There's been some talk lately among VLA teachers about students who are copying and pasting answers from the reading that they're doing. While the students are indeed finding the correct answers, they are not demonstrating any understanding whatsoever when they copy and paste from the text.
Some VLA teachers are giving a warning and then giving a grade of zero if students continue to copy and paste. Others are sending back questions for redo if the answers are copied and pasted. There are many solutions, but we all need to agree that this is a problem.
A teacher I know sent out a bulk email to all of her students one weekend. Here's what she told them in the message:
Dear Students,I wanted to let all of you know about a problem that I've seen. I'm hoping that you can avoid making this mistake if you know about it.
When you answer your questions for each lesson, you need to answer them in your own words. That means that you should never copy and paste (or type) answers straight from the reading. You CAN go back and search for answers in the reading. That's a great thing to do! Try to find the answer to each question, and then rewrite it in your OWN words.
Copying from the reading is called plagiarism, and it's just not allowed. It's taking someone else's work and saying that it's your own answer. That's kind of like stealing. If you do this in high school classes, you'll fail the class. If you do this in college, you can get kicked out. So now is a good time to work on not copying someone else's words.
As your teacher, my job is to make sure that you learn what you're supposed to learn in each lesson. If you write your answers in your own words, you're explaining what you learned. Then I can be sure that you're learning. And I want you to learn as much as you can from your classes!
I truly do appreciate the hard work that each of you is doing!
Sincerely, Mrs. Jones
She received replies from several students, some asking clarification questions and others apologizing. She assured each one that they were not being singled out but that this was something that was just happening more and more. They were very polite and understanding. She's already seen a HUGE difference in the work that's being submitted. She's trying to do her part and compliment each student as he/she submits work that is obviously written in his/her own words.She wants to encourage that behavior because the students truly will learn and retain more if they are answering in their own words.
Some VLA teachers are giving a warning and then giving a grade of zero if students continue to copy and paste. Others are sending back questions for redo if the answers are copied and pasted. There are many solutions, but we all need to agree that this is a problem.
A teacher I know sent out a bulk email to all of her students one weekend. Here's what she told them in the message:
Dear Students,I wanted to let all of you know about a problem that I've seen. I'm hoping that you can avoid making this mistake if you know about it.
When you answer your questions for each lesson, you need to answer them in your own words. That means that you should never copy and paste (or type) answers straight from the reading. You CAN go back and search for answers in the reading. That's a great thing to do! Try to find the answer to each question, and then rewrite it in your OWN words.
Copying from the reading is called plagiarism, and it's just not allowed. It's taking someone else's work and saying that it's your own answer. That's kind of like stealing. If you do this in high school classes, you'll fail the class. If you do this in college, you can get kicked out. So now is a good time to work on not copying someone else's words.
As your teacher, my job is to make sure that you learn what you're supposed to learn in each lesson. If you write your answers in your own words, you're explaining what you learned. Then I can be sure that you're learning. And I want you to learn as much as you can from your classes!
I truly do appreciate the hard work that each of you is doing!
Sincerely, Mrs. Jones
She received replies from several students, some asking clarification questions and others apologizing. She assured each one that they were not being singled out but that this was something that was just happening more and more. They were very polite and understanding. She's already seen a HUGE difference in the work that's being submitted. She's trying to do her part and compliment each student as he/she submits work that is obviously written in his/her own words.She wants to encourage that behavior because the students truly will learn and retain more if they are answering in their own words.
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