The Institutional Approach to Plagiarism - Essay Example

Students who plagiarize conveniently forget the negative impact of misconduct on their lives as well as on the society. Irrespective of the innovative detection methods and punitive measures of institutions, academic field is becoming more vulnerable to plagiarism. It tends one to be suspicious about the moral perception of the new generation and the integrity of the educators/system.The reasons for academic cheating include carelessness, laziness, poor time management, stress over grades, lack of knowledge, poor language etc.

(Power F C, et al., 2008, p.338.). Obviously all these factors encourage students to commit deliberate cheating in their works. However, there are situations when inadvertent plagiarism occurs. It may happen if the student does not know the proper rules of citation or the general convention of plagiarism. Instructors have the moral responsibility to educate students about the right method of using sources.Although students are always considered as the perpetrators, to a great extent, plagiarism is the failure of the schooling system.

To illustrate, monotonous lectures, uninteresting assignments, useless or repeated works are some of the causes why students tend to plagiarize in their course. Many schools are not concerned about the quality of the coursework they assign to their students. Teachers often use the same assignment semester after semester which inevitably prompt students to copy from others. If teachers are not innovative in designing course work, they can not insist students be serious about their work. Hence, plagiarism is unintentionally promoted in many institutions.

It happens as we forget the basic objectives of education. The sole objective of education is to create potential and responsible citizens. If the system fails to generate trained professionals, in the long run, it would destruct the overall stability of the nation.In fact, plagiarism is a multifaceted issue that has far-reaching effects on society. Initially, it hampers the creativity of the students who plagiarize. Since the plagiarist does not initiate any effort to the assignment, his/her intellectual abilities will not be enhanced.

Secondly, the act would cause a relationship breakdown between student and teacher. (Eisner & Vicinus, 2008, p.190). Moreover, students miss the opportunity to acquire further knowledge in their subjects. Although cheating would sometimes help them gain better grades, in future, the lack of knowledge and proficiency would spoil their careers. The lenient approach to plagiarism will also affect the moral concepts of society in all its endurances. Ultimately it will promote irresponsible labor force and unethical business practices.

Therefore, plagiarism is not merely a self-destructive action but can also turn to be a social evil.As mentioned earlier, the initial effort should be taken by teachers in order to address the problem. Instead of focusing on punitive measures, institutions should convince students about the negative effects of plagiarism. Furthermore, teachers have to introduce more relevant topics for assignments which would enhance the interest of students in researches. As stated in Lathrop & Foss (2005, p.168), if assignments require students to ‘answer questions and to defend their arguments’ in front of the class, they would sincerely learn their materials.

Moreover, course work should be potential enough to assess students’ active involvement in the work. Finally, the assessment criteria must not cause a relationship breakdown between student and teacher.