Intellectual Property: The Rights to Thoughts
Plagiarism at New Design Middle School
Middle School Grade 8
Lynda
Watkins-Turner
lwatkins-turner@newdesignmiddle.org
INTRODUCTION:
Middle School
(and all of our formal educational years) requires a lot of Standard based
writing.
With all of the
demands that this writing entails, it can become tempting to take short cuts.
When these shortcuts involve using other “people’s*” ideas as our own, without
giving credit, can become problematic–with serious consequences.
Using other
people’s* intellectual property as your own is called “plagiarism.”
There is no place for plagiarism in middle
school, high school, college, or any level of education. As a matter of fact,
there are severe penalties if you are caught plagiarizing someone else’s work;
such as written warnings, suspensions, and even expulsion.
Now there is
much talk about ChatGPT–an Artificial Intelligence ChatBot–
which is why “people” is in quotation marks.
Whether it is
another person’s written work or a robot’s compilation of thoughts, if it is not your original thought and you
do not give credit, it is considered plagiarism.
OUR MISSION/PROJECT
DEFINED:
TASK:
In this
project, we will:
1) define plagiarism as *“other’s intellectual
property without giving credit,” and
2) we will try to find solutions to avoid the
temptation of resorting to plagiarism, especially in this technologically
driven age to the problem of plagiarism.
–*definition
submitted by Ms. Watkins-Turner (Social Studies/Class 803.)
|
Using other people’s intellectual property
as your own (types of plagiarism) |
PROCESS
Task 1: Plagiarism IS Avoidable!
Lesson Plan Day #1 (This is a 2-week Project: We will
carefully follow the Parts of the PPA (Public Policy Analyst) Below:
(Worksheets provided)
●
–After an overview of plagiarism by the teacher, the class will turn and
talk about their “Do Now” answers.
●
–Do Now: What is plagiarism? Do you think you ever knowingly or
unknowingly use plagiarism?
●
–Teacher will show a video about plagiarism (with a note catcher for
students to write their thoughts.)
● –The Class will be
broken into pairs by the teacher (random is fine.) Student A and Student B.
● –Students will have access to prior portfolio work–a written
assignment.
● –Students will switch work and then spend the rest of the
class re-writing each other’s work.
The emphasis
will be on:
Keeping the
idea/theme intact, but also rewriting the entire paper without using plagiarism.
For example:
Here are some
tools that can be used:
Definitions:
–Paraphrasing:
To express the meaning of a writer using different words.
–Actual Quotes
from the text: Use quotation marks around words, thoughts that are exactly as
the original writer expressed.
–Students will
discuss the outcomes.
Student A
expresses to Student B
–Each student
records notes of their discussion
Part I:
Materials:
–Portfolio Material
(Written)
–Note catcher
–Student to Student
Checklist (Plagiarism or not?)
–Resource video
–Rubric
https://www.middleweb.com/32273/how-to-stop-student-plagiarism-before-it-starts/
–A Rubric will be used
to grade your contributions.
More Resources:
THE FINAL TASK WILL BE PRODUCING A BULLETIN BOARD
WITH THE STUDENTS” FINDINGS:
All work from the Project will be displayed and
there will be
A Rubric to determine the grades of each student.
We will use the following Steps of Public Policy Analyst
THE STEPS OF PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST
*Please follow these steps
to ensure proper completion of Task: 1-6 (Use all attached worksheets.)*
DAY 1. Define
the Problem–Plagiarism
DAY 2. Gather
the Evidence
DAY 3. Identify the Causes
DAY 4. Evaluate an Existing Policy–
Consequences of Mild, Moderate & Severe Plagiarism
Published
on October 18, 2021 by Tegan
George. Revised on July 26, 2022.
If you use someone else’s words or
ideas without properly crediting them, you could be committing plagiarism. The consequences of plagiarism vary based on the
severity of the offense.
Evaluation:
|
Level of plagiarism |
Examples |
Likely consequence |
|
Mild |
● Source cited in text but left out of reference list ● Quotation marks omitted around a quote |
Grade penalty or automatic zero |
|
Moderate |
● Text copied from a source with a few words changed ● Source paraphrased without citation |
Failing grade on course |
|
Severe |
● Patchwork of different texts passed off as original ● Paper written by someone else |
Academic probation or expulsion |
Plagiarism can also have serious
consequences in high school and during the college
application process. Many
high schools use plagiarism checkers and treat plagiarism the same way colleges do, and
admissions officers will typically disregard your application if they find
you’ve plagiarized any part of it.
DAY 5. Develop Solutions
DAY 6. Select
the Best Solution
Here are
resources that will be useful to help you complete your project.
Resources:
Avoiding Plagiarism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzZsButRaHs
Paraphrasing
End with this QUIZ on what you have
learned about plagiarism:
https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=plagiarism_7
EVALUATION:
RUBRIC FOR PRESENTATION and WRITTEN
RESPONSE (SUMMARY) to be displayed on Bulletin Board
by Ms. Watkins-Turner
|
Indicator |
Exemplary! 4 |
Good 3 |
Passing 2 |
More Effort Needed 1 |
|
Designed/Developed Completed Writing and shared with partner |
Ideas were shared with strong evidence to
support details (Based on Notes) |
Ideas were shared with some evidence to support
details |
Ideas were clear, but the reasons are unclear,
absent, or incomplete. |
Very little thought given to ideas or no ideas
shared |
|
Followed PPA |
PPA was followed step by step and worksheets
were completed |
The majority of the PPA was followed, but not
all steps. (The outcome could have been stronger with all
the PPA steps followed.) |
Some of the steps of the PPA were followed, but
it lack of some steps affected the outcome |
None of the PPA steps were followed or The ones that were followed were not followed
correctly; Incomplete worksheets, for example. |
|
Visual/Presentation “Bulletin Board Ready” |
The Presentation showed a clear Understanding of What is Plagiarism And paraphrasing ,
Summaries and Quotations. |
The Presentation showed an understanding of What is Plagiarism. |
The Presentation showed a vague understanding of What is Plagiarism. |
The Presentation did not show an understanding of What is Plagiarism. |
|
Knowledge of Subject |
The Written Summary Piece: Strong connection to the research. Written Summary well researched as evidenced by
the references to the resources provided; Other sources may have been
referenced outside of the provided resources. |
The Written Summary Piece: Strong connection to the research. Written Summary well researched as evidenced by
the references to the resources provided. |
The Written Summary Piece: Had a connection to the research provided. |
Minimum or no connection to the research provided |
|
Writing (Spelling & Grammar) |
Mechanics reflect careful editing. |
A few errors present, but they do not distract. |
Mechanical errors distract at times. |
Distracting mechanical errors throughout. |
|
Teacher Comments: |
|
|
|
|
CONCLUSION:
Hopefully, we
have all learned more about plagiarism: what it is and what it is not.
We learned from
each other by working together; sharing our writing and re-writing
others’--without resorting to
plagiarism!
We have become
better, more confident writers, by trusting in our own original ideas!
–GREAT JOB!!
–Ms.
Watkins-Turner (Ms. WT)
Class 803
***************************************************************************
STANDARDS: New
York State
ELA:
Writing Anchor
Standards Text Types and Purposes STANDARD 1: Write arguments to support claims
in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and
relevant and sufficient evidence.
STANDARD 2:
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and
information clearly and accurately through the effective selection,
organization, and analysis of content