Paraphrasing Read through the abstract of " Do First-Year University Students Know What to Expect from Their First-Year Writing Intensive Course?" First, paraphrase the abstract into your own words and include an in-text citation and reference.  After writing your initial paraphrase, answer the following questions about your classmates' paraphrases: (in a paragraph or more) · What is the main idea of the paraphrase? · What suggestions can you give to improve the paraphrase? · Was the in-text citation correctly written in APA? · Was this paraphrase easier to understand than the original passage? Why or why not? [INSERT TITLE HERE] 2 Running head: [INSERT TITLE HERE] [INSERT TITLE HERE] Student Name Allied American University Author Note This paper was prepared for [INSERT COURSE NAME], [INSERT COURSE ASSIGNMENT] taught by [INSERT INSTRUCTOR’S NAME]. Directions: Show your work on all of these problems. You may find Word's equation editor helpful in creating mathematical expressions in Word. There is a tutorial on using this equation editor in Module 1 Lecture Notes. You also have the option of hand writing your work and scanning it. Complete the following problems in Chapter 5: Section Exercises. Section 5.1 Exercises (pp. 337-339):Problems: 5-15 odd, 33-49 odd, 87, 89, 99Section 5.3 Exercises (pp. 363-364):Problems: 7-17 odd, 23-77 oddChapter 5 Review Exercises (page 380)Problem: 1 188 Business Communication Quarterly, Volume 74, Number 2, June 2011 188-191 DOI: 10.1177/1080569911404695 © 2011 by the Association for Business Communication PLAGIARISM: WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? Brittney Hansen Danica Stith Lee S. Tesdell Minnesota State University, Mankato PLAGIARISM IS RECOGNIZED by the National Council of Teachers of English and the Council of Writing Program Administrators as a serious issue at U.S. colleges and universities. The Council of Writing Program Administrators (2003) responds to the growing educational concerns about plagiarism in four ways: by defining plagiarism; by suggesting some of the causes of plagiarism; by proposing a set of responsibilities (for students, teachers, and admin- istrators) to address the problem of plagiarism; and by recommending a set of practices for teaching and learning that can significantly reduce the likelihood of plagiarism. (para. 2) In our academic culture, plagiarism is considered to be a form of cheating and therefore unethical. Understandably, instructors try to eliminate this kind of unethical behavior from their courses. But what if they designed their assignments and exams in such a way that students would find no reason to cheat? Is that possible? We think so, at least in the case of technical communication courses, and many of these same teaching strategies detailed below can apply to other fields of study. One of us is a technical communicator instructor, one of us is a teach- ing assistant who teaches composition, and one of us is a technical.

1. Paraphrasing
Read through the abstract of " Do First-Year University
Students Know What to Expect from Their First-Year Writing
Intensive Course?"
First, paraphrase the abstract into your own words and include
an in-text citation and reference.
After writing your initial paraphrase, answer the following
questions about your classmates' paraphrases: (in a paragraph or
more)
· What is the main idea of the paraphrase?
· What suggestions can you give to improve the paraphrase?
· Was the in-text citation correctly written in APA?
· Was this paraphrase easier to understand than the original
passage? Why or why not?
[INSERT TITLE HERE] 2
Running head: [INSERT TITLE HERE]
[INSERT TITLE HERE]
Student Name
Allied American University

2. Author Note
This paper was prepared for [INSERT COURSE NAME],
[INSERT COURSE ASSIGNMENT] taught by [INSERT
INSTRUCTOR’S NAME].
Directions: Show your work on all of these problems. You may
find Word's equation editor helpful in creating mathematical
expressions in Word. There is a tutorial on using this equation
editor in Module 1 Lecture Notes. You also have the option of
hand writing your work and scanning it.
Complete the following problems in Chapter 5: Section
Exercises.
Section 5.1 Exercises (pp. 337-339):Problems: 5-15 odd, 33-49
odd, 87, 89, 99Section 5.3 Exercises (pp. 363-364):Problems: 7-
17 odd, 23-77 oddChapter 5 Review Exercises (page
380)Problem: 1
188
Business Communication Quarterly, Volume 74, Number 2,
June 2011 188-191
DOI: 10.1177/1080569911404695
© 2011 by the Association for Business Communication
PLAGIARISM: WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

3. Brittney Hansen
Danica Stith
Lee S. Tesdell
Minnesota State University, Mankato
PLAGIARISM IS RECOGNIZED by the National Council of
Teachers
of English and the Council of Writing Program Administrators
as a
serious issue at U.S. colleges and universities. The Council of
Writing
Program Administrators (2003) responds to the growing
educational
concerns about plagiarism in four ways:
by defining plagiarism; by suggesting some of the causes of
plagiarism;
by proposing a set of responsibilities (for students, teachers,
and admin-
istrators) to address the problem of plagiarism; and by
recommending
a set of practices for teaching and learning that can significantly
reduce
the likelihood of plagiarism. (para. 2)
In our academic culture, plagiarism is considered to be a form
of
cheating and therefore unethical. Understandably, instructors
try to
eliminate this kind of unethical behavior from their courses. But
what
if they designed their assignments and exams in such a way that
students
would find no reason to cheat? Is that possible? We think so, at
least in

4. the case of technical communication courses, and many of these
same
teaching strategies detailed below can apply to other fields of
study.
One of us is a technical communicator instructor, one of us is a
teach-
ing assistant who teaches composition, and one of us is a
technical writer.
Recently, one of our trio came across a video project called
“Everything
Is a Remix” (http://www.everythingisaremix.info/), a projected
four-part
series of “webisodes.” This project appears to define remix as
combin-
ing or editing existing materials to produce something new.
This got us
thinking about the meaning of plagiarism in the digital age. It
seems to
us that remixing and plagiarism are related, and so we wondered
how
PEDAGOGICAL PIRACY: THE PLAGIARISM PROBLEM
189
the remixing concept that our students are familiar with is
related to
plagiarism in academic writing, and if it is, how we might
control it.
We propose that in writing courses, such as technical
communica-
tion, instructors can make an end run around the cheating
problem; we

5. ask, “Plagiarism, what is the problem?” We propose designing
com-
ponents of a PFP (plagiarism-free pedagogy) in technical
communica-
tion courses at the university level.
We agree with Carnegie Mellon University’s (“Design and
Teach,”
2010) Enhancing Education program:
The more unusual an assignment (e.g., taking a different
perspective
on a problem, question, or reading), the less likely students will
be able
to find something (from the Internet or their peers) to submit as
their
own work. In addition, an assignment that has multiple parts
may
reduce the likelihood of plagiarism. (para. 5)
WHAT HAvE OTHER RESEARcHERS FOunD?
While most university-level instructors focus on the detection
and
avoidance of plagiarism, Reymann (2008) argues that the
classroom
definitions of plagiarism may directly conflict with the types of
writ-
ing that technical communication students will learn to use,
such as
using boilerplate templates, single sourcing, and collaboratively
writ-
ing texts. Reymann further suggests that instructors of technical
com-
munication should “rethink the teaching of plagiarism, as it
occurs

6. both in the classroom and in textbooks, by (a) incorporating
discussion
of legal definitions of authorship and (b) using analyses of
workplace
scenarios as a pedagogical tool” (p. 64). She examines
approaches to
teaching about plagiarism and the need for rethinking
plagiarism in
light of contemporary workplace practice.
Generally speaking, policies and other responses to the issue
have
focused on punitive, rather than on educative, measures. Devlin
(2006)
argues that recently a subtle shift is discernible. As well as
ensuring
appropriate consequences for plagiarists, several universities
are begin-
ning to formalize the inclusion of learning and teaching
strategies in
antiplagiarism-related policy and practice, as well as paying
closer
attention to communicating unambiguous definitions of
plagiarism.
Devlin argues the necessity of evidence-based evaluation of
approaches
to reducing plagiarism in higher education.
190 BUSINESS COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY / June
2011
SOLvInG THE PROBLEM FROM ITS FOunDATIOn
RATHER THAn TREATInG A SyMPTOM

7. The strength of our argument comes from the fact that we
eliminate
the reason to plagiarize. Some instructors may say that this will
not
work in their courses. There may be some literature or
composition
instructors who assign papers on topics that can easily be
plagiarized.
Those instructors may use turnitin.com and other tools to
determine
whether or not their students are stealing text.
In our case, we have developed the following two types of
assign-
ments and found that they are very difficult to plagiarize:
• Unique or unusual assignments: One example of a creative or
unique
assignment is to assign a task that is inherently unique, such as
writing
and designing a newsletter for a local organization. Not only
will the
students will be able to help a local business and get valuable
feedback,
but the assignment will also have to be an original creation.
Other
possibilities are assignments can be based on current news
events, such
as writing practice emails, letters, or reports. For example, ask
students
to imagine that they work for BP or for WikiLeaks and were
asked to
write a document regarding the issues the company/organization
is
facing. This would also give the opportunity to discuss ethics in
the

8. technical communication workplace as well.
• Portfolio-based assignments: These assignments give the
students the
chance to create useful and original documents. Many
assignments can
be structured so they build on each other, showcasing the
students’
skills. It will also be easier for the instructor to measure the
students’
growth in the class by analyzing the improvement of each
subsequent
assignment. With multiple mentoring sessions of the students’
work,
the instructors can help ensure its originality.
Another way to avoid plagiarism is to have plenty of in-class
work
time, allowing the instructor to circulate and read through the
various
drafts and revisions as students are working on them. Requiring
several
drafts will help the instructor measure progress, as well as
ensure that
the students are doing the work themselves. In addition, the
instructor
can require students to write weekly project update memos.
Finally, it is also important to teach students how to work
collab-
oratively. Collaborative in-class assignments can mimic
professional
situations that they will face in the workplace. Students will
learn the

9. PEDAGOGICAL PIRACY: THE PLAGIARISM PROBLEM
191
difference between plagiarism and collaboration. Typically, if
stu-
dents are given a group assignment, they will nearly always
create
original work.
Our experience suggests that plagiarism in the assignments we
have
described is difficult. Instructors who create these types of
assignment
may not have to punish plagiarism and instead will be
encouraging
innovative and original student work.
References
Council of Writing Program Administrators. (2003, January).
Defining and avoiding plagia-
rism: The WPA statement on best practices. Retrieved from
http://wpacouncil.org/positions/
WPAplagiarism.pdf
Design and teach a course: How can I prevent plagiarism?
(2010). Retrieved from http://www
.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/wr
iting/preventplagiarism.html
Devlin, M. (2006). Policy, preparation, and prevention:
Proactive minimization of student
plagiarism. Journal of Higher Education Policy and
Management, 28(1), 45-58.

10. Reymann, J. (2008). Rethinking plagiarism for technical
communication. Technical Communication,
55(1), 61-67.
Brittney Hansen is a technical communication graduate student
at Minnesota State
University, Mankato. She is also a freelance writer for a variety
of publications. Address
correspondence to Brittney Hansen, Parsons Street, Mankato,
MN 56001; email:
[email protected]
Danica Stith is a graduate student in the technical
communication master’s program at
Minnesota State University, Mankato, as well as a teaching
assistant in English com-
position. In her work she is directly concerned with English
composition and business
communication pedagogy. Her MA thesis analyzes gender
stereotypes in online adver-
tisements. Address correspondence to Danica Stith, 233 N. 2nd
Ave. E., Truman, MN,
56088; email: [email protected]
Lee S. Tesdell teaches courses in the technical communication
program at Minnesota
State University, Mankato. His current project is to build an
international technical com-
munication online learning consortium linking instructors and
students around the world.
Address correspondence to Lee S. Tesdell, AH 230, Minnesota
State University, Mankato,
Mankato, MN 56001; email: [email protected]
Copyright of Business Communication Quarterly is the property
of Association for Business Communication

11. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or
posted to a listserv without the copyright
holder's express written permission. However, users may print,
download, or email articles for individual use.
After reading through the articles about plagiarism, choose one
article to write a clear summary that is no more than one fourth
the original length of the article. Remember to include the
author’s name and the title of the original article in your
summary. Use in-text citations whenever information is directly
quoted from the source and at the end of the summary. Only
include the most relevant details of the summary so a person
reading your summary would have all necessary information to
understand the original article. Keep in mind that your summary
will be completely objective and not include your opinion on
the topic. Follow these guidelines to write your summary:
The summary should be one fourth the length of your original
piece. Choose one of the three articles:
o “Plagiarism: What’s the Big Deal?”
o “Plagiarism: Can it be Stopped?”
o “Addressing Plagiarism”
Include an APA in-text citation at the end of the summary and
anywhere you directly quote material from the original article.
title page.
piece.
Students: Be sure to read the criteria, by which your

12. paper/project will be evaluated, before you write, and again
after you write