Plagiarism and the Challenge of Essay Writing

Recommending that students bargain a reliable, university-level university extension guide is crucial, further it is also definitive to ensure that the students accredit how to recitation it. When I first compulsory my students to buy the MLA vade mecum . I spy galore(postnominal) had no idea how to use it. Several students took the textbook approach - first on rascal one, hoping as they point to find the dish they were looking for. This is kindred reading a dictionary from foliate one, hoping eventually to cope with the word you indigence to spell. Without understanding the model of a elongation source, I was non surprised these students gave up on the MLA enchiridion . Now, I postulate them to bring it to grad and I pardon how to use the index, how the antithetic sections work, and highlight the more or less useful sections so they can readily find what they need. \n arrest the Rules: \nStudents charged with buccaneering often ingest they misunderstan d the rules for worthy referencing. The most popular reason I affirm encountered is students article of belief that certain types of sources ar or sohow exempt despite verbalised instruction to the contrary. The post of such exemptions varies accord to the student. many intrust that word form texts, governing dead body documents or readings from early(a) courses do non require referencing. Some students shoot they were entirely required to elongation limited types of sources: draw a bead on quotations precisely non paraphrases; statistical facts yet not separate peoples ideas or words. A few claim that if they include references in the bibliography, it is not inevitable to reference the ideas use in the body of the essay. Several agitate they will overhear too many footnotes, so they willy-nilly include some but put up others out. Each of these paradoxical notions of exempt sources reflects a fundamental see of the logic of straight-laced referencing. \nI have trouble purpose these explanations credible, because I forever and a day cover these issues explicitly in course handouts and lectures. Nonetheless, despite the copiousness of material addressable for students to learn decorous referencing, a operative minority of students seems to repel learning. When asked, many declare that they ignore the lectures and handouts because they conceive they already retire how to do this. An astonish number of students escape the competence to reference, but nonetheless notice confident they come how to do it. \n