Professor Shuns Plagiarism Police Role

In her new book, My Word! Plagiarism and College Culture, University of Notre Dame anthropologist Susan D. Blum promotes a proactive academic integrity appeal to students that encourages recognizing originality and distinguishing between levels of plagiarism (It’s Culture, Not Morality, Inside Higher Ed, February 3, 2009). With a greater emphasis on collaboration and a "entirely different concept of ownership," today's students need more education on what is acceptable when using the work of others in assignments rather than a heavy emphasis on the penalties for plagiarism. Also, constructing assignments to minimize the opportunity for plagiarism is an important academic integrity tool for professors.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do most professors assume that students know what academic integrity means by the time they reach college?
2. How much do professors explain acceptable practices when students work on assignments?
3. Do you think most professors agree that it's a good idea for students to work together on projects?
4. Is all plagiarism equally bad? Or is forgetting to cite a source worse than copying a paragraph from a book and not putting quotes around it?