiarism.
• Student Plagiarism in an Online World - This site by Julie J.C.H. Ryan centers on methods to detect plagiarism in student writing. Julie J.C.H. Ryan is a graduate teaching assistant at George Washington University and an information security consultant.
• Plagiarism: What It Is and and How to Recognize and Avoid It - This Indiana University site provides good examples of plagiarized writing.

Phase 2 - Looking Deeper from Different Perspectives

You are expected to work from the perspective of your roll.

role, job or perspective #1

Shady Sam - the student who plagiarized in his paper
As Shady Sam, your job is to defend yourself against the plagiarism charge. Use the following questions to guide your search.

1. What are some 'excuses' given by students for plagiarism?
2. Can a teacher prove I plagiarized the paper?

role, job or perspective #2

Dr. Knowsalot - the teacher/instructor defining plagiarism
As Dr. Knowsalot, your job as the teacher/ instructor is to be an expert on the definition of plagiarism and the ways to avoid plagiarism. Use the following questions to guide your search.

1. What is plagiarism?
2. What are strategies to recognize plagiarism?
3. What are strategies to avoid plagiarism?

role, job or perspective #3

Professor Copyright - the victim, the professor whose work was plagiarized
As Professor Copyright, your job as the victim is to prove how the student plagiarized. Use the following questions to guide your search.

1. In what way did the student steal your words?
2. In what way did the student steal your ideas?
3. How did the student's plagiarism come to your attention?

role, job or perspective #4

Director Integrity - the chairman of the university's honor court
As Director Integrity, your job is to discuss the penalty for plagiarism by examining punishments given to past offenders. Use the following questions to guide your search.

1. What are some plagiarism penalties established by universities for both students and professors?
2. What are the legal ramifications of plagiarism?

Phase 3 - Debating, Discussing, and Reaching Consensus

You and your teammates have learned a lot by dividing up into different roles. Now is the time to put your learning into a real world situation. Here is the task.

1. Summarize your role's defenses/arguments into a chart - from strongest to weakest.

2. Cite your examples on a visual aid big enough to be shared with the rest of the class.

3. Have students separate from their original group and join with same-role students from other groups - example: all the Sams together, all the teachers together, etc.

4. Now it is showtime. The day of your big project is here. Shady Sam will go before the honor court to defend himself against the charge of plagiarism.

One person from each like-group will represent the role and speak for that role in the court proceedings. There will be one Sam, one teacher/instructor, one victim, and one director of the honor court. All students are expected to help prepare the speaker's defense/ argument. Each group must prepare notecards to aid the speaker in the court proceedings.

5. After the speakers are identified, pick two members from each group to be members of the jury. The classroom teacher will be the bailiff to maintain order while an objective outside person (an administrator or guest) will be the judge. All others students will be members of the audience.

Together you will conduct the trial that will determine Shady Sam's innocence or guilt.

Phase 4 - Real World Feedback

Grading will be based on the research, preparation and presentation of the roles. Each student will be graded also on the amount of work that each has done.

Your Contact is: the designated contact

Conclusion

So is Sam innocent or guilty? What punishment should he receive if he is guilty? Well, when you're blindfolded and only *looking* at one part, it's easy to come up with an answer that may not be completely right. It's the same for understanding a topic as broad or complex as Plagiarism: when you only know part of the picture, you only know part of the picture. Now you all know a lot more. Nice work. You should be proud of yourselves! How can you use what you've learned to see beyond the black and white of a topic and into the grayer areas? What other parts of Plagiarism could still be explored? Remember, learning never stops.