The authors introduce an alternative posi-tion, one in which the technical communicator is a contributorto meaning-making, enabling the technical communicator toassume the status of an author
Hmmm sounds like our class project for Georgia Child Care Association.
It isimportant to hold students accountable for unethical anddishonest actions in the classroom, but also to allow roomwithin policies for the gray areas that exist between copy-ing and theft.
Classroom peer editing let's students prevent what may be a case of plagiarism before a teacher makes the final decision
. It is only byincreasing dialog among instructors and industry profes-sionals who rely on such composing models that we canbetter understand the need to move beyond the seeminglyuniversal rule of “do not steal” to more context-contingentunderstandings of the concept of plagiarism
Usually the best ways to solve problems is to talk about them. Expressing feelings or concerns through words is a way of showing concern of an issue.
In support of these classroom activities and textbook revi-sions, academic units that offer technical communicationclasses should consider reviewing existing plagiarism pol-icies or drafting new policies that explicitly address theconflicts between academic and workplace contexts.
Dr. Wharton said we will go over these policies so we can be aware of do's and don'ts of a tech writer.
The second assumption that I’d like to address that appearsoften in technical communication textbooks is the sugges-tion that using the Internet for writing has a causal rela-tionship to plagiarism
All I can say about this is Wikipedia. When I was younger using Wiki for looking up information was the go to site. As I got older I learned Wiki allowed people to edit information on their site, which made the content some what untrustworthy.
For instance, as advised in the fifthedition ofTechnical writing: Process and productby Ger-son and Gerson (2006), “Donotplagiarize.Plagiarismisthe appropriation (theft!) of some other person’s words andideas without giving proper credit”
All authors should give credit where it's due. Listening to a song the other day I realized the artist stole the beat from another artist's original song. This made me skeptical of the music industry as a whole.
Our field has wrestledwith the concept of the “author” and its implications forestablishing our status as professionals in industry
Not all authors compose original content. Some authors take things learned from prior knowledge and put it into their work. I wonder if that is plagiarism to some extent?
As technical communicators find themselves workingacross international contexts, they recognize that under-standings of what constitutes originality and ownership oftexts is culturally dependent
I agree 100% with this statement. Different cultures have different understandings and ways of acknowledging ownership.
Turnitin.com and other “pla-giarism detection technologies” has created a culture offear among student writers who understand that such tech-nologies may be used for policing their writing practices.
"Turnitin.com" has become a faster more convenient way for teachers to check for plagiarism among students. I remember my English 1 teacher threatened to fail me because she thought I plagiarized but "turnitin.com" had my back.
Instructors and uni-versity administrators tell them that they must follow pla-giarism policies or risk earning failing grades or beingexpelled from the university.
A constant warning on every syllabus students receive at the beginning of all classes. The same warning can be most likely found under academic honesty policy.