Montana Senator John Walsh's recent embarrassment is what we in education call a "teachable moment." It was determined
that Walsh, who was appointed to serve as senator this past February, plagiarized
nearly a quarter of the master's thesis he submitted to the Army War College to
complete his coursework in 2007. In response, the College has recently
rescinded Walsh's master's degree, and Walsh has announced that he will be
dropping out of the state's upcoming election.
When stressing the importance of proper citation to
students, this is an excellent anecdote to relate. The internet makes it easier
than ever for schools to catch students when they don't give credit where it's
due, and the consequences, as Walsh's case shows us, can be severe.
Citation can be tricky, however, and some students don't
fully understand the difference between research and plagiarism. The issue
isn't as cut and dried as some might think. For example, plagiarism doesn't have
to be intentional; even unintentionally failing to credit someone else for
their words or ideas counts as cheating.
To help students understand plagiarism, look no farther than
Purdue's Online Writing Lab, one of our
favorite writing resources. For teachers, there are several excellent
ready-made lesson plans that should help clear up misunderstandings about academic honesty. And
students should bookmark the excellent page of resources on topics like the difference between paraphrasing and quoting,
how to format in-text citations, etc.
