Plagiarism: The Elephant in the Academic Room
This semester I am the instructor of record on six sections or courses. I have one online course in professional communication and the traditional version of the same; I have a First Year Experience Seminar with a theme of Liberal Arts Education and what it means for the student; a section of basic public speaking (which I have taught for 38 years); a capstone course for Interdisciplinary studies majors; and one student in an internship. Needless to say, I am a bit overwhelmed by this, on top of being the department chair and having some other responsibilities. Consequently I am exhausted, had to cancel a family reunion trip this weekend, and am getting a nuclear stress test in two weeks because of certain symptoms I am having. Even now typing this I am feeling shortness of breath. Stress is often an excuse used by students (and their professors) for why student plagiarize, which is the real subject of this blog post. Having too much expected of them just...