Anybody grading papers today?

[wannaduacentury]

I remember being a first year and not having a clue how to footnote. I completely overdid them. I was so terrified of academic misconduct that I had at least one footnote on every sentence. I also didn't ever use ibid in the footnotes so my pages were half footnotes. That was actually deliberate because the 19 year old version of me didn't know how else to create a 12 page paper. I remember a prof writing on my bibliography page that the "content was impressive but the format was unacceptable." The next year I discovered style guides and sorted out the format. The year after that I actually learned how to think for myself and research a good paper, although I still find writing them difficult.

I can't understand undergrads not citing their sources. At the very least it's padding for the paper. Now that there are programs like Endnote and RefWorks there's no excuse for bad formatting. If a student is copying and pasting a webpage it's just as easy to copy and paste the URL. Then the prof will just thing the student is a clueless kid who doesn't understand how to write a paper. That is far better than the kid is a liar and a cheater.

You're right. I can deal better w/ bad formatting b/c of not much practice or instruction vs. a plagarized paper. I work for a college in the library and go to school there too. The honor code is quite strict and I've even heard other profs nail their students saying they won't get turned in this time. Some just don't get it. It's not that hard to cite a paper. If I can do it they can too. They should ask for help. btw I'm working on the Chicago method again after a long absence. I use both MLA and Chicago on a regular basis. Jennifer

[NJBikeGal]

I guess I should follow up on this, eh?

Anywho...I confronted the student, who immediately admitted to having purchased the paper. Then proceeded to break down into tears about how ashamed she felt and how she was grateful that I caught her. I failed her paper, which means she got a D in the class. As a major in my dept, it essentially means she failed the class (won't get credit for it), but I didn't go further than that. She was TERRIFIED. I'm hoping that my explanation of how simple it was for me to catch her and what could have happened if I had pushed the issue of academic dishonesty will be enough to keep her on the straight and narrow in the future. Oh, and I made her rewrite the paper for no credit...just to prove to her that she could do it without resorting to something so STUPID! There ends the saga!