Jessa Whitley

Professor Bruce

ENGL 301

7 December 2017

MLA style

Is our Education System to Blame for Pervasive Plagiarism?

Research Question:

Plagiarism is taking someone else's ideas and displaying them as your own. While much

of plagiarism is done deliberately, there are many students that unknowingly plagiarize because

they have not been taught what constitutes plagiarism. What modern strategies can teachers

implement to better educate students about the specifics of plagiarism?

Working Thesis:

Many high-school and college students are seen as lazy and dishonest when they are

caught plagiarizing, however, there is evidence to suggest that some plagiarism committed by

students is due to the lack of instruction by teachers about the rules of plagiarism, as well as the

pressure put on students to excel in school.

Working Intro:

Students have many expectations put on them, however, frequently, students are not

educated, or proficient enough to meet these expectations. Students are met with pressure from

their parents, their schools, and their peers to meet unrealistic expectations. This pressure causes

students to rely on whatever means necessary in order to excel, even if it means compromising

their sense of ethics. While many students plagiarize due to this pressure to excel, others simply

have not been educated about what constitutes plagiarism. While these factors do not pardon
students of their offenses, they do bring to light the fact that some of the blame is to be put on the

education system.

Annotations

Dant, Doris R.. "Plagiarism in High School: A Survey." The English Journal. vol. 75, no. 2,

1986.

a. In her article, Doris Dant states that plagiarism is prevalent throughout high schools due to the

lack of accountability and education concerning about the rules of plagiarism.

b. I will use the statistics and facts within this source to back up my statements about the lack of

plagiarism education in high schools. This source provides survey results and research that will

strengthen my argument and thesis.

Heckler, Nina C., et al. "Turnitin Systems: A Deterrent to Plagiarism in College Classrooms."

Journal of Research on Technology in Education. vol. 45, no. 3, 2013, pp. 229-48.

EBSCOhost.

a. This article speaks about the effectiveness of plagiarism deterrents such as Turnitin.com and

speaks about the lack of plagiarism education in schools.

b. I will use this article to suggest some deterrents to plagiarism as well as to outline the lack

education about what constitutes plagiarism. I will use the arguments and statistics within this

article to support and strengthen my own arguments about the lack of plagiarism education. I

will speak about the success of deterrents such as Turnitin, however, I will also use this article to

argue that deterrents such as this do not help to educate students about plagiarism.
Soiferman, L. Karen. "Problems of Policing Plagiarism and Cheating in University Institutions

Due to Incomplete or Inconsistent Definitions." Education Resources Information Center.

2016.

a. This article speaks about the ambiguity and lack of consistency behind definitions of

plagiarism. It argues that this ambiguity is one of the causes of plagiarism in schools.

b. I will use this article to support my argument that there is not enough education about

plagiarism in schools and that one of the main reasons that students plagiarize is because of their

misinformation and confusion about what constitutes plagiarism.

Blackwell, Charles W., et al. "Preventing and Detecting Plagiarism in the Written Work of

college Students." Journal of Diversity Management. vol. 1, no. 2, 2006. Clute Institute.

a. This article speaks about the reasons that students plagiarize and provides suggestions for

combatting and detecting plagiarism.

b. I will use the information within this article to strengthen my argument that some of the main

reasons that students procrastinate is the pressure from society and schools to excel in their

classes as well as the lack of education about plagiarism. This article provides information such

as the results of a study done asking students why they have procrastinated. This study will

strengthen my argument and provide evidence to support my claims.