Students are always afraid of getting scolded or punished by their teachers. There may be no more threatening situation than being the subject of an academic conduct hearing due to plagiarism. This differs from what students or their parents might anticipate from the academy. Faculty usually require assistance developing strategies highlighting the reasons for and ways academic writing and the related documentation standards improve students’ verbal and written expression capacity.
As per Moore (2019), higher education research writing fledglings often must make attribution and documentation corrections. By employing “plagiarism-proof” assignments, she offers four techniques to spot writing problems, prevent problems with academic behaviour, and enhance the student’s capacity to avoid recurrent errors.
The strategies are:
- Evaluate your expectations for student research literacy.
- Include unique or individualized elements in projects.
- Look for an annotated bibliography before the assignment’s due date.
- Collect stages in writing development.
To follow the expected academic requirements, students may also need more confidence. According to Fernsten and Reda (2011), looking at instructional strategies that support positive writer identity, particularly about formal academic discourses, may give students the confidence to complete many literacy tasks required for academic research writing.
Another research by Monceaux (2015) also supports a more concise approach that involves:
1) Involving students in active research
2) Supporting the student’s accurate analysis of articles for relevant source material.
3) Incorporating that material into the student’s work to improve research and analysis skills, boost writer confidence, and prevent plagiarism.
Many students find it challenging to produce unique answers, appropriately cite sources, and avoid plagiarism.
Here are some simple but valuable tips from experts that you must utilize to help students.
Tips to Motivate Your Students to Write Original Pieces with No Plagiarism:
Define
Firstly, use credible sources to define the terminology within the discipline offered or posed. Students may need help understanding the assignment requirements or the subjects they are expected to research. Skipping this essential step may lead to students writing off-topic answers or adding unnecessary information. The entire idea is to choose reliable sources. You can consult subject-matter experts who can provide the perspectives and conversations required to thoroughly understand the fundamental concepts rather than the dictionary or Wikipedia.
Discuss
Talk about the opinions of the experts on these subjects. Discuss this in class. Ask reasons for your beliefs, such as: Who stated that? Where did you get that concept from? Then, start introducing sources such as articles, books, organizations, or reliable websites. Encourage using visual aids to supplement written responses, such as diagrams, tables, figures, photos, and videos. Utilizing information from a source, particularly numbers, show a greater depth of understanding.
Apply
Use in-text citations, quotation marks, or both to directly implement what reliable experts say. Make a list of references. Students often attempt to finish a reference list after writing or merely supply a list without in-text citations. As indicated in the study, this might be completed as an early assignment and provide a few paragraphs from the finished research paper.
Early Start
Students usually start the work when the deadline is very near, but it’s always advisable to begin writing as early as possible. Writing in a hurry may lead to skipping many essential parts of a written piece, and having enough time to think and research may help in better concentration and better-written work.
Also, provide enough time to students while writing a paper to help them write correctly and avert plagiarism, as it’s a human tendency to make careless errors when under pressure.
Correct Citations
Citing sources is one thing, but it won’t mean much if students don’t do it properly. Make sure they have sound knowledge of the paper they’re working on and apply the standards correctly.
Proofread
Proofreading is an abbreviation for the practice of making something “error-proof after reading it.” It ensures that write-ups are error-free. Check the pages for correct spelling and grammar, then modify the margins and spacing so the articles flow easily. A piece of error-free and well-crafted writing may be delightful to read, and the extra effort will ultimately pay off.
Plagiarism Checker
Mistakes are common, particularly when quoting work. You can introduce a plagiarism checker. Such software is a very effective means of checking essays or theses for any instances of plagiarism. Students who take their academic work seriously and want to avoid mistakes can use plagiarism for free or buy a paid version.
Reference Page
Mentioning a reference page at the end of the piece is another simple technique to keep the article unique and free from claims of plagiarism.
Conclude
Whatever they write, it is essential to create a conclusion of the discussion or argument that supports, rejects or summarizes the main points the experts offer and include your opinion to fulfil the need, value, or application of the topic to create, improve, or avoid the opposite or negative results.
Often, students do not offer a conclusion if not asked to do so. Additionally, some students may not understand the connection between the introduction of a written assignment and its potential use as an effective method to begin a conclusion. For better assistance, you might offer questions based on real-world applications for students to use as a guide in the conclusion.
Try these fantastic and simple techniques to assist your pupils in producing unique, error-free, and plagiarism-free writing.
