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Turn it in and plagiarism

tuttle88tuttle88
edited September 2006 in GeekNights
I didn't know about this turn it in thing prior to the show. We have a lovely solution where you have to hand in your paper and a copy of your paper on disk and in really annoying cases the articles you have cited most often. So in principle turn it in is less annoying.

As far as what you guys were saying about handing in the same paper more than once that actually is cheating, at least it is in Adelaide universities. I'm not being one of those "it is evil you guys are leading people to immoral behaviour and are going to hell" because I've done it before, I've got a paper on Cultural Safety that has been recycled about 6 times (for 6 distinctions) but it is technically cheating.

Apparently it is also cheating to move books in the library so that other students can't find them.

Comments

  • RymRym
    How is it cheating unless specifically disallowed? Not only have I turned in the same paper multiple times, but I've cited my own works outright in other works. Most school ethics codes disallow uncredited use of text, but not the reuse. If a professor asked me to solve an integration that I've solved before, how is it cheating to reference my previous work?

    Regardless, the majority of my university assignments were largely useless exercises given in an aborted attempt by RIT to address the abysmal writing abilities of its graduates.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    I have to agree with Rym.

    If you are tasked with writing code to figure out MPG figures for an engine and you write a program that figures it for both miles and kilometers why should you not be allowed to turn in the same program when asked for one that figures KPG?

    Unless you feel that being smart is cheating?
  • AndrewAndrew
    Re-using code makes my life blissful :)
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Reusing code is great until your boss starts asking why some of your variables are named:

    nStrength, nWisdom etc...

    Also, be wary of the mistake of trying to use variables named: str, int, wis, dex, con, chr ...
  • JasonJason
    There is no way that recycling your own material is cheating. By the same argument, if you had to take two classes that both used the same source material (i.e. if you had to read the complete works of Poe for two different profs), would you be obliged to read it twice? Nay, I say. Nay!
  • AprecheApreche
    Reusing code is great until your boss starts asking why some of your variables are named:

    nStrength, nWisdom etc...

    Also, be wary of the mistake of trying to use variables named: str, int, wis, dex, con, chr ...
    Metasyntactic variables for the win.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Funny thing...

    The other day I was driving through Danbury CT and an empty store front had signs up saying, "Coming soon, Foo Bar!"

    So, I just can't wait until the "Foo Bar" opens up...
  • EsonLinjiEsonLinji
    A few of the courses I saw the details of but didn't actually take while I was at university the assignments specifically requested that it had to be an original work not submitted for any other course, which closes up that loophole.
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    It is specifically disallowed, you cannot hand up the same assignment more than once, each time you hand something up it has to be an original piece of work.
  • RymRym
    Then change a word somewhere. Bam! Different work, yet you're still not stealing from anyone.
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    I'm fairly sure that is also cheating, but it isn't really very clear. I could ask the uni but then I'd know for sure and may have to stop recycling essays.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    How is it not still an original piece of work?

    If you ask me to turn in a paper on how 2+2=4 and I do why should I not be able to turn in the same paper the next time I get the same assignment?

    There's an old math joke here:

    A Mathematician is on a boat and someone falls overboard.
    "Help me, help me," cries a woman in the water.
    The mathematician quickly grabs a life preserver and throws it to the woman. Once she grabs a hold of it he pulls her in. Grateful at being rescued, she gives him a big hug.
    The very next day the same woman falls overboard and begins to yell, "Help me, help me!"
    The mathematician runs over, sees that it is the same woman and mumbles, "I've already solved this problem," as he walks away...
  • Dr. Zibbelcoot PhDDr. Zibbelcoot PhD
    When I can I've reused research papers or the hypothesis behind the papers. Unfortunately graduate school got around this by having our CV on hand with all our previous research on it. This means we can't do a NIH proposal (a practice grant that determines if we can be PhD candidates in our second year) on something we've put time into already. If this was not the case I'd have my abstracts, proposal and powerpoint done by now.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    edited September 2006
    I've been perusing their legal documents and I fired off an email to them with some copyright questions.

    They are trying to slip through some "Fair Use" cracks but their legalese is a bit lacking when they point out they are for-profit and not educational. IOW: A library is free to catalog and preserve your papers because they are an education non-profit entity. turnitin.com is for profit...
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    Despite the legality or morality of reusing assignments I shall be recycling my favourite essay again due to procrastination.
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