As Price points out, plagiarism is not the stable concept that many universities make it out to be. The reality is that “common knowledge” and “facts” are context-dependant, making policy-crafting regarding plagiarism particularly difficult. What will you emphasize about plagiarism in your class? How much emphasis will you put on things like citations and work cited pages in your grading?
Johnson-Eilola and Selber suggest that writing instructors should shift the focus away from originality to the ability of students to remix texts in ways that address specific issues, readers, and situations. In other words, the emphasis should be on problem-solving, not originality. Do you agree?
Hey Dorothy,
ReplyDeleteI love your question about the Price piece. I have had several students from other countries, and teaching them taught me just how true Prices warning are that the things we think of as "common knowledge" or "fact" don't always cross boarders. I have always tried to encourage my students to give credit where credit is due, as they say, but I have been less strict on citing in the past. I believe in a "remix" culture, as it were, but I think the opinions of the institution also need to be taken into consideration.
Dorothy,
ReplyDeleteTo answer your second question, I agree with Eiola and Selber's emphasis on assemblage. I think what scholars do is remixing previous ideas, not finding out original ideas. But I don't think it gives more weight on problem-solving than originality because I believe remixing shows another kind of originality. Unlike Romantic authors, scholars cannot find their authorship inside themselves. They have to find a way of telling their story based on what others already have found. Even though all the materials I collect are nothing original, what materials I choose and in which order I am going to assemble are more important factor. The process can be said problem-solving in that it focuses how to answer a problem, but I think it can be called originality too.
Hi, Dorothy!
ReplyDeleteI love your first question. When it comes to plagiarism in the classroom, I like Price's view that accidental plagiarism can occur and that students should not be punished because they don't understand the form. While I will likely dedicate a class to learning Purdue OWL and workshopping MLA as part of gearing up for research, as far as grading is concerned, I don't see exact adherence to the mechanics of MLA being a top priority. I'm more interested in the ideas and an honest attempt at the use of MLA. In order to help the class understand plagiarism better in its situated, yet ever-changing institutional context, I like the idea of class discussion and workshopping, creating an image of what plagiarism is from student involvement and really splitting hairs between definitions.