Cheating/plagiarism In University

[orchidlady]

Does anyone have experience with this at the university level in Thailand? The students were given an assignment to write about a topic they knew well. They would then present this to the class. These are second year ESL students at one of the top three universities in Thailand (located in Bangkok). As I was reading the paper, I realized it sounded like a commercial advertisement. Checking on the Internet, the student copied word for word from a financial services company's investment guide. Being new to teaching in Thailand, what kind of support from the university can I expect in dealing with this obvious plagiarism? Or do they even care over here? In the US, the student would be put on academic suspension at a minimum and receive an automatic F in the course.

[shaun86]

When I was in China I had a student copy word-for-word from an economics textbook sleeve, as part of the assignment on international trade. They even left the "this textbook is well suited for postgraduate etc etc" part in!

I'd say your response does depend on the school and teaching environment though. At my college the students would pass regardless so I didn't spend too much time worrying about it, as bad as that sounds.

[orchidlady]

I have now caught six students out of a class of 31 students lifting the whole contents from the Internet-mostly eHow.com and I am only half through the reports! Is this typical Thai student behavior?

[markg]

I have now caught six students out of a class of 31 students lifting the whole contents from the Internet-mostly eHow.com and I am only half through the reports! Is this typical Thai student behavior?

The way that it's been explained to me is thus;

1. It's not cheating at all. You are supposed to help others out. It's 'helping' and not cheating

2. To let someone copy your work is an honour. They like your work so much that they want to copy it.

I've banged heads over the years with school admin who basically think it's more trouble than it's worth to deal with the problem, or just dont see it as a problem, or just think you're being a pain in the butt, or just think we foreigners don't half have funny ideas.......................

Bit late for you now OP, but i make the rules clear before the tests. I will deduct a few marks for blatant copying but that is all. I have the feeling that our school admin wouldnt back me if i made a fuss.

I know that this makes me part of the problem and not part of the solution, but i understand that the reasoning behind it is more cultural than one may realise.

It aint gonna change overnight.

[orchidlady]

I have now caught six students out of a class of 31 students lifting the whole contents from the Internet-mostly eHow.com and I am only half through the reports! Is this typical Thai student behavior?

The way that it's been explained to me is thus;

1. It's not cheating at all. You are supposed to help others out. It's 'helping' and not cheating

2. To let someone copy your work is an honour. They like your work so much that they want to copy it.

I've banged heads over the years with school admin who basically think it's more trouble than it's worth to deal with the problem, or just dont see it as a problem, or just think you're being a pain in the butt, or just think we foreigners don't half have funny ideas.......................

Bit late for you now OP, but i make the rules clear before the tests. I will deduct a few marks for blatant copying but that is all. I have the feeling that our school admin wouldnt back me if i made a fuss.

I know that this makes me part of the problem and not part of the solution, but i understand that the reasoning behind it is more cultural than one may realise.

It aint gonna change overnight.

Thanks, for the information. I was hoping they would back me up. I will report back what the admin says and the involved students' comments.

[Xangsamhua]

There's some interesting literature on how Chinese students view plagiarism. Clearly the views of Western academics and Chinese students do not coincide, for the reasons given by Alistair Pennycook in Borrowing Others' Words: Text, Ownership, Memory and Plagiarism (TESOL Quarterly, Vol 30, No 2, 1996), based on his research in Hong Kong. The following article by two US and a Lithuanian academic at http://www.csupomona.edu/~jis/2003/Russiko...loroSalkaus.pdf cites a survey which finds that only 35% of Chinese students regard plagiarism as cheating (though only 20+% regard it as acceptable in academic work). 50% of them say that they would use work without giving credit. I suspect Thai students' views would be similar to those of their Chinese counterparts.

[Scott]

In my experience, cheating starts in grade school. I had 2nd graders who cheated. And some are quite good at it. By high school, one year we caught 28 students out of 34 cheating. It was absolutely rampant. With the backing of the administration, we managed to implement a policy that if you are caught cheating, you get a zero on the exam and a letter sent home to the parents, explaining the situation.

It has taken several years, but cheating is now down to a manageable level with the occasional student being caught cheating.

Best of luck with getting some backing on it. But let the students know it's not tolerated.

[scorecard]

I have now caught six students out of a class of 31 students lifting the whole contents from the Internet-mostly eHow.com and I am only half through the reports! Is this typical Thai student behavior?

The way that it's been explained to me is thus;

1. It's not cheating at all. You are supposed to help others out. It's 'helping' and not cheating

2. To let someone copy your work is an honour. They like your work so much that they want to copy it.

I've banged heads over the years with school admin who basically think it's more trouble than it's worth to deal with the problem, or just dont see it as a problem, or just think you're being a pain in the butt, or just think we foreigners don't half have funny ideas.......................

Bit late for you now OP, but i make the rules clear before the tests. I will deduct a few marks for blatant copying but that is all. I have the feeling that our school admin wouldnt back me if i made a fuss.

I know that this makes me part of the problem and not part of the solution, but i understand that the reasoning behind it is more cultural than one may realise.

It aint gonna change overnight.

Thanks, for the information. I was hoping they would back me up. I will report back what the admin says and the involved students' comments.

Well maybe it changes from place to place.

My university is amongst 'the top three' and I can guarantee you the university has an absolute zero tolerance policy towards plagiarism.

My university installed software to search for anything which have been 'stolen' several yars ago and just recently it was all changed to new state of the art software, and all lecturers can request instant help to learn how to use it.

My students know that they will be instantly suspended by me if caught (and I will refuse to allow them back into any class that I teach and the university supports this appraoch), and know that the university administration will then get involved and will also be totally serious about the matter.

The Thai faculty also have the same approach and they do not respond with 'mai pen rai' or 'don't do it again'.

Students know there are no excuses whatever, and they know that 'family name' cannot be used to gloss over the situation. In fact using 'family name' rarely happens at my university.

As well as being local policy, my university has numerous active exchange programs with highly respected universities across the globe. The US, Eoropen, UK, Australian, Canadian, Singaporean, Hong Kong, China mainland universities concerned would not enter into exchange agreements if they knew our universiy was not serious about this subject.

Same tough stance on attempting to 'sign in' at lectures for friends. Get caught and you are instantly suspended for the remainder of the semester and the full next semester. No excuses excepted at all.

The student union also supports a very tough stance on these matters.

[Xangsamhua]

My university is amongst 'the top three' and I can guarantee you the university has an absolute zero tolerance policy towards plagiarism.

My university installed software to search for anything which have been 'stolen' several yars ago and just recently it was all changed to new state of the art software, and all lecturers can request instant help to learn how to use it.

My students know that they will be instantly suspended by me if caught (and I will refuse to allow them back into any class that I teach and the university supports this appraoch), and know that the university administration will then get involved and will also be totally serious about the matter.

The Thai faculty also have the same approach and they do not respond with 'mai pen rai' or 'don't do it again'.

Students know there are no excuses whatever, and they know that 'family name' cannot be used to gloss over the situation. In fact using 'family name' rarely happens at my university.

As well as being local policy, my university has numerous active exchange programs with highly respected universities across the globe. The US, Eoropen, UK, Australian, Canadian, Singaporean, Hong Kong, China mainland universities concerned would not enter into exchange agreements if they knew our universiy was not serious about this subject.

Same tough stance on attempting to 'sign in' at lectures for friends. Get caught and you are instantly suspended for the remainder of the semester and the full next semester. No excuses excepted at all.

The student union also supports a very tough stance on these matters.

This is very encouraging. Things certainly seem to have improved. I wonder if the concerted efforts of universities abroad has had the desired backwash. Universities I know of have made considerable effort to stamp out plagiarism in the past ten years or so, especially as it became closely identified with Asian international students. Recognition was given to cultural norms and practices, so students were given clear guidelines as to what was acceptable and what could not be tolerated.

It appears to still be a problem in Australia, however, (see http://www.universityworldnews.com/article...080911161243156). Perhaps your university is ahead of the game.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Xangsamhua

[ricklev]

Western standards on plagiarism and clearly written punishment guidelines exist and are enforced in the international programs I teach in at "one of the top three universities in Thailand."

[PeaceBlondie]

I taught at two the top two secondary schools in a remote province. Rampant plagiarism was common even among nicely dressed Thai ajarns doing master's theses.

[engrin]

Just remember that if they are caught cheating, it's YOUR fault not theirs. You shouldn't have caught them.

[Scott]

Be careful to protect yourself on the issue. We caught a student cheating and an Admin person tried to defend the student because he hadn't cheated yet--he hadn't gotten to any questions he had the answers written down for on his cheat sheet. That one didn't wash by the way.

I might add that several years later the admin person was fired for stealing money!

[Rhys]

At least they were smart of enough to use the same font....some students just do make that edit.. This is a difficult issue, in the past... we have just had the student do the assignment over...(University Level) this is a Thai teacher's approach, as a westerner... I prep the students before class with an academic integrity statement which details and gives example of copying word by word (Plagiarism) The penalty is listed... No questions. Also when referencing material... I have the students include a photocopy of the reference in the appendix.

The attitude of the Freeloaders...I don't care...I think, I can beat you.. and I will do it... always.. Why bother learning something that is useless to me..555.

A policy statement in the begin of class, a list of penalties, corrective action.... usually takes care of say maybe two or three.. but the koolaid lovers will only try.. I caught a group of 5 once.. confronted all 5 seperately...the clues with changes in vocabulary.... So I asked each one what the particular word definition.. natually they could not answer.. I again gave the the policy statement... informed them of the serious of the offense...stealing....Told them I did not like cheaters in my class... Asked them to drop.. the ring leader dropped, the other 4 implicated him....I gave the other four the option to earn a D in the class, and to give an oral report and written report on referencing to the class.. in a week..... It stopped the possibles.....of doing this... and do you know what the end result was? I was asked not to teach this class again...That is ok..

Thus.... it depends on the situation, it depends if you can handle this on your own... it all depends on your level or "correctness".

Good luck.. Cheers

Oh....forgot to add.. the ring leader now works at our university in our department.. go figure..

[PeaceBlondie]

The student may become your boss

[markg]

The student may become your boss

Maybe he could be turned from poacher to gamekeeper? You never know. Try sowing the seeds of having him implement an anti-cheating policy and see if he warms to it.

[mbkudu]

I have now caught six students out of a class of 31 students lifting the whole contents from the Internet-mostly eHow.com and I am only half through the reports! Is this typical Thai student behavior?

On the first day of the course make it very clear to them that they will fail if they plagiarize, especially on any final projects. Some students, especially first year students, aren't even aware of the word plagiarism or its meaning. Once you define the word clearly, state your policies for the course and the consequences of not following those policies, then hopefully they will get it. It's good to instill this early because if they make it to a master's program and they haven't figured out how serious plagiarism is, they will be crushed and spit out, especially in a western university.

[orchidlady]

I talked with an administrator. I was told to give them a "0" for the paper BUT give them the option of writing the paper over. What does this teach them? This will also screw up my schedule. Now I will have to grade these papers (the total number now equals 13) when I have all the end of semester projects coming in and I have to make up the final tests for all of the courses.

I also explained the concept of forgery to all of the students because I have been catching them signing in for their friends in class (from 5 - 15 students). When I explained this, they just thought this was the funniest thing! Obviously it's a cultural thing.I told them I have to sign the roll sheets saying that these are accurate. I then explained how plagiarism is dealt with in the US in case they plan to go their for further studies. They were shocked and did not laugh.

Looking over the roll sheet and recognizing several students were not in class, l called out the names of the students I knew were not in class. Some students were actually considering raising their hands for the fellow students! I think their classmates convinced them to not raise their hands. I made a big deal out of calling the students names who were not present but whose names appeared on the roll sheet. "Mint is not here, cross off his name". After class I had a rush of students coming up to make excuses for why their friends were missing class.

Next semester I will review paraphrasing and plagiarism in detail and also discuss signing in for your friends on the first day of class. I will discuss the consequences in great detail. I will not just list it on the syllabus.

[Rhys]

Orchid Lady,

Same problem... With attendance issues.... Rx... I annnounce when turning in homework or test... to receive credit you must be in class when I return the papers....that is one incentive... otherwise... it is a ZERO.... works about 70%.....the sign in and hands up ... are problematic..

[Rhys]

In reference to former students becomming your boss... Well .. don't think so... yet.. he can have the bonehead classes from where he came... Justice

[phetaroi]

I talked with an administrator. I was told to give them a "0" for the paper BUT give them the option of writing the paper over. What does this teach them? This will also screw up my schedule. Now I will have to grade these papers (the total number now equals 13) when I have all the end of semester projects coming in and I have to make up the final tests for all of the courses.

I also explained the concept of forgery to all of the students because I have been catching them signing in for their friends in class (from 5 - 15 students). When I explained this, they just thought this was the funniest thing! Obviously it's a cultural thing.I told them I have to sign the roll sheets saying that these are accurate. I then explained how plagiarism is dealt with in the US in case they plan to go their for further studies. They were shocked and did not laugh.

Looking over the roll sheet and recognizing several students were not in class, l called out the names of the students I knew were not in class. Some students were actually considering raising their hands for the fellow students! I think their classmates convinced them to not raise their hands. I made a big deal out of calling the students names who were not present but whose names appeared on the roll sheet. "Mint is not here, cross off his name". After class I had a rush of students coming up to make excuses for why their friends were missing class.

Next semester I will review paraphrasing and plagiarism in detail and also discuss signing in for your friends on the first day of class. I will discuss the consequences in great detail. I will not just list it on the syllabus.

1. You won't like this, but you don't set the policies of the school. It sounds as if the administration sets policy. You are being paid to perform based on school policy. You're not an independent contractor. Your choice is to fulfill your job responsibilities as determined by your employer or to stop working there. I guess a third choice is to renegotiate your contract so you set all policies in your classroom, and that is rather unlikely.

2. Why do you have to have a roll sheet? Why don't you take attendance as students are working? Solves that problem, unless there is something I'm not seeing.

3. Question -- do you or any of the other teachers ever discuss absences with the parents...or is that not allowed?

[madjbs]

Orchid Lady,

Same problem... With attendance issues.... Rx... I annnounce when turning in homework or test... to receive credit you must be in class when I return the papers....that is one incentive... otherwise... it is a ZERO.... works about 70%.....the sign in and hands up ... are problematic..

It's meant to be a university, not a high school. It is the students responsibility to attend.

[Briggsy]

Does anyone have experience with this at the university level in Thailand? The students were given an assignment to write about a topic they knew well. They would then present this to the class. These are second year ESL students at one of the top three universities in Thailand (located in Bangkok). As I was reading the paper, I realized it sounded like a commercial advertisement. Checking on the Internet, the student copied word for word from a financial services company's investment guide. Being new to teaching in Thailand, what kind of support from the university can I expect in dealing with this obvious plagiarism? Or do they even care over here? In the US, the student would be put on academic suspension at a minimum and receive an automatic F in the course.

Completely normal. They will be surprised you are making a fuss. They will not understand the issue or the point you are making.

[junkofdavid2]

When I was in China I had a student copy word-for-word from an economics textbook sleeve, as part of the assignment on international trade. They even left the "this textbook is well suited for postgraduate etc etc" part in!

Taking my masters at one of the "top universities" in Thailand.

I have a mainland Chinese classmate who teaches at one of the most prestigious international high schools in Bangkok.

She got an F in our individual research class because she cut and paste, word for word I believe, her final paper.

How could she "not know" about plagiarism if she's a teacher herself, at a very prestigious international school in BKK to boot?!

Anyway, she's flunked a lot of other classes as well (go figure) for other forms of amazingly unbelievable incompetency (i.e. "I wasn't able to do the report because I took my friend around Bangkok." ???); and she would've flunked even more if it weren't for her class project group mates (ever changing ones) who did even her parts of the reports (and who are dam.n pissed at her for freeloading and not contributing to group work).

Yet, she's considered "qualified" enough to teach at one of Bangkok's most prestigious international schools where she teaches Chinese language! (Go figure...)

[Scott]

Cheating and plagiarism have been long standing problems world-wide. Long before the internet, Fraternities and sororities often exchanged term papers etc. with other schools, where they were unlikely to get caught. The point was, however, it was harder to do than it is now. I might also add that if you were caught the punishment was pretty dramatic.

[toptuan]

I have now caught six students out of a class of 31 students lifting the whole contents from the Internet-mostly eHow.com and I am only half through the reports! Is this typical Thai student behavior?

Yes, especially if you haven't warned them of the consequences ahead of time.

[junkofdavid2]

however, it was harder to do than it is now.

Likewise, it is is also easier to catch plagiarists now, than before.

[toptuan]

I have now caught six students out of a class of 31 students lifting the whole contents from the Internet-mostly eHow.com and I am only half through the reports! Is this typical Thai student behavior?

On the first day of the course make it very clear to them that they will fail if they plagiarize, especially on any final projects. Some students, especially first year students, aren't even aware of the word plagiarism or its meaning. Once you define the word clearly, state your policies for the course and the consequences of not following those policies, then hopefully they will get it. It's good to instill this early because if they make it to a master's program and they haven't figured out how serious plagiarism is, they will be crushed and spit out, especially in a western university.

Good advice.

Likewise, I spell out my plagiarism policy in detail on the first day, and give the students a related handout in both Thai and English so they have something in hand as well. I ran my policy handout by the administration first, to get their backing. In my case: first instance of plagiarism receives a zero for the assignment and their semester score is reduced one full letter grade. In the second instance of plagiarism, the student fails the course. In six years I have failed about 15 students. Once you've enforced it, word gets around quickly and your problems are minimized.

As to roll call, I always call roll verbally and look at each student individually as they respond. It's that short moment of connecting with each student that helps me learn their names, and makes them feel like an individual in my class--especially if we have a large class. I will often make friendly comments about the student, their name, or something else I may know about them. It takes time, but it's time well spent. In addition to helping connect with the students, this method avoids the signing-in problems you experience.

Good luck. It's worth the hassle to take on this problem head-on. It prepares the students for an international level of academic performance, and later those who study abroad will thank you for it.

[Ijustwannateach]

Really, though, a university which HAS a master's program should have a broad, university-wide policy against academic dishonesty which is clearly explained and which the students are required to sign at some point. Otherwise, students can quibble over consistency of application, etc.; however, I doubt you will find a lot of Thai academic bureaucrats truly aware of/interested in/knowledgeable about this type of issue.

[katana]

There's some interesting literature on how Chinese students view plagiarism. Clearly the views of Western academics and Chinese students do not coincide, for the reasons given by Alistair Pennycook in Borrowing Others' Words: Text, Ownership, Memory and Plagiarism (TESOL Quarterly, Vol 30, No 2, 1996), based on his research in Hong Kong. The following article by two US and a Lithuanian academic at http://www.csupomona.edu/~jis/2003/Russiko...loroSalkaus.pdf cites a survey which finds that only 35% of Chinese students regard plagiarism as cheating (though only 20+% regard it as acceptable in academic work). 50% of them say that they would use work without giving credit. I suspect Thai students' views would be similar to those of their Chinese counterparts.

That was my understanding as well. Some cultures don't place the same taboo on plagiarism that the West does and don't know they must acknowledge the ideas and findings of other scholars in their work. This is sometimes a particular problem for international students coming to study in the West for the first time, where it's taken more seriously.