Yesterday, the Tribune de Geneve published on its cover page the news that 85% of university students in the United States are involved in plagiarism. (One should praise the US for facing and making this problem public. One can imagine what the situation is in European universities with mega-classes of 300-500 students writing papers in non-English languages!) The article may give rise to numerous responses. One is that something must be wrong with society if 85% of the future elite is breaching not only legal but also basic ethical rules. But another response is to ask if 85% percent can be wrong. Is something wrong with them or with the anti-plagiarism rule or with the broader system? Let us start with the anti-plagiarism rule. It is still valid. It involves also the basic decency to mention the source of one’s ideas.
If 85% cannot be wrong and if the rule is right, what is wrong? The educational system? The system should make ethical behaviour both rational and pragmatic. But this is not the case in modern universities. Students are often asked to write long essays under pressure. Academic calendars are increasingly demanding. Faced with this pressure, many students opt for the rational solution which is “copy and paste” from the Internet. Can students be punished for being rational and pragmatic? At least rationality and pragmatism are one of the cherished values in modern society. The article in the Tribune de Geneve discusses how to deal with the effects of the plagiarism: How to identify it? How to punish students? There are only a few lines hinting that something is wrong with the current educational system.
Does the educational system need a major change? I think so. The current situation is not sustainable either for society or individuals. It nurtures collective hypocrisy. Tacitly, everybody involved in the process is aware of the plagiarism, but nobody wants to “rock the boat.” Everybody has his or her own rational approach (making the situation more difficult). Society requires numbers from the university (more students, more degrees, etc.). Most academic staff, pressed by “publish or perish,” see teaching and interaction with students as a secondary activity (research is primary). Teaching is very often delegated to assistants and tutors. Academic staff does not have an interest in rocking the boat. Students are rational as well. Ultimately, society expects from them the piece of paper and qualifications. It is what increasingly matters in a highly formalised society.
The situation is not sustainable. Probably today, in a time of pressure of numbers and hyper-production, there is more need than ever before to have the university a place for “thinking out of the box.”
So far the focus in discussion is on identifying better anti-plagiarism software (not on addressing broader and deeper issues). Like terrorism, poverty and other problems of modern society, we mix causes and effects and we do not see the forest for the three. 85% cannot be wrong!
Link to the article in the Tribune de Geneve
Geneva, 9th of November 2007
Here is the comment form my wife Aleksandra. We discussed plagiarism during the morning coffee. She has an interesting point. She thinks that technology helped detecting plagiarism. Plagiarism existed in the past as well, but we could not detect it easily. She thinks that the influence of technology (Internet) is more important in detecting than in facilitating plagiarism (copy and paste).
No one can blame today’s student to experiment what was the reality of thoughts production in the past centuries just because internet does exist yet. It will come a day when proprety will fall from its supporting wall, and that day, I’ll be the first to pick the pieces on the floor. Everybody knows that incest is bad but still, nobody cares that it is a valuable practice in some Human culture. The point is that onwers of owned proper thoughts won’t allow society to reform itself without there approval and any kind of consideration in return naturally due ! One philosopher needs one listener. And I should be more precupated by the way picked up information is used then about what does really thinks a student. Who f….. cares ? If the academic sorory is taking a s..t on once boots ? My legacy is that 85% mustn’t be wrong cause this simply means democracy is the fraud.
Once again, no one can blame the students to care.
Of course 85% of students can be wrong. It would not be first time that 85% of some population is wrong. I am not saying that the educational system is perfect but I don’t think this is a good argument to support it.
US universities offer fantastic environment for studying. They are among the best in the world. For all I know those universities offer very interactive and engaging opportunities for learning, have plenty of resources and are well equipped. What kind of pressure do they apply on students?
What if we changed your text a little bit to read:
“People are often asked to work long hours under pressure. The cost of living is increasingly higher. Faced with this pressure, many people opt for the rational solution which is stealing from the public sector.” Of course the system in which this happens is far from ideal, but would we call such behaviour rational?