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Lunsford surprised everyone with her findings that students were becoming more literate, rhetorically dexterous, and fluent—not less, as many feared. The Internet, she discovered, had allowed them to develop their writing.

Everything, that is, except the grading.

Do not assume that students know what plagiarism is, even if they nod their heads when you ask them. Provide an explicit definition for them.

In addition to a definition, though, you should discuss with your students the difference between appropriate, referenced use of ideas or quotations and inappropriate use. You might show them an example of a permissible paraphrase (with its citation) and an impermissible paraphrase (containing some paraphrasing and some copying), and discuss the difference.

A degree will help students get a first job, but performance--using the skills developed by doing just such assignments as research papers--will be required for promotion.

Many students do not seem to realize that whenever they cite a source, they are strengthening their writing. Citing a source, whether paraphrased or quoted, reveals that they have performed research work and synthesized the findings into their own argument. Using sources shows that the student in engaged in "the great conversation," the world of ideas, and that the student is aware of other thinkers' positions on the topic. By quoting (and citing) writers who support the student's position, the student adds strength to the position. By responding reasonably to those who oppose the position, the student shows that there are valid counter arguments. In a nutshell, citing helps make the essay stronger and sounder and will probably result in a better grade.

Strategies of Prevention

questions worth asking

While some claim that "There are no new ideas under the sun," our students must learn how to apply some extra color or tone it down. They must learn to see the underlying structure and then construct or deconstruct the original until it shimmers with originality.

We show students how to take notes with a database program.

we keep an eye on the note-taking and idea development as they evolve.

We build our programs around what I called The Prime Questions in the October, 1997 issue of From Now On, "The Question is the Answer:" http://fno.org/oct97/question.html Why How Which is best? We transform topical research into projects which demand that students move past mere gathering of information to the construction of new meanings and insight. Example: Instead of asking why events turned out particular ways in our past (a question fraught with plagiaristic opportunities since historians have probably already offered answers), we might ask students to hypothesize why various outcomes did not occur. Example: Instead of asking how we might protect an endangered species whose chances have already been improved (the bald eagle), we might focus on one which no one has managed to protect (various Australian marsupials, for example). Example: Instead of asking students to study a single country or city, we might ask them to decide which is best for various purposes (the Winter Olympics, a university degree, the building of a theme park, etc.).

Participation in Facebook is not as much of an individual choice as people think.  Even if you opt out, people can still write about you, can still create groups about you, can still reference you in updates.  You become part of the network regardless of your personal choices.

I would argue, we need to ensure in every department on campus that we structure our courses and our assignments such that students learn where and how to find authoritative source material and such that students must demonstrate a solid comprehension in writing of the material they’re writing about.

About think-pieces:

Students understand and retain course material much better when they write copiously about it. We tend to think of learning as input and writing as output, but it also works the other way around. Learning is increased by "putting out"; writing causes input. Students won't take writing seriously till all faculty demand it. Writing needn't take any time away from course material. We can demand good writing without teaching it. The demand itself teaches much. Students won't write enough unless we assign more writing than we can comment on--or even read. There is no law against not reading what we make them write. Writing can have a powerful communal or social dimension; it doesn't have to feel solitary.

8 minutes of writing at the start of class to help students bring to mind their homework reading or lab work or previous lectures. 8minutes in mid class when things go dead--or to get students to think about an important question that has come up. 8 minutes at the end of class or lecture to get them to think about what's been discussed. 5 minutes at the end of class to write to us about what they learned that day: what was the main idea for them, what was going on for them during that class. Not only will this help them integrate and internalize the course material; it helps our teaching by showing us what's getting through and what isn't.

This is the name I give to writing that is a bit more thought out and worked over--but not yet an essay:

Think pieces are a productive and nonpunitive way to make students do the reading on time and come to class.

When students understand that they are being asked for two very different kinds of writing in the course, their essays get better because of their extensive practice with low stakes think pieces, and their low stakes writing gets more thoughtful when they experience it as practice for the high stakes essays (and relief from them too)

I find term papers involve maximum work and minimum learning.

Peer feedback or student response groups.

Professors who don't use writing prompts argue that an important part of scholarship is learning to raise questions that will yield a good academic argument

Whatever you decide, do note that a prompt-less writing assignment needs a good infrastructure in order to succeed

Consider what you want the assignment to do, in terms of the larger thematic goals of your course.

Consider what kinds of thinking you want students to do

your prompt should address the importance of context and suggest things that you want students to consider as they write

Provide context

Break the assignment down into specific tasks

Break the assignment down into specific questions

Craft each sentence carefully

Be clear about what you don't want

Be clear about the paper requirements

Try to write (or at least to outline) the assignment yourself

Discuss the assignment with the class