BLOG 8 --WRITING CULTURES rough draft (almost a masterpiece)

Jacqueline Lebron-Macdonal

Hello folks, this is still a write in progress, i'm still needing a more solid conclusion paragraph to tie everything in, and to merge my thoughts (cohesiveness) a little more-- maybe add more research and I think "i'm okay".
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 The different expectations students have versus professors’ perceptions in regards to academic integrity issues addressing:  plagiarism, cheating, fabrication and academic misconduct.

Many issues are being faced in today's universities because the common thread where students as well as professors are not understanding the grave danger in plagiarism, cheating or any form of academic misconduct including fabrication and academic misconduct.  "Forty-nine percent of staff and 39% of students thought that cheating on assessment tasks was common with 'copying a few paragraphs and not citing the source' the most common form." (Source 2) Academic writing is usually in standard, traditional format that any institution or professor is quite accustomed to viewing.  Yet are the students inclined to this type of written format.  Perceptions on what is expected seems to blur and confuse the minds of students, because every professor expects a different approach to writing while other professors give the freedom for their students to express their thoughts and creativity.  "Differences existed in beliefs about why cheating occurred with staff endorsing the view that students lacked an understanding of the rules." (Wilkinson 98) Some students understand the rules, they either are too indolent to discern the proper format, have insufficient time, or the majority of the student population just worries about getting good grades that won't affect their GPA so their scholarships, financial aid or other financial assistance like parents won't withdraw the economic assistance for the lack of academic ability.  "Students...felt that wanting a better grade and having too many assessment items were strong motivation for cheating." (Wilkinson 98) What I've seen from professors, faculty, and staff at Kean University is that they value the MLA handbook and the important factor is that a student learns how to incorporate the handbook in citing their writing.  The MLA handbook is pretty much like a bible for writers.  Most English department professors within the university value a well spoken, well versed, educated student; thus assign writing reports and research papers that will make students more proficient writers. And this is the purpose behind the writing center that allows flexibility for students to input their own ideas and conjure a concoction of research notations and textual information. The writing center is a resource that students should use; but are not taking advantage of for lack of direction and purpose. "Maintaining high standards of academic integrity is the obligation of all members of the Kean community – students, faculty, and administrators." (Kean 4)

Writing Culture at Kean University as seen on campus differs between groups of people.  The nonchalant younger crowd takes it in stride and with constant text lingo back-n-forth take assignments lightly, hand in their papers and produce overall good grades.  The mid thirties generation, like myself, is carrying dictionaries, thesaurus, and laptops to overcome the hurdle of modern technology that every other student at Kean is already accustomed to.  The over 40 generation has writing down to a science and their only worry or stresses is juggling family and student life.  A campus observation from day-to-day college life demonstrates both ends of the spectrum. Wilkinson demonstrated research that proved that of teachers’ thoughts that the common reason for students’ cheating [plagiarism or academic misconduct] was that the students were “not understanding the rules of referencing” where the students revealed [86% of them] that the true reason for cheating was “laziness or bad time management.” (Wilkinson 102,100)

Academic integrity is what professors should be teaching its students rather than giving the notion its okay to "copy" your classmates ideas and notes and/or study with another student that has the assignment all configured in their brain--and happens to verbalize ideas out loud to her classmate.  Would that be a matter of cheating if they both have the same idea on their papers?  Would that be academic misconduct?  The writing cultures at universities have to reflect its student population, because if not the aim at academic integrity is futile. "An individual’s work must reflect that person’s own efforts and achievements. Any collaboration of effort by an individual or groups of individuals must be acknowledged.  Failure to acknowledge such contributions constitutes an act of dishonesty and a misrepresentation of the individual’s work." (Kean 4)  "Tearoom, corridor, and office discussions propose several reasons for student plagiarism, including failure to understand what is expected or confusion over differing expectations, a response to increasing assessment workload, or in a minority of cases, a deliberate attempt to deceive markers."  (Wilkinson 98) An expertise in the field of our universities most valuable resource:  the writing center had this to say about expectations of students vs. professors in academic writing principles:  “[i]n fact, though most students came to …[the] Writing Center either to fulfill a composition requirement or for help with editing a paper, a full 100% of them declared that they learned more about writing from the tutors at the writing center than they’d learned from their instructors or from their own efforts.” (Rodis 183)

“Students more frequently indicated wanting a better grade (73%) and too many assignment tasks (56%) as reasons for cheating, whereas staff indicated that it was unconscious and the student was not aware they were doing anything wrong (65%) and that students thought they were unlikely to be caught (63%). (Wilkinson 100) Academic writing is usually in standard, traditional format where as though any institution is in the habit of surveying.  Many a times institutions like Kean University has a certain way of demonstrating, a universal writing culture in which they follow for years on end.  Outside sources, like doctorate educators, consultants, and guest speakers shed light on policies and procedures--that may or may not influence the current writing culture already established at the institution from time to time.  Conferences given by scholars in the subject matter and experts in given fields enforce the "writing culture" or "academic standard" that already exists at Kean.  Then once each student strolls into class, he's faced with a syllabus.  At this particular time, the syllabus stresses of how the professor wants papers or essays to be written, usually having MLA or APA standards as a footnote to stress the importance of a "good paper".  Reading good papers and writing well noted manuscripts are two distinct ideals.  It’s expected for experienced writers to run into a common writer's block once in a while; yet an attempt to combat the symptom is called a writing center and/or personal scholastic instruction.  "Howard (1995), like many authors, also noted that plagiarism can be aided or hindered by assessment and teaching practices and there have been substantial efforts made to design 'plagiarism proof' items." (Wilkinson 98)

Webster’s and my definition combined of a writing culture is a civilization of people who compose literary or academic works.  In essence, the writing center is born.  A place where a tutor can assist a writer “gather ideas, find a focus, …develop a pre-writing draft, organize, and develop work at any point in the writing process” (Chandler, Kean W/C) This approach welcomes all people from all walks of life, religion, diversity, and ethical backgrounds come together to form a common bond:  the art of writing. “Thomas Thompson describes how tutors at The Citadel’s Writing Center easily work within the constraints of a military honor code: ‘[T]utors try to avoid taking pen in hand when discussing a student paper.  They may discuss content, and they may use the Socratic method to lead students to discover their own conclusions, but tutors are instructed not to tell students what a passage means or give students a particular word to complete a particular thought.’” (Clark and Healy 246)

Findings of Kean University many sanctions (def. punitive measure against [Webster’s dictionary]) any shape or form of cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, and/or academic misconduct as expected was sought in the academic conduct “rule book”.  Meaning Kean University has strict policies in strict violations of the academia programs.  It is in direct result to protect the university image and reputation as well as its students whom abide in the confines of the university's campuses.  If a student is found in fault of plagiarism or any other academic misconduct, the consequence is as follows: “Recommended Sanction: University for one semester with a notation of “disciplinary suspension” placed in a student’s internal academic file and a failing grade in the course.” (Kean 10)  "Plagiarism and cheating (e.g., copying from another student in an exam) are forms of misconduct that have become areas of increasing concern for academics in higher education." (Wilkinson 98) Such type of behavior “seriously compromises the mission of Kean University to provide quality programs and opportunities for the optimum development of all students.” (Kean 3)

And “these principles are essential to ensuring and maintaining excellence in the quality of its academic instructional programs.” (Kean 3) Thus the reason for a writing center to co-exist; therefore, enhances the valuable point of necessity among college students and faculty alike to form a complete circle of life or hence survival.  Or is it just merely an act of scholastic aptitude? Different expectations lie between students and professors with respect to academic integrity issues like plagiarism, cheating fabrication and other academic misconduct, yet overall the true “reasons suggested as factors influencing student misconduct activity are [implied by] student age, gender, academic level and course difficulty, and cultural background” (Wilkinson 98) where as the same factor can be said for the instructors and/or institutional values within the university itself.

Works Cited

“Kean Academic Integrity Policy”, Kean University, official website file:     http://www.kean.edu/forms/AcademicIntegrity.pdf, Kean.edu, Revised Fall 2006. Web.

Wilkinson, Jenny. “Staff and Student Perceptions of Plagiarism and Cheating:  Charles Sturt University.” International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE278.pdf , 2009, Volume 20, Number 2, 98-105, ISSN 1812-9129. Web.

Clark, Irene L. and Dave Healy.  “Are Writing Centers Ethical?”  WPA:  Writing Program Administration 20.1/2 (copyright 1996): 32-38, Rpt. The Longman Guide to Writing Center Theory and Practice. By Robert W. Barnett and Jacob S. Blummer:  Pearson Education, Inc., 2008, 242-259. Print.

Chandler, Dr. Susan, “About the Kean University Writing Center”,

Kean University Writing Center, Kean University, official website file: http://www.kean.edu/~wcenter/staff.html, Kean.edu. Web.

Rodis, Karen.  “Mending the Damaged Path:  How to Avoid Conflict of Expectation When Setting Up a Writing Center.”  The Writing Center Journal 10.2 (1990):  45-57.  Rpt. The Longman Guide to Writing Center Theory and Practice.  By Robert W. Barnett and Jacob S. Blummer:  Pearson Education, Inc., 2008, 176-188. Print.