 |
 |
| Home |
Plagiarism in Group Work Mr. Finley assigns a research problem in a high school calculus class. The problem is quite difficult and will require the collaborative time and effort of a team. Mr. Finley divides the class into groups of four students, gives them instructions, and tells them when the problem will be due. Pete's group has an initial meeting and decides to divide up the work and then collaborate the information. Valeria, one of Pete's group members, offers to write a particular section of the paper based on some great information she found on the Internet. The other members of the group, including Pete, divide the remaining work and proceed with their respective research. One week before the project is due, Pete finds out that Valeria has chosen to "copy and paste" most of her paper from the Internet source. Pete picks up on Valeria's plagiarism and knows it is wrong, but he needs an "A" on this research problem in order to pass Calculus. Pete confronts Valeria and asks her to redo her paper without plagiarizing, but Valeria claims she is too busy with her other class work and her part-time job. She assures Pete that Mr. Finley will never discover the plagiarism, and that if he does, that she will take complete blame for it. Pete finds himself in an extremely uncomfortable position. He feels partly responsible for the plagiarism because he has discovered it; however, Valeria claims she will take all of the blame. Should Pete talk to Mr. Finley about the situation? Should he confer with the other group members? Return to the Cases developed by PSU students Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce.
|
