Prepare: Begin discussion post by viewing the CBS video, CBS Morning News "Plagiarism" story. Then, review 6 Ways to Avoid Plagiarism and Generally Be a Cool Person.

Reflect: As you watch the video, think about the implications and consequences of plagiarism in the workplace and in the entertainment industry.

Write: After watching the video, describe your reaction to the video and the implications to your own work. What did you learn about the seriousness of plagiarism and how did this video change (or not) your understanding of it? Do you know of any other instances of plagiarism either in school or beyond?

Next, read the scenarios below that highlight some of the most common plagiarism issues at the college level. The scenario is assigned to you by the first initial of your last name in the chart below. Carefully read the scenario and respond as directed.

Scenario 1:
Copy-Pasting

The discussion board prompt for Serena's American History class asks students to brainstorm ways to improve the democratic system of government. Serena searches online to help her come up with ideas for what to write. She comes across the following sentences and copies and pastes them into her discussion post without any additions or her own commentary: "We cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the founders of the Republic. There is no way to improve upon that. But, what we can do is to find new ways to implement that system and realize our destiny." Serena submits her discussion post but has a bad feeling about it. She is not sure what she should have done differently.
Write a paragraph of advice for Serena explaining why copying and pasting in the way that she did was wrong and what she should do differently next time.

Scenario 2:
Paraphrasing Without Citation

Kelly is researching the representation of females in film for her composition final. She wants to discuss the films of Kathryn Bigelow. She searches for "Kathryn Bigelow" in the Ashford University Library databases and locates an article by Joel Johnson that discusses Bigelow's film, The Hurt Locker. Kelly finds a sentence that she feels perfectly covers what she wants to say about Bigelow's filmmaking: "Bigelow is one of the few female directors who has consistently tackled ‘masculine' subjects in her films." She writes in her paper, "The subjects of Bigelow's films are often male-centric, which is rare for a female director" but does not credit the idea to the source.
Write a paragraph of advice for Kelly explaining the importance of citing sources. Describe to Kelly what steps she needs to now take to avoid plagiarizing the author of the article.

Scenario 3:
Fabrication

Shawn is assigned a paper on biases in the judicial system. Shawn is having difficulty figuring out where to find sources for this topic. He has searched online and once briefly in the Ashford University Library databases but has not found what he is looking for: statistics of the number of people currently in jail in the United States versus 10 years ago. Feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, Shawn decides that he knows enough about this topic to guess an average number. He writes, "The number of incarcerated males in America has increased by 10% in the last 10 years."

Write a paragraph of advice for Shawn explaining why creating a fact statistic is wrong and what he should do differently next time.

Explain to Shawn what he should have done in this situation instead of fabricating a statistic.

Your initial post should contain a minimum of 350 words and be written in complete sentences. It must answer all aspects of the prompt (refer to "Think about it this way" below). Demonstrate what you learned in the APA Skill Activity this week by citing your sources correctly. Your initial post must be posted by 11:59 Thursday evening.

Guided Response:

This discussion is asking you to do six things.

1. View the CBS video CBS Morning News "Plagiarism" story. Then, review 6 Ways to Avoid Plagiarism and Generally Be a Cool Person.

2. Describe your reaction to the video. What does this mean to you and your work?

3. What did you know about plagiarism before watching this video and reading the review?

4. Describe instances of plagiarism of which you are aware.

5. Read the scenario assigned to you and answer the question located under the scenario description.

6. Respond to at least two of your classsmates' discussion posts in a way that furthers the discussion.