The Chronicle: Review Confirms Plagiarism by Ohio U. Graduate Students and Recommends Professors’ Dismissals
An investigating committee at Ohio University has called for the dismissal of the chairman of the department of mechanical engineering and another unidentified faculty member at the Russ College of Engineering and Technology after finding evidence of “rampant and flagrant plagiarism” by graduate students in the department that took place over more than 20 years.
The committee’s report, released this week, is the latest development in the university’s continuing investigation of allegations brought by a former graduate student, Thomas A. Matrka, who asserted that faculty members had encouraged or ignored widespread cheating and plagiarism within the department.
Follow
{ 1 comment }
The aspect of plagiarism cases that is most disturbing to me, and that rarely seems to be addressed is that they are such clear symptoms of what isn’t happening at schools and universities; that is, encouraging students to learn to learn, and to learn about what matters to them. It seems true to me, as a general rule, that students who are really interested in a topic and want to learn deeply, don’t plagiarize. Students who simply want to complete an assignment that matters little to them are more likely to “borrow” the work of others, because the focus is not on learning but on checking the assignment off the list.
I know that’s a generalization, but that’s been my experience….
Comments on this entry are closed.