Franklin's View Of Plagiarism Summary

Devlin’s View of Plagiarism

Dudley Erskine Devlin identifies plagiarism as a major problem among students in America. Cheating has become easier to do with the widespread use of the internet and the opportunity to find the answers to virtually anything online. Devlin includes the statistic of college and high school students who cheat and what is being done to prevent it so far like educating the students. Although teaching kids about plagiarism and enforcing honor codes does reduce the amount of plagiarism and cheating it does not end it. Devlin believes the only way to address the situation and end all cheating is the most forceful supervision of essay writing and severe punishments.

There is a large amount of evidence to support that cheating and plagiarism has become an epidemic in today's day and age. Devlin cites information from Donald McCabe in Education Digest that concludes seventy-four percent of students from twenty-two different public high schools reported instances of cheating. He also includes more information from McCabe stated in Liberal Education that one of every five or six college papers have been plagiarized. These growing rates can be blamed on the extensive use of the internet. McCabe reports that four out of five of the students who reported that they cheated bought a paper online.or had taken direct statement from material found online.
Devlins inclusion of these statistics are used to show that the rate of cheating is growing to an epidemic, and the internet is to blame.
While the internet can have a negative effect on students with the possibility of plagiarism it is a major source of information. The information included in Devlin’s essay was even cited off of Pew Internet. One of his solutions to the plagiarism problem is Turnitin.com a website that scans through essays to find any plagiarized material. He includes the internet as the problem and the
solution.

Devlin writes that teachers and administrators are divided on how to solve the pervasive issue. One solution is to educate the students about what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. Research shows that students that are educated about the issue cheat less than those that were not. However Devlin also writes that the tutorials do not have an affect on students of certain demographics, that students already know what plagiarism is, and teachers spending time in class showing these tutorials are just wasting time instead of reducing plagiarism. Even though the statistics confirm that an educational approach is beneficial he disregards the evidence by stating that strict rules and punishments are the only way to reduce or end plagiarism.

Devlin believes that the amount of students cheating will only continues to rise until direct action is taken. The epidemic of plagiarism needs to be met with direct punishment and preventative measures. He uses an example of the University of Central Florida's test taking system, where students are prohibited from chewing gum or wearing hats and the test taking center has video cameras to monitor the students. The website Turnitin.com is also mentioned as an effective plagiarism prevention system. The website runs an essay through its database to search for stolen material. His belief is that there should be a zero tolerance policy for those that plagiarize material, including failure of the course, and expulsion from school.

Devlins main idea is that punishment and stringent rules are the one and only answer however, these methods do not get the root of the problem. While most students do know what plagiarism is or how to avoid it, some students are unaware of the need to cite information or to cite it correctly. Devlin’s close minded attitude towards the solutions blind him from realizing the benefit of educating the students and having the opportunity to have a quality education. If students were expelled after an incident of cheating they would be set back in their education and may not be able to catch up. Students need to have both an education in plagiarism and a fair punishment for stealing material.