All of us, teachers, encounter a student who copies the sentences or paragraphs from others’ works and submit it as if it was their own. Let me tell you my own experience and share my thoughts about this ethical dilemma.
In an undergraduate research writing course, a student submitted a final research paper with several paragraphs being plagiarized. In this course, the students learn how to write papers for the field of psychology, including APA format and ways to avoid plagiarism. Hence, this student about plagiarism before submitting the final paper. This incident happened last 2014 and I still experience similar situations until now. It disappoints me because there are already guides and resources (and these are all discussed in the class) to avoid plagiarism, and yet some students are still plagiarizing.
Why is submitting a plagiarized work a teacher’s ethical dilemma?
Submitting a plagiarized work is a dilemma because it forces me to choose between failing the student or giving a chance to revise/resubmit. Specifically, there is a conflict between the values of justice and care. In terms of justice, I want to respect our university’s mandate and the Psychology professionals’ ethical principles on plagiarism as a violation of intellectual integrity. Psychology practitioners “should not present any portion of other’s work or data as their own” (Professional Regulatory Board of Psychology, Resolution No. 17, Series of 2017). Our university’s Research, Development, Extension, and Publications Office emphasized in our research manual that plagiarism is a serious violation of intellectual integrity and is a ground for failing grades. Hence, as a professional, I am bound to uphold this principle of justice (Kidder, 1995).
On the other hand, I wanted to exercise the value of care in which I must weigh the situation and understand that the student may need to be corrected before being given a failing mark (Forsyth, Nye, & Kelley, 1988). In line with the ethical principle on student development as the top priority of the teacher (STLHE, nd), I want the student to learn from the mistake and get a chance to correct that mistake.
What decision-making framework I used to deliberate about this dilemma?
I deliberated on balancing the values of care and justice and emphasizing the ethical principle of student development.
I care for students more than upholding the mandate on failing marks for plagiarized work. I see the plagiarized work as an opportunity for formative assessment – that is, I can point out what the mistakes are and what needs to be improved so the student can get something from this learning experience. In this manner, I am emphasizing the principle of student development.
What are my courses of action?
There are 3 courses of actions to deal with this dilemma.
First, I can fail the student in the course. This reflects justice in terms of the strict implementation of intellectual integrity. The benefit of doing this is that I am upholding intellectual integrity to the highest standard and communicating to the students and the rest of the class that plagiarism is a serious violation. However, the risk is that I am not giving the student a chance to develop in the course.
Second, I can give a failing mark to that output only. In this option, I am still operating on the value of justice, but moderately implementing the sanction for the violation of intellectual integrity. The benefit is I am still upholding intellectual integrity but focusing only on that output, whereas the risk is the student may be complacent and may still do it in other outputs.
The third option is to give the student a chance to revise and resubmit. Here, care is emphasized rather than strict implementation of justice. The benefit is that the student will be able to learn while revising the paper in the hope that a revised work will be of better quality and free from plagiarism. The risk is for me doing extra work than my time permits, especially if there are more than 30 students in one class. Nevertheless, this option upholds the principle of student development.
Reflection on my course of action
At first, I chose the second option which was to give a failing mark to that specific output. However, I noticed that implementing this option did not maximize the opportunity for my students to learn and develop. Hence, in the past 6 years, I have been implementing the third option and view it as the most appropriate. If I want to emphasize the value of care and the principle of student development, I should at least give students a chance to submit a draft twice and then the third draft is the final submission. This way, there is that optimal time for the student to produce a quality paper. This also reflects the principle of valid assessment of students noting that students learn through regular feedback on their outputs.
Chris, a university teacher, and I had a conversation about this dilemma and his choice was to do either the second or third option. We thought similarly on how to respond with the situation, and he emphasized that students may be having difficulty in expressing their thoughts that is why they plagiarized. Even though they plagiarized, they still learned something from it. I concur. As teachers, it is our responsibility to point out to the student that it was a mistake that needed to be corrected. This effort is directed towards facilitating student development.
References
Forsyth, D. R., Nye, J. L., & Kelley, K. (1988). Idealism, relativism, and the ethic of caring. The Journal of Psychology, 122(3), 243-248. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1988.9915511
Kidder, R. M. (1995). How good people make tough choices. New York: Morrow.
Professional Regulatory Board of Psychology, Resolution No. 17, Series of 2017. Code of ethics and professional standards for Psychology practitioners in the Philippines. Available at https://pap.ph/downloadable/PRC_Code_of_Ethics_and_Professional_Standards_for_Psychology_Practitioners_in_the_Philippines.pdf
Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE, nd). Nine ethical principles that define the professional responsibilities of post-secondary professors and teachers. Available at https://www.queensu.ca/teachingandlearning/modules/ethics/04_s2_01_nine_ethical_principles.html
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