On Wed, 8 Dec 1999, John Serafin wrote:
(commenting on Marc Turner's post about a suspected case of
double-dipping):
><snip>
> However, having said all of that, I'm not sure what is the best way to
> approach this. If you go to your colleague and say "so-and-so turned in a
> paper to me that I think he may also have turned in to you," you may
> technically be violating the student's rights to confidentiality.
Interesting point. Is a term paper handed in to an instructor a
confidential document? Is showing the paper to a colleague a
breech of that confidentiality? Or is consulting with a colleague
concerning a submission analogous to a doctor consulting with another
doctor about the appropriate treatment for a patient?
In any case, John thinks that the violation might be "technical" and
if this is intended to mean "not serious", then I agree. How else are
we going to determine whether double-dipping has occurred without
consulting with other instructors?
I'd say that the instructor has a duty to consult a colleague about
his/her suspicions. If a technical breech of confidentiality is a
concern, perhaps a note could be added to the submission instructions
warning the student that in suspicious cases the paper may be shown to
colleagues. And I agree with other posters who said that students
should be told in advance, in writing, that double-dipping is
unacceptable. If the inquiry turns up negative, the student need never
know that the paper was questioned in the first place. If the inquiry
results in discovering that the student was dishonest, let him/her
sue. Isn't this why we have university lawyers?
-Stephen
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Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661
Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lennoxville, QC
J1M 1Z7
Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at:
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