Paste your essay in here..Devyn Olds
CCU Academic Integrity Workshop
10/25/17
1 – Incident Narrative
My name is Devyn Olds and I am currently a sophomore here a CCU. I was raised in the small town of Lee, MA in Berkshire County. Both of my parents have also spent their lives living in Lee. I am currently in the Professional Golf Management program here at CCU and am also pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in both Finance and Business Management. There are many reasons I chose CCU for my college education. First, CCU is one of 16 universities located within the United States that offers a Professional Golf Management degree that is affiliated with the Professional Golf Association. During my college visit I was immediately drawn to the layout of the campus and the facilities. During my visit, I was introduced to the Director of the PGM Department, Mr. Mann. Mr. Mann was an individual that both my family and I immediately felt comfortable with. After my visit to CCU I had 2 other college tours and they certainly helped confirm that my first feelings that CCU and their PGM program was a very good fit for me.
The incident that has led me to being reported to the Office of Academic Integrity was a sentence within a paper for my Philosophy class. Philosophy is a class that I have found very difficult and challenging, as I have struggled to understand the coursework. This might be due to my auditory processing disability. This class requires weekly papers regarding specific historical writings and beliefs that we are presented in class. I have managed to help better understand these works by further researching them outside of class in addition to the professor’s lecture. As I research these works I diligently take notes to help further understand the works and compose my weekly papers. In this specific instance, the information that I wrote in my notes was in exact sentence form. Typically, when I note exact works, I will place a * symbol next to the notation showing that I either need to cite this specific work or rephrase in my own words when composing my report. Unfortunately, in this specific instance I did not place this symbol next to this specific line in my notes and I used it in my report. This was an innocent oversight on my part, which I take full responsibility for. I have always been very aware of plagiarism and would never intentionally take responsibility for the work of others. I have always taken pride in my work and strive to maintain good grades.
The basic timeline is that when my paper was returned to me during class it contained a note to see the professor after class to discuss. I spoke to him briefly after class, as I had to get to a mid-term test immediately after my Philosophy class. My professor asked me about the sentence and stated that he believed it was plagiarized. He asked me if it had came from outside research and I was very honest and told him that I most likely copied the sentence when doing further research for my paper. The professor stated that he strongly prefers that we do not use any outside help to better understand the topics. We were able to meet for an extended period later that day to discuss this situation. He stated that he was required to report this to the school and further action would most likely be required on my part.
The decisions I made through the process were basic. First, I listened intently to the professor’s concerns and agreed that the error most likely occurred as I was rushing to get this one paper completed as I had the mid-term to study for. When I returned to my dorm I decided to review my research. I found that I did indeed forget to rephrase or cite the specific sentence referenced by the professor. I was very disappointed by this and am frustrated with myself for not taking the time to check all my work thoroughly. While I am disappointed that I made the mistake of not taking the time to ensure that this would not happen, I am proud that I was able to speak with the professor and take responsibility. I know that I am a student of good character and believe that my interactions with the professor throughout this process will help me as I continue my studies at CCU.
I wouldn’t say that any one “key” problem perpetrated this incident. The works of this specific class are difficult for me to understand. It was simply an oversight on my part in my haste to move onto other studies that I felt were more important at the time. I need to continue to learn to better focus on the specific item that I am currently working on instead of stressing about what else needs to be accomplished next. Going forward I need to find a better way to make sure that I do not take notes that could be construed as plagiarism. I will also continue to make sure that I more thoroughly check my work before handing it in to the professor.
The specific assignment that was involved was a revision of a weekly reading reflection about the Cosmological Argument. My assignment was to take the comments he had given me and add the weekly response. The comments he had given me were that I was missing key components of the argument and that I needed to add how one may defend the argument when Nagel Critiques it. After the lecture in class I had done independent research to grasp the topic and taken notes. I then used these notes when fixing my paper and accidently took a sentence word for word and accidently plagiarized.
2 – Importance of Proper Citation
It is important and necessary to provide proper citation and acknowledgement to the works of others, as you should not take responsibility for the works of other individuals. This goes against the ethics that we are taught during basic report writing and is also considered plagiarism. One can certainly use the works of others within their paper with the proper citations. Not properly citing a paper is also a violation of the copyright laws of the United States.
It is important to use valid sources when researching as if you use non-valid sources you could be reading someone’s personal opinions. This would lead to a paper that is highly questionable and led your audience (mainly professors) to believe what they are reading isn’t true. If you use valid resources then you are using resources others can trust.
It is important, while referring to another’s work, that you reword and expand upon the original work in an effort to make your work unique and your own as if you don’t expand on the work then you are only using another’s ideas and not your own. If you don’t cite their work you wouldn’t be giving the credit that is needed. If you don’t use proper citations then you are simply being irresponsible, as you aren’t acknowledging the persons work that you are using. It is important that one explains when referring to another’s work so they are challenging themselves to have independent ideas on their work.
I believe that my professor and the university take proper citations and using valid sources seriously as it is a very important thing. I believing using proper citations is important as it not only show your research but it gives the credit to the person who originally had the thought. If one didn’t take citations seriously then there would be an absurd amount of people claiming that there work and ideas were merely there own and it would cause a society that used others work out of laziness and did not challenge to have their own ideas.
3 – “If I Were Suspended” Essay
If I were suspended there would be many things going through my mind. First, I would be crushed and disappointed, as CCU has become such a large part of my life. I can’t imagine the process of trying to inform my family, Mr. Mann, my advisor, and all of my CCU friends. The thought of leaving CCU without accomplishing my goals would be devastating. I expect that I would be very frustrated with the situation and would likely become depressed. I’m sure, with the support of my family that I would eventually move on in an effort to attain my future goals. I would most likely be angry either with myself or others regarding the specifics of the situation. I cannot imagine a situation in which I would intentionally plagiarize, but again I find myself facing this specific situation.
I am unsure of the first three people that I would tell. I expect that the first people that I would tell would be my parents. My parents have been my biggest supporters, both emotionally and financially. I would expect that they would be disappointed and upset, as they know the individual that I am and the struggles I have overcome with my learning disability. The next person I would most likely speak with would be Mr. Mann, as he has been a great mentor to me and has my utmost respect. The PGM department at CCU, for the most part, is a tight knit group and Mr. Mann is directly responsible for that. I would expect that Mr. Mann would be very disappointed and I’m not sure how that conversation would go. The third set of people that I would tell would be my roommates as they are the closest things that I have to family here at CCU. This would be very difficult for many reasons. I would expect them to be shocked, as they know my character and the amount of time that I dedicate to my studies.
A decision such as this would have a major impact to my life. This would obviously impact my ability to achieve my current educational goals and would most likely impact my ability to continue my studies elsewhere. The amount of student loans that I currently am responsible for shows my level of commitment and belief in myself to achieve these goals. Knowing the individual that I am and the character I possess, the mental impact would be very negative. I would have a very difficult time accepting this decision and would try to fight it to the best of my abilities.
4 – Independent/Individual Work
When a professor expects independent/individual work this means that they expect the work express your thoughts based upon the information that has been presented or researched. I believe this type of work is assigned in an effort to get the individual to express their knowledge and thoughts on a specific item or topics.
I believe the educational benefits of independent/individual work are that you learn as you challenge yourself to have your own ideas on the given topic. If one merely was to use only others ideas than you would not learn as you are not challenging yourself and are being lazy.
It is important that you properly cite work to ensure that you are not taking credit for the work of others. Proper acknowledgement of another’s thoughts and ideas is the right thing to ethically do. If you did not acknowledge others work you would essentially be stealing, which is ethically, and morally believed to be evil even when it is someone’s own ideas. This proper acknowledgment is very important is it keeps us able to advance as a society. By using your own thoughts and ideas after reading another’s you are possibly raising new ways to think about something and creating the opportunity to expand on a topic. If you don’t properly cite ones ideas even if it is intentional such as in my case you still are plagiarizing as you are using ones work and presenting it as your own. It is important you don’t do this as it is dishonest and considered lazy.
5 – “What I Would Do Differently”
Looking back at my original reflection essay I believe the best way to keep this problem from becoming a problem at all is taking the time to make sure that my notes where in my own words. This would ensure that I would not simply copy the note without rephrasing or citing the source. I also could set up meetings outside of class to meet with my professor if I am having a hard time understanding a topic, which would limit the amount of outside research I did and keep my work merely my own thoughts. I also need to make sure that I focus entirely on the current task that I am trying to complete instead of looking ahead to what needs to be done. I often stress out when I have a lot of work due around the same time and find myself focusing more on what is academically worth more instead of giving the right amount of attention to all assignments I have and giving them the proper attention and work they need.
The purpose citations and valid sources serve is that they properly acknowledge the works and ideas of others while still being considered an accurate part of your work. It is important that I properly cite and use valid sources to I give the proper credit to those whose beliefs I expanded on. If I did not use valid sources and citations then I would have very little credibility in any work that I did.
The expectations that I have for myself at my current level of education are very high. I have always wanted to be a student that was in the top of there class. I personally set goals each academic year to motivate myself to be the best I possibly can. My goal freshman year was to have a 4.0 GPA in which I achieved. I take a great amount of pride in the grades I receive as it reflects the great amount of work that I put into my academics. I believe the expectations of the University and my professors have for me at this level of education is very large. I believe Coastal Carolina University and its professors expect high quality individual work. I believe they expect this as it is the best way for you to grow and learn as a student.