By Richard Beaudry
In the era of computers and research, students often find themselves tempted to use information they find online and cut and paste it into homework or assignments as their own work. It is not always intentional. Not all students have had the benefit of being taught key concepts and strategies in the selection and use of information either in the classroom or by a teacher-librarian. Without this framework for teaching and learning information literacy skills across the curriculum, they do not have a foundation in how to use information ethically and legally. These issues coalesce when students reach middle years and secondary school where they now are asked to seek information sources on their own. Ideally students should be exposed to a continuum of critical literacies, research ethics and information literacy throughout K-12.
- Critical Literacy: Focuses on how and in whose interests the information found is used. Students need to know how to determine the authenticity and reliability of sources found in print and in digital format.
- Ethics of Information Use: Students must understand the values associated with the fair and honest use of information they find in print and in digital format. They need to represent the work of authors accurately and appropriately. They need to have a respect for the confidentiality and intellectual property of authors and understand the illegal uses of knowledge and information.
- Information Literacy: Understanding how to find resources and sources that can help the student organize and structure information, synthesize new knowledge with note taking and finally using and presenting the new knowledge.
In “Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at our Fingertips” (Sparrow, Liu, and Wedner, 2011) the authors conclude that the Internet impacts rates of recall of the information and whether encoding is increased for where the information is to be found rather than for the information itself.
They conducted four experiments with students using computers to access information and their conclusions are that students recall where the information came from rather than the information itself. This reliance on knowing where information can be located rather than what the information is about is not conducive to successful research by students in schools.
With access to digital schools starting early, students learn pretty fast that Google is an endless access to sources of information We all know what happens when ‘just Google it’ is the only strategy students have for finding information. Students are always amazed when you show them how to get the most out of this information source by applying Advanced Google tools or using Google Scholar. But in order for students to get the most out of even these most basic search tools students need to understand their topic enough to develop good key words and search terms to get best results. This brings us to a basic tenant of assignments that involve research. Research is not an assignment event. It is a process that involves teaching interventions all along the journey.
So as teacher librarians, how can we collaborate with classroom teachers to infuse these teaching interventions and thus enhance the research skills of students? To ensure that students have effective research methodology, there needs to be an understanding of the literacy skills that students require to be lifelong learners. There needs to be an instructional shift towards teaching these literacies so that students understand how to research and write papers that meet the rigorous standards necessary for success.
Cut and pasting
Looking at cut and pasting, teacher librarians, in collaboration with the classroom teachers, can provide students with learning experiences that will allow them to grasp the concepts related to ethics of information use and plagiarism and avoid it in future assignment submissions. If critical literacy isn’t discussed with students in K-12 education, they will not perceive it as an important issue when doing research. If students don’t understand that it is essential to move away from the concept of cut and pasting and not adding citations, why not continue with the practice?
Most post-secondary instructors pass out a syllabus, typically on the first day of the course, to explain the plagiarism policies and information. Adopting strategies in K-12 instruction will allow students to consider what copying and pasting entails and how it can be avoided. Unless students experience it, which can be done through literacy instruction, their understanding of it will remain limited. Although plagiarism may not be completely preventable, students may benefit from providing them with the opportunity to learn about behaviours that constitute plagiarism and to practice citation and referencing skills (Chuda et al., 2012).
What constitutes plagiarism?
It can be:
- Copying the work of someone else
- Citing a source incorrectly
- Not citing a source
- Creating sources that don’t exist.
- Handing work from someone else as your own work.
How common is plagiarism in high school?
According to the McCabe study, the percentage of students handing written work by others in high school is very high (58% admitted to committing plagiarism) so it needs to be addressed.
What else can be considered plagiarism?
- Keeping any of the original document without quotations, even if the work is cited.
- Keeping the original sentence structure without quotations, even if cited (no cutting and pasting or using synonyms)
- Not using of their own ideas (the entire paper is cited)
- Improperly paraphrasing or misrepresenting the author’s original intentions
Why does plagiarism occur in high schools?
- It is often due to a lack of prioritization of their allotted time to do the work. The student is either multitasking between studies and a job or meeting multiple assignment deadlines during the school year.
- In the view of the student, ‘copy-pasting’ is faster than composing the own paper and typing out original material and so Internet plagiarism is a quick solution.
- The desire for good grades either due to the constant pressure generated by teachers, parents, and peers.
- Lack of knowledge about what constitutes plagiarism and how to work legally and ethically with information.
- Assignments that do not value information skills and ethics.
- Assignments that are not supported by information skills interventions.
What is the big deal with copy pasting and not citing work?
- In high school you could get a failing grade on the paper or homework and be required to do a re-write of the work
- You could be suspended or be expelled from college for handing in work that is not properly credited or cited.
- You could lose your job for taking ideas from someone else or writing a document that is not in your own words.
- You will lose recommendations when applying to another college or for application to future employment.
Tools for citations and writing papers
- Purdue Online Writing Lab – OWL
- The online writing lab offers global support through online reference materials and services for creating citations, cover letters, major-specific writing help, and general writing advice.
- Citation Machine
- Citation Machine helps students and professionals properly credit the information that they use. Cite sources in APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian
- EasyBib
- EasyBib has tools to help you create citations for over 50 source types in this style, as well as a guide to show you how an MLA paper should be formatted.
- A Research Guide for Students
- It provides guidelines for the technical aspects of writing a paper such as layout and style guides as well as a plethora of links to other research resources on just about every topic imaginable.
- Grammarly – Compose bold, clear, mistake-free writing
- Correct grammar mistakes and other writing errors with Grammarly’s online grammar checker.
- Are these my own words?
- This site is a very helpful tutorial written for students to help them avoid plagiarism from Waterloo Region District School Board Library Learning Commons
Instead of copy pasting, students have two choices
- Using a direct quotation
- Use the author’s exact words in “quotation marks”.
- Don’t make ANY changes.
- Cite the author’s name and add the information in the reference area.
That tells your teacher that “I did not write this. This is another author’s words.”
- Paraphrasing
- To start off, read through and take notes.
- After reading a paragraph ask yourself, “What did I just read?”
- Write a list of the main facts.
- Take notes that relate directly to your research.
- Explain the main ideas of the document in your own words.
- Cite the source.
How to locate information
- The students need to think about sources that suit their needs.
- It is best to first consider sources they already have:
- Reading material studied in class (e.g., textbook articles, library books, encyclopedias, databases, newspapers, etc.).
- Finding visual and/or audio texts (e.g., YouTube, films, documentaries …).
- Then search the library catalogue and the internet for other resources.
- They need to refine search terms to make their searches broader or narrower.
- They need to evaluate the quality of the information source. Teach students how to approach every information source with a critical thinking stance and ask lots of questions such as:
- ‘How current is it?’
- ‘How reliable is the author and is it relevant to the task?’
- They need to practice lateral reading by doing some fact-checking on the author and the content in question.
How to search online
- Students should be taught to use a variety of search engines other than just ‘Google’. Google Scholar, Wolfram Alpha, ISeek Education are good examples.
- Google Scholar – web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.
- Wolfram Alpha – a unique search engine for computing answers and providing knowledge.
- Iseek Education – a targeted search engine for students and teachers.
- Use unique terms that are specific to the subject you are researching. For example, instead of searching for “cats,” include the breed of the cat.
- Use the Advanced search settings. This will help narrow the number of sites that appear.
- Include the words ‘for kids’ or ‘for students’ after you have typed in your key words, phrases or question. You will find these sites easier to read and understand.
- Use words that are most likely to appear on websites.
- Use quotation marks to search for specific phrases. This limits the search results to only those webpages that contain the exact phrase you’ve specified, for example “water pollution in Canada”.
- When doing research online, it is best link directly to the source and do a site search. Example: a website ending in .edu will give useful information geared for students.
- Have multiple tabs open in your browser. This allows the student to transition from one site to the others and compare the usefulness of information.
- Each time a student searches the Internet, they should make sure to have a bibliography generator (Citation Machine) open to save a reference to the website. They should make sure to check that all the information has been included. They should also check with their teacher librarian or teacher as to the preferred bibliography format that should be used (APA, MLA, Chicago).
Critical literacy, ethics of information use and information literacy are three important components that contribute to better research skills for students in Canadian schools. A collaboration between the teacher librarian and the classroom teacher to focus on these literacy skills in K-12 education and value them by making them components of teaching interventions, project design criteria and assessment is critical. Students will improve their research output as they become attuned to demonstrating that they understand what they have read and have made it their own. Students will become responsible researchers as they learn how to acknowledge the work of others. These are important first steps in life-long learning.
References
Chuda, D., Navrat, P., Kovacova, B., & Humay, P. (2012). The issue of (software) plagiarism: A student view. IEEE Transactions of Education, 55 (1), 22-28
McAbe, D. L., Klebe Treviño, L., & Butterfield, K. D. (2001, January 31). Cheating in academic institutions: A Decade of Research. Cheating in Academic Institutions: A Decade of Research. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228603457_Cheating_in_Academic_Institutions_A_Decade_of_Research
Sparrow, B., Liu, J., & Wegner, D. M. (2011). Google effects on memory: Cognitive consequences … – Harvard University. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/dwegner/files/sparrow_et_al._2011.pdf
Richard Beaudry is an Information Specialist, Teacher Librarian, certified ALA Librarian and Fellow of the Library Association of Ireland. Since July 2020, Richard has been the Coordinator of the Teacher Librarian Diploma and Certificate Program at UBC. Richard is particularly known for his activities to promote human rights and freedom of information, particularly as they relate to the censorship of materials in school libraries. Richard was the recipient of the 2020 BCTLA’s President’s award for his advocacy for teacher librarians in BC and the 2016 Canadian Association of Library Associations’ Award for the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada, and most recently BCTLA’s Val Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award.