Computer Policy
The issue of academic integrity and computer use is an evolving one. As technology, as well as student's access to it, continues to grow, it is increasingly affecting the academic arena. Issues such as ensuring good scholarship, avoiding cheating and plagiarism, and meeting specific course objectives are all directly related to the proper use of the Internet. The information on this page is designed to assist students and faculty in their use of the Internet in academic assignments.
Cheating and the Internet
Cheating and the Internet has become a common topic of discussion in academia. Recent newspaper articles and television programs have painted a picture of rampant cheating amongst college students and cited the Internet as the main source of stolen material. The following web pages are examples of sites designed to assist faculty and students. The first category is comprised of sites designed to assist students who attempt to plagiarize. The second category is comprised of sites designed to assist faculty in detecting cheating. The third category is comprised of sites that contain articles written on the subject of cheating and the Internet. Faculty will benefit from being aware of the sites that students often visit for information for their papers. In teaching good scholarship, faculty may want to educate students on the proper use of the Internet in their academic work. In addition, the sites listed below may be used if it becomes necessary to confirm suspicions of plagiarism.
Web sites designed to assist students:
Web sites designed to assist faculty:http://www.cheater.com
http://www.sparknotes.com
http://www.papersinn.com
http://www.oppapers.com
http://www.freepapers.com
http://www.lib.iastate.edu/commons/resources/
facultyguides/plagiarism/detect.html
http://www.plagiarism.org/index.html
http://www.integriguard.com
http://www.turnitin.com
http://www.asee.org/prism/december/html/
student_plagiarism_in_an_onlin.htm
http://www.lemoyne.edu/library/plagiarism.htmHarris, Robert. "Evaluating Internet Research Sources." http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm VirtualSalt. 17 Nov. 1997. Retrieved September 30, 2002
Articles of interest:
Andrew Trotter, Gotcha! NewsWeek, February 2001
http://www.edweek.org/tm/tmstory.cfm?slug=05ethics.h12Sarah Jimenez, Student conduct, professors evaluate plagiarism web site, The Daily Trojan, October 27, 2000
http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/dt/V141/N42/03-conduct.42c.htmlJulie Ryan, Student Plagiarism in an on line world, Prism, December 2000
http://www.asee.org/prism/December/html/
student_plagiarism_in_an_onlin.htm
Scholarship
Students use of the Internt as a research tool is increasing. The above list of web sites targeted at college students is an important resource for faculty. Knowing what is available and often utilized by students is important so that faculty can help students distinguish usable research from opinion.
For additional information about evaluating web resources, please go to the following site: http://www.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webevaluation/webeval.htm.
There are a variety of ways to cite references when conducting research. It is important that students learn the proper way to cite electronic resources consistent with the style they are using in thier paper. For information about the American Psychological Association (APA) style of citing electronic sources, please go to the following site: http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html.
Course Objectives
Certain courses will require the use of the Internet. The two sites mentioned above are excellent resources for evaluating web sites for quality and properly citing web documents. In addition, the assignments made in computer science courses and other computer based classes require the use of e-mail and other web based skills. It is important that faculty clearly outline the expectations associated with these assignments and that students ask for clarification when those expectations are unclear. For example syllabi, please see the example syllabi page.