Table des matières - Cégep du Vieux Montréal

My word plagiarism and college culture“Classroom Cheats Turn to Computers.” “Student Essays on Internet OfferChallenge to Teachers.” “Faking the Grade.” Headlines such as these havebeen blaring the alarming news of an epidemic of plagiarism and cheating inAmerican colleges: more than 75 percent of students admit to havingcheated; 68 percent admit to cutting and pasting material from the Internetwithout citation.Professors are reminded almost daily that many of today's college studentsoperate under an entirely new set of assumptions about originality andethics. Practices that even a decade ago would have been regarded almostuniversally as academically dishonest are now commonplace. Is thisdevelopment an indication of dramatic shifts in education and the larger culture? In a book thatdismisses hand-wringing in favor of a rich account of how students actually think and act, SusanD. Blum discovers two cultures that exist, often uneasily, side by side in the classroom.Relying extensively on interviews conducted by students with students, My Word! presents thevoices of today's young adults as they muse about their daily activities, their challenges, and themeanings of their college lives. Outcomes-based secondary education, the steeply rising cost ofcollege tuition, and an economic climate in which higher education is valued for its effect on futureearnings above all else: These factors each have a role to play in explaining why students mightpursue good grades by any means necessary. These incentives have arisen in the same era aseasily accessible ways to cheat electronically and with almost intolerable pressures that result inmany students being diagnosed as clinically depressed during their transition from childhood toadulthood.However, Blum suggests, the real problem of academic dishonesty arises primarily from a lack ofcommunication between two distinct cultures within the university setting. On one hand,professors and administrators regard plagiarism as a serious academic crime, an ethicaltransgression, even a sin against an ethos of individualism and originality. Students, on the otherhand, revel in sharing, in multiplicity, in accomplishment at any cost. Although this book is unlikelyto reassure readers who hope that increasing rates of plagiarism can be reversed with stronglyworded warnings on the first day of class, My Word! opens a dialogue between professors andtheir students that may lead to true mutual comprehension and serve as the basis for analignment between student practices and their professors' expectations.Reviews"Susan D. Blum is genuinely interested in understanding her students and brings great care andcompassion to her discussion of plagiarism. She generously draws on student interviewsegments throughout My Word! to illuminate today's campus climate. I especially like that Blumlocates acts of cheating within the wider sociocultural context rather than regarding them simplyas failures of personal morality."—Cathy Small, Northern Arizona University, author of MyFreshman Year"The prevalence of plagiarism among American college students affects all members of theuniversity community in negative ways. The very phrase 'university community' implies a set ofshared values; the existence of a culture of plagiarism among undergraduates undercuts thatcomfortable belief. And equally bad, finding ways to prevent plagiarism unproductively consumesinstructors' and administrators' time and energy. To solve these problems, it is essential tounderstand what student plagiarism is: why they do it, why all our remedies fail, and why we needto care about it. This is the task undertaken by Susan D. Blum in My Word! Everyone who is amember of a university community will find insights here: Students will come to better understandwhy faculty and administrators are asking these impossible things of them; faculty and