So far, in addition to rants about the Bologna process, my classes here have all had two things in common: lengthy first lessons that involve defining whatever subject we're studying ("What is anthropology? How is it different from sociology? What does it have in common with psychology?"), and strict lectures on plagiarism.
Mount Holyoke is pretty anti-plagiarism, of course, but generally the professors don't spend a great amount of time defining it. Here, on the other hand, one of my classes was completely devoted to laying out 1) what plagiarism is, 2) how to cite properly, and 3) what the penalty for plagiarism would be (a zero in the class... which honestly isn't very harsh at all). At first I thought it was silly, but he informed us that last year, almost half his students plagiarized-- one even plagiarized an essay the professor himself had written.
At first my assumption was that this was a Spanish thing, but now I find it more likely that it's because of the nature of the school. A school with tiny classes, like Mount Holyoke, is probably going to have a lot less plagiarism than a larger school.* Large universities in the United States definitely have plagiarism woes.
One real cultural difference I've met with, though, is the definition of science. I'm not clear what the Spanish definition is, but it includes History. I'd like to learn more about why that is at some point.
I'm also not accustomed to my professors taking smoking breaks. One student informed me that two years ago they'd just smoke in class, but that's been banned.
All my professors seem wonderful so far. But it's definitely a different system.
*I'm not actually certain that UCo is larger, but the classes are.
Very interesting. I usually take a big chunk of. My first class defining whatever it is I am teaching (and why). I don't spend enough time on plagiarism. I'm expected to address it in my syllabus and make sure my students "get it." I'm inspired by your posting to spend some time on it next class.
ReplyDeleteNo way I'll take smoking breaks.
I think this tsunami of plagiarism is related to the Internet. First of all our attitudes towards intellectual property have been altered forever. Second of all it's now so easy - just cut and paste. Last night I was watching a mystery set in Oxford. A professor said something to the effect of, "The dumb ones just insert paragraphs from Wikipedia. The smarter ones can always find sources more obscure."
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's just a Spanish problem. When I started university in Scotland, the first year every class had a lecture on plagiarism and how to cite properly. While the internet makes it an easier option, I think the largest part of the problem is people not being taught to cite correctly in secondary school. Most of the professors examples were about people forgetting to cite a quote or not including citations and a bibliography. Those cases are pretty unfortunate because, at least at St Andrews, the penalty for plagiarism is expulsion.
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