Day Nine: Avoiding Plagiarism

We have finished Unit 1! Congratulations! Today we will begin Unit 2: The Pre-Research Process. In this unit, we will continue to emphasize the idea of writing as a process (and not something you do quickly, the night before an assignment is due!). This unit is designed to discuss all the necessary steps one must take when beginning a major, formal EAP essay, even before finding sources and doing the actual research. Unit 3: Annotated Bibliography will discuss finding sources, researching and creating an annotated bibliography. Unit 4: Writing the Research Paper is when we'll actually be writing the final, Individual Problem Solution Research Paper (IRP). Now you possess a very general roadmap for the rest of this semester! With that being said, let's start our discussion of the pre-research process with a discussion on how to avoid plagiarism. The lesson outline can be found below: 

Avoiding Plagiarism 

I. Stealing: Please take a moment to provide your answer to this question. 

II. Naughty Boys Introduction: Click here for our introductory activity.

III. Brainstorming: How do you define plagiarism? What are some examples of plagiarism? What are some consequences of plagiarizing? Is plagiarism a bad thing? Why or why not? 

IV. Plagiarism "Quiz": In pairs, please fill out this short quiz on plagiarism. Feel free to use any online resources about plagiarism that you may already be familiar with or go to the Purdue OWL website section on plagiarism. 

V. Plagiarism at UIUC: An Overview

Click here for a short presentation on what constitutes plagiarism here at UIUC, what some of the consequences are for plagiarizing and how to avoid plagiarism. 

VI. Defining Common Knowledge 

This  activity is designed to help illustrate the difference between common knowledge and specific knowledge that must be cited. Please complete this worksheet with a partner. We'll then go over the individual answers as a class. 

VII. Identifying Plagiarism

This activity is a test of your ability to decide whether a source has been used acceptably or been plagiarized. Click here to begin. Be sure you can provide a reason (why?) for each answer. A word of caution: be careful about trusting your intuition... unless you are a professional editor/writer, some of these situations may be trickier than they seem. Be sure sure 

Housekeeping Details and Homework for Thursday, 9/26/13

-Library Day (9/26): On Thursday we will be having our class at the Undergraduate Library (Room 291). We will meet at the upper Main Entrance and go down to the room together. Please try and be there at at 4:55 pm. In preparation for the library day, the librarian would like you to practice using a concept map. Please fill out the map found here: concept map. Please print it out, fill it out by hand and bring it with you to class on Thursday. Our question will be, "What are some solutions to the problem of animal abuse?" Click here for an example. 

-Writer's Help: Please do three "Writer's Help" exercises on avoiding plagiarism. For the first two, please choose from the four marked "Exercise: Avoiding Plagiarism in APA papers 1-4". For the last one, everyone should do the exercise titled, "Recognizing Common Knowledge in APA papers". As always, you must receive an 80% or higher to get credit.