All Ireland Society for Higher Education
| Name: | Share , Perry |
|---|---|
| Email: | share.perry@itsligo.ie |
| Institution: | Institute of Technology Sligo |
There has been much recent interest in the topic of plagiarism: not just within education, but also in the media. While the practice is probably as old as writing itself, new issues have arisen with the rise of digital technology, particularly the Internet. This workshop intially locates plagiarism in a broad context of a modern western culture where the re-use of symbols and ideas is routine. Such re-use is not without tensions, however, particularly as corporations and individuals seek to protect their 'intellectual property'. To what extent does it still make sense to claim ownership of ideas and expression - and what are the implications of such practices? Within education, the rise of the Internet has changed research and writing practices. A variety of approaches to this issue has emerged, most of which focus on training and institutional policies. While it is crucial that eduational institutions deal seriously and in an informed way with the problem of plagiarism, I argue that as an issue it is more deep-rooted, and calls for an examination of the practice of education itself, and for a greater level of democracy in processes of teaching and learning. The workshop will consist of a presentation of a framework for discussing plagiarism and then open into a discussion of how a more democratic pedagogic style, drawing on the practices of community education, information literacy and problem-based learning, might help to address the issue. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on their own teaching and learning practices and how these might be reshaped in order to minimise the need for and practice of - plagiarism.
(Abstract ref: #23.)