Byram battles plagiarism

Stanhope — For anyone who may have visited the RW Lab classroom at Byram Intermediate School, they may have seen some interesting characters! On the back wall there are many different “dishonest” people. They are our “Faces of Plagiarism.” The RW Lab is a new course to Byram, in which seventh and eighth grade students learn effective methods of research. Throughout this process, the students are generating a final project which is either in the form of a research based paper or a presentation. While learning these important researching skills, the students are practicing how to avoid plagiarizing someone else’s work. Many students were unaware that in order to use another author’s work, even if put into their own words, it needs to be included on a works cited or bibliography page. Plagiarism is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the stealing and passing off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own: use (another’s production) without crediting the source.” In creating “Faces,” the class has discussed what type of person might plagiarize on purpose. They came up with characteristics such as dishonesty, laziness and carelessness. The students were then to create a character based on those characteristics, which yielded outstanding results. As an added bonus, there was a vote by each class to determine which “Face of Plagiarism” best encompassed the characteristics discussed. By the looks of the projects, the students clearly understand the seriousness of plagiarism.