Do your kids plagiarize for their school papers and reports?
At UC Berkeley, cheating has gone up 744 percent in 5 years. A study by the Psychological Record found that 36 percent of college undergrads submitted papers they didn't write. Students are buying ready-made papers on the Internet--And according to the Christian Science Monitor, online paper vendors are a teacher's worst nightmare.
So, teachers have started fighting back.
First, some of them require students to write short papers in class. That way, they have a genuine writing sample from every kid to compare to future homework.
Teachers are also using online tools like "Turn It In"--Those services compare a student's paper to other student papers across the country, plus what's on the Internet, and in literally millions of publications. And they can search for copied passages as short as eight words.
Unfortunately, it's absolutely necessary for teachers to check for cheaters. In a study at Rutgers University, 66 percent of students said they had cheated at least once. And 36 percent said they would cheat all the time, if they knew they'd never get caught.
So, teachers have started fighting back.
First, some of them require students to write short papers in class. That way, they have a genuine writing sample from every kid to compare to future homework.
Teachers are also using online tools like "Turn It In"--Those services compare a student's paper to other student papers across the country, plus what's on the Internet, and in literally millions of publications. And they can search for copied passages as short as eight words.
Unfortunately, it's absolutely necessary for teachers to check for cheaters. In a study at Rutgers University, 66 percent of students said they had cheated at least once. And 36 percent said they would cheat all the time, if they knew they'd never get caught.
