Christy Swanton, Editing Director
Company: Bright Minds Network

The statistics says that 25% of students currently enrolled in US colleges
and universities cheat and plagiarize essays, term papers, and research work
they are assigned. Colleges utilize plagiarism detection systems of
different kinds and of different prices to spot and stop copy-pasting. The
question that I want to raise is why do many teachers support plagiarism?
Sounds untrue? Read on then.

I work as an editing director of http://BrightMindsNet.com, the writing assistance company, and communicate with confused students that look for writing help and escape every single day.  Statistics again: the number of students that require
help with writing has increased by 44% since 1999.  While educators are
looking for the ways to stop plagiarism nobody really pays attention to the
reasons of its existence.

Here is the checklist for the teachers who understand the problem of
cheating and who feel that they can do more than just stuff every paper to
plagiarism detection systems.

Do your students have enough time?
Great number of students look for the way to cheat because the lack of time.
Most college students hold part-time jobs that naturally minimize their time
for studying. In my opinion, instructors should keep in mind that students
need more than a sleepless night to complete the assigned essay or paper
successfully.
You give your students a week to write a research paper, why not giving them
2 or 3 weeks instead? By providing the instructions for the essay that
should be turned back in 2 weeks you give a possibility to your students to
manage their time better.

Would you like to write this paper yourself?
Before you give the assignment take a minute to think, is this something
that YOU would enjoy writing about? Think about the possible ways for
changing the assignment and making it interesting for researching and
writing. Maybe you should make it useful, something that your students could
use in the future. Replace theory with practice.

Do you keep your essay topics and instructions updated?
You give this assignment every semester for the last 5 years? It’s about
time to change it. Give your students something entirely new and creative.
Let them make a discovery. Go to Google and try to find free essays on the
topic you want to assign. You have found several essays? CHANGE the
assignment.

Do your students express their own thoughts in their writing?
Some students that we assist ask us to incorporate their teachers’ thoughts
in the essay: “Would you please include in the paper that by saying “this”
the author meant “that”, because this is what my professor wants to hear”.
Don’t lower the grades if a student thinks differently than you do, let him
explain his point of view. Encourage their own thoughts, views and feeling,
don’t try to tell your students what is correct. You are the authority for
them, they will take your words as the truth and will not take time think
about the issue you are stressing. Let them doubt your words sometimes, they
will learn more debating this issue with you and will remember it longer.

How important the assignment is for your students?
Make your assignment important for the future career of your students. Let
them research something that they will be able to use later. They will be
eager to work if they know that this work is not just for passing the
subject. Try to make them comfortable with any grade you give them. Let them
know what they did right, don’t mark the mistakes only.

Can your students cope with their workload?
Keep in mind that your students take more than just your class. Remember,
reasonable amount of pages required for the term paper will mean that you
understand your students’ workload.

How well do you know your audience?
Become a market researcher. Prepare a simple survey and ask your students
what they liked about the assignment and what they disliked, did they have
enough information to complete it etc. You will get a clue of what your
listeners are looking for and they will know that you care. This practice
usually increases the students’ respect to the teacher. If they see that you
are trying they will try also.

The list can go on. I have exposed to your judgment some of the reasons that
I am well aware. Now it is your turn to make a difference in your classroom.

Personal Information: Christy Swanton, Editing Director
Company: Bright Minds Network
url: http://brightmindsnet.com