For Teachers and Parents   

Plagiarism is the use of another’s words, images, or ideas without giving credit. Plagiarism may also occur when a student uses someone’s ideas in a paper or other presentation and gives credit, but uses only the other person’s ideas and creations, not the student’s own.

It is the teacher’s responsibility to teach children how to collect ideas and facts from other’s writing without copying – to use the higher order thinking skills of synthesis and evaluation to create their own work from their research.

It is also the teacher's responsibility to have firm policies in place to combat purposeful plagiarism by students.

Ways teachers can help students avoid plagiarism:

1. Teach students what plagiarism is
2. Emphasize the process in doing research, not the product
3. Teach note taking and organization
4. Teach how to create bibliographies and notes-in-text (footnotes) - MLA Style
5. Assign topics that require students to synthesize and evaluate rather than repeat facts

Check on the web for plagiarism resources:

http://www.tucolib.info/infolit/plagiarism.htm