Steven Engel and Staci Shultz
Assignments & Activities Archive
Activity Description
Rachel Hall Buck and Silvia Vaccino-Salvadore’s Writing Spaces essay, “‘Doing Research Is Fun; Citing Sources Is Not’: Understanding the Fuzzy Definition of Plagiarism,” suggests ways to help students unpack the complexity of plagiarism. Our activity extends these essential conversations by examining several recent highprofile accusations of plagiarism. Using a jigsaw activity approach, students will examine three case studies, focusing on issues of “originality, structure, meaning, genre, and language” (Buck and Vaccino-Salvadore) as well as context, norms, identity, and technology (see Randall; Eaton; Yarborough et al.). Students will consider standard definitions of plagiarism, including their own institution’s statement, and then consider how three cases might disrupt or complicate those understandings. This activity aims to reveal the complicated boundaries of plagiarism and help students arrive at a shared understanding of both plagiarism and the writing process. In the final step, students will collaboratively draft a statement of academic integrity policy for the class that reflects their findings.