OK - I took the Google challenge and did a string search on my proposed paraphrases.
Google failed to produce matches for any of them. I must say, I'm a little surprised. (It's that million chickens typing assumption - one of these must have a match among all that material on the web!) But now I'm also feeling a little bit smug. J TIPsters are welcome to use my assignment on paraphrasing. I know of a site or two that links to this material. I'd appreciate hearing from you and learning whether students improve their paraphrasing! I like to know who is using it. Hah - I just tried a search on the original text. Google doesn't bring up matching results for "damage to or complete destruction of sensory hair cells" either . . . so maybe the debate can continue. You do get some hits in Google if the quotations are omitted, but the words are broken up in the text and nothing shows up (on the first page of hits) that looks as close to the original text as the sentence Carol quoted from the student's paper. Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D. Director, Center for University Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Associate Professor, Psychology University of West Florida Pensacola, FL 32514 - 5751 Phone: (850) 857-6355 or 473-7435 e-mail: [email protected] From: Shearon, Tim [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 3:05 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Reality check Claudia and Carol (and Stephen and Chris and Michael . . . ) :) Claudia, I think you make a good point that the phrase could have been written differently- but given the number of possible sources for this material, all phrasing it slightly differently, I would not be surprised if several of them read remarkably like other quotations if you googled it or submitted it to one of the "checkers". (Claudia, I do really like your exercise in rephrasing! Mind if I steal it- :) Seriously, I would like to point students to this if you don't mind.) I'm agreeing, I think, with Chris and Stephen or a combination of several posts- How does one state that in such a way that it doesn't read like a quotation from some other source. Carol, did you get this quote (the one that started this) from their textbook or something you assigned? If so, then I'd have a bigger problem with it. If it is from something they referenced, I don't know what my response would be exactly- it would depend on the student, the course, and a host of other things- But you did say this was an upper level course? If so, then I think I'd be a bit firmer about it. To be honest though, I think I'd err on the side of teaching- perhaps have them rewrite it (but I bet it is too late for that now!). Or lowering the grade with a warning about careful rephrasing. (BTW- this IS one reason I am deciding against assigning writing that is due at the very end of the term- I can't make them re-write it!!) Tim _______________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Professor and Chair Department of Psychology The College of Idaho Caldwell, ID 83605 email: [email protected] teaching: intro to neuropsychology; psychopharmacology; general; history and systems "You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." Dorothy Parker ________________________________ From: Claudia Stanny [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sun 5/10/2009 1:40 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Reality check How many different ways? Hearing loss is frequently caused by damage to some or all of the sensory receptors in the ear. no results found Usually hearing loss is caused by damage to or death of sensory hair cells. no results found Most hearing impairment can be attributed to damaged hair cells in the ear. In some cases, receptor cells are destroyed. no results When hair cells stop functioning because of damage (broken hairs) or because of cell death, hearing loss occurs. no results I could go on . . . it isn't that hard if you understand the original text. The problem is that students frequently do not understand the original so they have no clue how to write this differently and still communicate the same information. I have an exercise on paraphrasing on me faculty web page. One example entails paraphrasing part of a method section of a paper. Challenging, but not impossible. http://uwf.edu/cstanny/website/WritingResources.htm Miguel Roig has done some nice work on teaching students about paraphrasing, too. Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D. Director, Center for University Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Associate Professor, Psychology University of West Florida Pensacola, FL 32514 - 5751 Phone: (850) 857-6355 or 473-7435 e-mail: [email protected] |-----Original Message----- |From: DeVolder Carol L [mailto:[email protected]] |Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 2:07 PM |To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) |Subject: RE: [tips] Reality check | |What I'm finding is that, rather than explaining things in their own |words, students are stringing together phrases lifted directly from |articles. It makes me very angry that students think I'm dumb enough to |know when they do or don't know what they are talking about. This is an |upper-level course. I realize I asked for it by requiring a brief paper |(5-7 pages, 3 refs from primary sources, etc.). It is my deeply-held |belief that I should not lower my standards by having them do things |that don't require writing. I have them write short papers throughout |the course that involve critical thinking and reasoning, and are not |APA-style activities, but I think they should be able to complete this |brief assignment without plagiarizing. | |Carol L. DeVolder, Ph.D. |Professor of Psychology |Chair, Department of Psychology |St. Ambrose University |518 West Locust Street |Davenport, Iowa 52803 | |Phone: 563-333-6482 |e-mail: [email protected] |web: http://web.sau.edu/psychology/psychfaculty/cdevolder.htm | |The contents of this message are confidential and may not be shared with |anyone without permission of the sender. | | | |-----Original Message----- |From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] |Sent: Sun 5/10/2009 1:57 PM |To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) |Subject: Re: [tips] Reality check | |I think it boils down to how many different ways can you paraphrase that |sentence? I suspect if it's a limited report without a larger context |from which to paraphrase, that you might see a lot of similar sounding |attempts at paraphrase. | |Annette | |Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. |Professor of Psychology |University of San Diego |5998 Alcala Park |San Diego, CA 92110 |619-260-4006 |[email protected] | | |---- Original message ---- |>Date: Sun, 10 May 2009 13:17:19 -0500 |>From: "DeVolder Carol L" <[email protected]> |>Subject: [tips] Reality check |>To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" |<[email protected]> |> |>OK, I need a quick show of hands--plagiarism or not? |> |>Here is the sentence from the paper: |> |> When hearing loss exists, the main cause is damage or complete |destruction of sensory hair cells. |> |> |>Here is the sentence from the article: |> |> The principle cause of hearing loss is damage to or complete |destruction of sensory hair cells. |> |> |>I am encountering this so often, I'm starting to question my own |judgment. |> |> |>Thanks, |>Carol |> |> |>Carol L. DeVolder, Ph.D. |>Professor of Psychology |>Chair, Department of Psychology |>St. Ambrose University |>518 West Locust Street |>Davenport, Iowa 52803 |> |>Phone: 563-333-6482 |>e-mail: [email protected] |>web: http://web.sau.edu/psychology/psychfaculty/cdevolder.htm |> |>The contents of this message are confidential and may not be shared |with anyone without permission of the sender. |> |>--- |>To make changes to your subscription contact: |> |>Bill Southerly ([email protected]) |>________________ |>winmail.dat (4k bytes) | |--- |To make changes to your subscription contact: | |Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
