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| http://htmlgiant.com/mean/playgiarism-versus-plagiarism/ |
Hm? Well, there's something to think about. So let's address each of these issues one at a time. First - what is plagiarism. Well, basically it's simple. Plagiarism is taking credit for something that's not yours. Simple as that. So what does that mean? Well, that means that anything that you have to look up, you have to give credit for it. In other words, if you look up an answer to a question and then quote it, you have to give a citation (or reference) for where you found that answer. But what if you put that answer into your own words? Do you still have to give a reference? Well, of course you do. Were those thoughts your own? No, they weren't. They were someone else's, you just put them into your own words. So you still have to give credit where credit is due. Just because you aren't using someone else's words *and* thoughts, you still have to give credit for someone's ideas.
So let's move on to the second thought. They just don't care. Well, maybe. But if you are paying tens of thousands of dollars for your education, shouldn't you care about that education? Don't you want to learn as much as you possibly can? Don't you want to make sure that when you leave that institution with that piece of paper in your hand, that every dollar that you spent was well worth it? Because if you didn't sweat and toil to earn that degree, then your employers are going to notice. And when your employers notice, then that piece of paper won't be worth much. Your degree is only worth the effort you put into it. You may be an expert at fooling your professors, but in the end, someone is going to find out that you don't have a clue, and you can't buy one.
If you think you can get away with it, that may be true to some extent, but eventually you *will* get caught. It's just a matter of when. The consequences will vary, depending on who catches you, and what the circumstances were surrounding your transgression. If you were caught in school - you might get a 0, you might fail a class, or you might get kicked out. If you get caught in your job, you could lose your job - you might be publicly humiliated (MIT dean resigns in lying scandal).
If the student just wants a good grade, but doesn't understand the material - then it is imperative that the student contact his/her teacher. We are here to help, in fact we want to help. But if the student does not let us know that they need help, we are often unable to reach out. We have so many students so it is difficult to determine which students are merely lazy and which students truly are struggling unless they reach out to us.
So, why do students plagiarize? There are a myriad of reasons. In the end, each and every student will be injured as a result -whether the plagiarism is deliberate, or accidental. Take the time to learn the rules of plagiarism. What it is, why it hurts you, and how to avoid it. If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask!
