D.++Avoiding+Plagiarism

Plagiarism will be a problem in any information assignment unless you give students the tools they need to avoid it.

Consider: A district-wide Academic-Integrity Policy. Assessment of parts of the project while in progress to avoid last-minute completion. Having students write a reflective piece that journals their learning process (I learned... I'd do this differently... I'd do this again... A new strategy that worked for me.... What surprised me most... etc.)

Suggestions from Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, creators of The Big Six Skills for Information Management:


 * Actively teach Use of Information skills and have students practice them separately before you introduce the Synthesis step.
 * Work on a culture of giving attribution by modeling citing in teacher's work and by requiring citing in all work all the time. Do not accept work without citations, and require citing in class discussions as well as other types of expression (regardless of medium).
 * Create assignments that ask "good questions". Avoid assignments that are merely descriptive (which are easy to copy). Assignments that require students to use higher-order thinking are not easily copied.

Make citing easy (or at least, easier). Use a free online citation tool like Citation Machine or a reasonably-priced, full-featured tool like Noodletools that students can access the entire time they are working online.