Gen 103 week 5 discussion 1

Ashford 6: – Week 5 – Discussion

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Reference the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.
 

Ethical   and Legal Implications

In this discussion, you will   explore and discuss how to use information ethically and legally. You will   begin by watching a video about the serious nature of plagiarism and sharing   your reaction. Then, you will examine some scenarios related to plagiarism at   Ashford University.

Prepare: Begin   your discussion post by viewing the CBS video, CBS Morning News   “Plagiarism” story. Then,   review 6 Ways to Avoid   Plagiarism and Generally Be a Cool Person.   Finally, read the article or listen to the podcast, Turnitin and the Debate   Over Anti-Plagiarism Software.

Reflect: As you watch the video, think about the implications and   consequences of plagiarism in the workplace and in the entertainment   industry.

Write: After watching the video, describe your reaction to the   video and the implications to your own work. Did it surprise you to learn how   serious plagiarism is, or do you feel that you already understood this issue?   Do you know of any other instances of plagiarism either in school or beyond?   If so, what was the punishment in those situations? 

Next, read one pair of   scenarios below that highlight some of the most common plagiarism issues at   the college level. The pairs will be assigned to you by the first initial of   your last name in the chart below. For both scenarios in the pair, carefully   read the scenario and respond as directed.

First Initial of Last Name

Assigned Pair

A – H

Pair 1

I – P

Pair 2

Q – Z

Pair 3

Pair 1:

Copy-Pasting
  The discussion board prompt for Serena’s American History class asks students   to brainstorm ways to improve the democratic system of   government. Serena searches online to help her come up with ideas for   what to write. She comes across the following sentences and copies and pastes   them into her discussion post without any additions or her own commentary:   “We cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the   founders of the Republic. There is no way to improve upon that. But, what we   can do is to find new ways to implement that system and realize our   destiny.”Serena submits her discussion post but has a bad feeling about it.   She is not sure what she should have done differently.

Write a paragraph of advice for   Serena explaining why copying and pasting in the way that she did was wrong   and what she should do differently next time.

Poor Paraphrasing
  Cara is writing a research paper for her Anthropology class. She notices that   she is using a lot of quotations and wants to mix it up a bit by also   paraphrasing some of her sources’ ideas. One of her sources states, “Almost   all cultures celebrate some form of marriage. However, there are multiple   variables across culture, some of the most noteworthy being average age of   first marriage, common gender roles within marriages, and the role of   romance.” Cara attempts to put these ideas into her own words by writing:   “According to Smith (2004), practically every culture celebrates a certain   type of marriage, but there are many variables such as average age at time of   union, expected gender roles, and the role that romance plays.”

In this scenario, we know that   Cara has good intentions and that she cites her source, so what is she doing   wrong here? What should she do differently? Write a paragraph of advice for   Cara telling her what she should do to fix her poor paraphrasing and how she   should approach this process differently next time.

Pair 2:

Paraphrasing Without Citation
  Kelly is researching the representation of females in film for her   Composition final. She wants to discuss the films of Kathryn Bigelow. She   searches for “Kathryn Bigelow” in the Ashford University Library databases   and locates an article by Joel Johnson that discusses Bigelow’s film, The   Hurt Locker. Kelly finds a sentence that she feels perfectly covers what   she wants to say about Bigelow’s filmmaking: “Bigelow is one of the few   female directors who has consistently tackled ‘masculine’ subjects in her films.”   She writes in her paper, “The subjects of Bigelow’s films are often   male-centric, which is rare for a female director” but does not credit the   idea to the source.

Write a paragraph of advice for   Kelly explaining the importance of citing sources. Describe to Kelly what   steps she needs to now take to avoid plagiarizing the author of the article.

Patch-Writing
  Ryan’s Philosophy professor asked for students to explain the word   “semantics” and use it in a sentence. Ryan looks up “semantics” on   Dictionary.com and finds that it means, “the study of Meaning. It is the   study of linguistic development that examines and classifies changes in   meaning and form of words.” In Ryan’s response to his professor’s request, he   writes, “Semantics focuses on meaning. It is the study of linguistic   development. It looks at and classifies changes in meaning and forms of   words.” Ryan is surprised when his professor gives him a 0 on the discussion   post and warns him not to plagiarize in the future. Ryan argues that all   definitions of “semantics” that he reviewed are almost identical and that the   definition should be considered common knowledge.

Does Ryan have a point, or is   there a different way he should have approached including a definition? Write   a paragraph of advice for Ryan explaining what, if anything, he should have   done differently in this situation.

Pair 3:

Fabrication
  Shawn is assigned a paper on biases in the judicial system. Shawn is having   difficulty figuring out where to find sources for this topic. He has searched   online and once briefly in the Ashford University Library databases but has   not found what he is looking for: statistics of the number of people   currently in jail in the United States versus ten years ago. Feeling   overwhelmed and frustrated, Shawn decides that he knows enough about this   topic to guess an average number. He writes, “The number of incarcerated   males in America has increased by 10% in the last ten years.”

Write a paragraph of advice for   Shawn explaining why creating a fact statistic is wrong and what he should do   differently next time. Explain to Shawn what he should have done in this   situation instead of fabricating a statistic.

Collusion
  Wanda and her brother, Gene, are both students at Ashford   University. They share many of the same interests. Both are English   majors, they take most of the same courses (though not the same course   section), and they like to do their homework together because it helps them   share good ideas and also save time. Recently they took an American   Literature class and read The Great Gatsby. Wanda and Gene had to   complete the same final paper topic, so they researched together, reading and   incorporating the same resources into both of their papers. They also   discussed their ideas while writing and ended up both arguing the same main   point in their papers. Several weeks later, Wanda and Gene got letters from   the Office of Academic Integrity saying that they had committed plagiarism.

Write a paragraph of advice to   Wanda and Gene explaining to them what they might have done differently in   this situation to avoid this outcome. In your paragraph, explain whether or   not you believe their actions to be plagiarism. 

To maximize the opportunity for   vigorous discussion, you must post to this discussion on at least three   separate days of the week and your posts must total at least 600 words   as you address the questions noted above. Your first post must be completed   by Day 3 (Thursday) and the remainder of your posts must be completed by Day   7 (Monday). You must answer all aspects of the prompt at some point during   the week. Also, be sure to reply to your classmates and instructor.

Respond to Peers: Reply to at least two of your classmates who explored a   different scenario than that which you examined. Will the advice they   provided be helpful in the future for the individual in the scenario? What   might your classmates add to their advice to make it even more helpful? What   additional resources could the individuals in the scenarios be directed to   for help?