I just gave two students a zero on their final paper worth 20% of their grade.
Why? Why else: plagiarsim.
This is my first year of teaching, so I know that ugly little guy will continue to pop up in my life, but I find myself saddened by this. One student plagiarized 95% of his/her paper. The other about 80% (though I think more is plagiarized I just can’t find it). At first, I kept trying to excuse it. They didn’t understand the difference between paraphrase and plagiarize–I mean, we only went over it multiple times. Surely, there’s some excuse.
But, there’s really not. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but this isn’t one paragraph. This is MULTIPLE pages in a ten page paper. Sentences upon sentences. Words I know these students couldn’t even define if they tried. And, it’s really sad. I can’t even be angry, because in the end–they lowered their grade 20%. I’ll likely hear from the counselor and their parents that I’m not being fair. In the end, excuses will be made for these girls and I will be the bad guy.
Of course, this makes me question myself. How many other papers have I missed over the course of the semester? Was this a one time thing–or something they thought they could get away with because they have. If it was one, I think I could write it off. But two–right in a row–it makes me question a lot.
