Developing assignments that can't be plagiarized: some ideas

• Develop a sense among the students of being part of a research community by having "swap meets" to share resources and insights. The more they feel comfortable being researchers (rather than transcribers) the less likely they will plagiarize accidentally-because of not really knowing what the problem is.

• Develop critical reading skills by spending a class period or part of a period looking at resources together (Web sites, for example) and as a group looking for clues to assess its quality.

• Develop research skills (and lighten your workload) by requiring students to bring their preliminary bibliography to the reference desk for a librarian to sign off on it.

• Spend time discussing how sources are used in scholarly writing so that the purposes of citation are clearer-a well-chosen source can be brought into their papers as an expert witness to help them make their claims. Before they compose their footnotes, have students seek out sources used in a bibliography to recognize how they function, like hyperlinks, to connect similar threads of scholarly discourse.

1. Emphasize process by building a sequence of assignments

Examples:

• A "field report" on a topic: scan databases to see what kinds of questions researchers are asking. What areas seem hot right now? Are there areas that aren't getting attention?
• A research proposal that proposes a question and a plan for answering it.
• A preliminary bibliography-perhaps including some information on where and how they found the things they're using-or require annotations.
• A formal paper, poster, or presentation that puts their knowledge to work.
• A reflective essay-what was the process like? What did they learn? What would they have done differently?

Advantages:

Helps unpack the research process into a series of steps; provides scaffolding for organization and time management; shows work in progress rather than simply a finished product; helps students focus on research as process not product; helps you intervene earlier when a student has problems.

Disadvantages:

Logistically challenging in terms of processing the paperwork that results, may require more time than you have available.

Some colleagues who have developed sequenced assignments:

Claude Brew, Henry Hayes, Faith Hawkins, Patricia Kazarow, Pam Kittleson, Richard Leitch, Don Scheese, Linnea Wren

2. Emphasize originality by asking students to do something they can't get "off the shelf"

Examples:

• Ask students to compare two things that have not been compared before; have them use secondary sources to inform their analysis-but let them know they won't be able to look up "the right answer." (Laura Behling had a class compare two works about which nobody has published a joint analysis before-and told them so.)

• Ask students to do analyze a primary source that hasn't been widely written about. Develop a set of questions the source gives rise to, seek answers, then write an introduction or analysis. Secondary sources are used to illuminate, not be the object of inquiry. This could be a joint project for a class, annotating an anthology of texts or developing an exhibit catalog for a set of images or artifacts. (Linnea Wren has students choose an artifact found in the sacred well and Chitchen Itza; they have to explain where it came from and how it got there. Those answers aren't published elsewhere and require developing a theory of their own.)

• Ask students to analyze something that happened within the last few weeks using secondary sources that provide background. (Richard Leitch has students write a letter to the editor which requires doing research on the relevant issue and forming an opinion.)

• Give students primary material about a historical event. Ask them to describe what the primary material tells them. Then ask them to find secondary sources that comment on the event and compare them. Do they all tell the same story? Why or why not? What evidence do the secondary sources use and how effectively is it interpreted? (Barbara Fister used this with the Niels Bohr-Werner Heisenberg conversation that is the basis of Frayn's play Copenhagen.)

• Have students develop a briefing or grant proposal for a particular individual or group on a topic relevant to your course. (Phil Voight has students in a political campaign communications course write briefings, advertisements, and stump speeches for politicians-all requiring research tailored to a very specific occasion.)

• Give students a quotation with dubious "facts" taken from the Web. Ask them to find the source, critique it, and check the facts for accuracy. (This keen idea is from Colleen Keen.)

Advantages:

Gives students a sense of owning their work that they don't get when the paper is based entirely on interpreting other people's work.

Disadvantages:

Can be time-consuming to develop and test assignments to be disaster-proof. Also prevents wholesale copying of a text, but doesn't address problems of inappropriate paraphrase or failure to cite a source.