Research Projects vs. Copy & Pasting

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Permalink Reply by Richard Gilson on April 22, 2009 at 9:22pm

I already limit the number of website sources that my students use. I require a minimum of 5 sources, and only two of which can be from the internet, and all five sources have to be cited at least once throughout the paper. The problem is when they copy and paste, they are not too concerned with citing the source, or getting additional sources.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on April 22, 2009 at 2:29pm

Two things you have to do:

1) Instead of making the assignment a basic "report on Brazil," you should alter the assignment so that students are supplementing their own ideas with their research.

2) MODEL the process of creating the project so they can learn the process.

Another thing you could do is work with the students' English teachers to create the assignment in both classes - research in your class and write in English.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on April 22, 2009 at 6:00pm

Chris, as I mentioned elsewhere, the best advice I ever got was 'the best way to keep kids from plagiarizing is to give them assignments they can't plagiarize'. I also tell my students when they want to do a 'report on Brazil' I say "been done!!"

I was discussing Concept Based Curriculum with a cohort yesterday and found this website on essential questions. Throw some of these out and you probably won't have to worry about cut/paste.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Gilson on April 22, 2009 at 9:26pm

I attended an in-service last year where the presenter talked about Essential Questions, but in very vague terms. He didn't really explain them very well. When I have tried to research them online (other than the site you listed in your above post), they are also vague and do not explain how to not only develop the questions, but also how to incorporate them into your curriculum. Have you used them very much yet, or are you also a rookie at them as well.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on April 23, 2009 at 7:01am

I haven't done a deep dive into essential questions but the people to read are Lynn Erickson Concept Based Learning and Willis and McTighe Understanding by Design. The essential questions are used to drive curriculum development, not really for students to answer but a research project based on essential questions would certainly be authenic learning!!

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Permalink Reply by Mike Mules on April 22, 2009 at 5:23pm

Have projects that "compare"; projects where the students are writing for a funding/permission application and need to explain their knowledge in a specific context. Change the medium of the presentation from written to audio/video. Give them the sites to use, and have them write for a target audience that is not the target audience of the site (eg: a picture book explaining plate tectonics for Grade 4 students, using a site aimed a Year 8-10 students)

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Permalink Reply by Richard Gilson on April 22, 2009 at 9:28pm

I have tried to encourage my students to use Audio/Video presentation software, which I have had some successes. Some of my students though procrastinate (shocking I know), then just copy and paste their paper onto a powerpoint presentation, and submit that as their presentation.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on April 23, 2009 at 7:05am

If you start with the outcomes this won't happen. Use a rubric that sets the expectation for each letter grade, be sure they understand what is expected. Bad powerpoints make me cringe.

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