In unit 2 of A Nation’s Argument, we looked at the U.S. Constitution, what is was made for, and how it’s related to the Declaration of Independence. With that in mind, we reviewed the three branches of government, mainly focusing on the Judicial branch, and the Supreme Court decision, Scott v. Sandford (1857). The judicial branch of government seems to have a lot more power and sometimes contradicts what the Constitution is trying to convey, in my opinion. Lastly we looked at the amendments, including the Bill of Rights leading me to the action project, asking us to look at our school's Code of Conduct. We had to identify a rule whose logic we thought was flawed or unjust and amend it, so that it works better for our school community. I chose to talk about plagiarism because that is a problem in any school, and while our section was good at making the violation clear, I thought there were adjustments to be made. What I liked about this project was getting to pick something from our Code of Conduct, because if we make a good enough argument, then we could potentially have it amended. Please enjoy reading what I think we have to change about the plagiarism rule.
Code of Conduct Section: “Cheating/Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the most serious violation of academic integrity. GCE students are expected to submit original work on all assignments. Ensure that proper citations are noted on all work (including images) is necessary and that student’s Blogs follow Creative Commons laws. “
Why is this rule unjust? This is just talking about the cases of blogs, not about if one student uses another students help; which is plagiarism, but there have been cases where there has been blame of this section, for simply writing down a fact, not the answer just a formula, and have been put under this rule. The premises of this rule are that if any student uses another form of work to turn into theirs, or doesn’t use Creative Commons, they are guilty of plagiarism, the conclusion.
- P1: Use another piece of work as theirs.
- P2: Doesn’t use creative commons.
- C: Guilty of Plagiarism/Cheating.
Now, that much is very straight-forward, but what seems to be the problem that I and other students have, is someone actually helping someone vs. actually committing this infraction of the Code of Conduct. This rule shouldn’t apply when simply helping another student, since plagiarism is, “the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.” But, when a student is just helping someone by giving them a formula or information that will help them get to their goal, is not plagiarism, although it has been perceived that way at the school before.
My revision to the current rule of plagiarism rule in the Code of Conduct would be this:
Plagiarism is the most serious violation of academic integrity. GCE students are expected to submit original work on all assignments. In the case that a student helps another student, the one receiving help must change the words (paraphrase) to show understanding of assignment. Students must ensure that proper citations are noted on all work (including images) and that student’s blogs follow Creative Commons laws.
"Officer Helps Child With Homework at The Cameron Community Ministries After School Program" (2009) Wikicommons
Above the image shows a man helping a kids with homework, now he is just helping, and maybe writing something down on his sheet to help the kid. This isn’t plagiarism, it is just simply helping one person understand a concept.
Another way of understanding my proposed amendment is like when police officers use outside sources to help them with cases. They use the other outside sources for some help to get a little more information, so they can run with that information and get to solving whatever the problem is. In the end, the police officer gets the credit on that case, and even though s/he got some help, it was really all him/her. What I am saying is that if a police officer can use outside sources for help, and end up getting credit, why not a student that is using another student for help.
How will this new amendment help the GCE Community though? The community will grow, through students feeling encouraged to work together better, and be able to learn together, and teachers will see that all the work is understood, because each student will have different answers. My cosigner had this to say about my new amendment:
“I totally agree with this amendment because students should be encouraged to go to a friend to fully understand the concept that we learned in class. The way this amendment is clarified and now understandable there won’t be contradiction to it and if a student breaks this rule then there will be consequences.” -KIS
How might this connect to the actual Constitution? I would say this amendment is most connected to the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution because it shows we are allowed to work together, and mainly with freedom of the press, write whatever we want on a subject, with the ability to use outside resources. Now since that amendment is the first, it should allowed that a student who submits work of their own, with maybe some help, has not committed any infractions. To answer how this shows true citizenship, we must first define citizen: It is a member of a political country/community. Citizenship, is when that person follows all the laws that are in place in this country/community. Now having said that, my proposed amendment shows that because it very easy to follow now, since they can’t be attacked for simply helping someone in doing work.
In conclusion, I believe that it only right that the Code of Conduct change that section, to my revised edition immediately. There have already been many problems with section of the Code of Conduct, and changing it will make for a better GCE community in the end. Below are the main points of my argument: - P1: Section only really talks about blog.
- P2: Two students were claimed to have infracted on this rule, for simply helping, not turning word for word work.
- P3: We wouldn’t blame a police officer for using an outside source for help in a case.
- P4: This will help the GCE community become better.
- C: This new amendment is needed.
References:
"Citizenship Foundation: Educating for Effective Citizenship." Citizenship Foundation: What Is Citizenship. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.
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