1. Plagiarism / Fair use / Copyright
A curriculum for critical thinking and web research
This plan is part of a
Skill level: Intermediate critical thinking and web
School level: Middle school (11–13 years old) research curriculum
High school (14–18 years old) developed by the International
Society for Technology in Education
(ISTE) and Microsoft.
Prerequisite skills needed
www.microsoft.com/ education/criticalthink
Students need to have basic computer use skills, such as the
ability to launch Internet Explorer®, type into search boxes,
and validate the reliability of an Internet source. See the “Validity” lesson plans for ideas.
Students also need to know how to navigate through webpages to locate important
information and cite Internet resources. See the “Citing web sources” lesson plans for ideas.
Synopsis of lesson
The teacher provides students with an opportunity to search websites to practice citing
sources and paraphrasing information. The teacher assists students in evaluating copyright
material. Students practice paraphrasing information for web sources.
Rationale for lesson
Students who are using Internet resources to do their research may need additional help to
avoid plagiarism. Many teachers feel that students copy and paste information when they
are researching. This lesson provides an opportunity for students to practice paraphrasing
that information.
Essential concepts / questions
Essential question for teachers:
♦ How can I support students in appropriately paraphrasing information?
Essential question for students:
♦ How can I paraphrase information correctly?
2. National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)
NETS-T
♦ 4A: Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and
technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate
documentation of sources.
NETS-S
♦ 5A: Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and
technology.
Teacher preparation
♦ Teachers should develop a set of topics or websites that the students should explore
to find content-specific information.
♦ Teachers should review samples of acceptable paraphrased documents and
appropriate ways to take notes, and they should review the ways to cite sources.
♦ As teachers decide which topics to research, they should keep in mind the final
product that they want their students to create.
♦ Teachers should create a set of guidelines that define when to paraphrase information
and when to quote the text.
♦ “Plagiarism – Teacher demo – Beginner” contains descriptions and sources for
plagiarism, fair use, and copyright-friendly materials.
Management issues
Teachers must consider students’ availability for labs and should take into account the time
spent on research and documentation. Also, if students are to locate and document
information electronically, teachers should consider where those files will be stored.
Teachers can develop storage folders on the school’s network or folders on Windows Live™
SkyDrive™. Teachers should determine how much time will be allotted for research,
documentation, and preparation of the final product. Finally, teachers need to decide how
the students will research: independently, in pairs, or in small groups.
Instruction
Teachers provide topics for the students to research online. Students find appropriate
material, paraphrase information in notes, cite sources correctly, and quote pertinent texts.
Students complete the assignment with guidance from their teachers.
3. Student activities/ guidance
Teachers give students a topic to research. Teachers then review (with the students) the
definition of plagiarism and the consequences of the action. They should also remind
students of the proper ways to paraphrase and document sources.
Assessment
Students answer the essential question:
♦ How can I paraphrase information correctly?
Related resources and tutorials
Search engine
♦ Bing
◊ www.bing.com
♦ Bing Users Guide: How to use Bing
◊ http://www.nirmaltv.com/2009/06/01/bing-detailed-user-guide
Plagiarism
♦ Plagiarism
◊ http://www.plagiarism.org
♦ ClassZone
◊ http://www.classzone.com/books/research_guide/page_build.cfm?
content=avoid_plagiarism&state=none
Note-taking
♦ Microsoft Office OneNote
◊ http://www.microsoft.com/education/products/office/onenote/default.aspx#Tips
♦ Education World
◊ http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson322.shtml
Citing sources
♦ Citation Machine
◊ http://citationmachine.net/index2.php
♦ The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
◊ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
♦ Tutorial on using the Reference feature in Microsoft Office Word 2007
◊ http://www.fgcu.edu/support/office2007/Word/references.asp
For ideas and guidelines
♦ See the “Mechanics of effective searching” lesson plans.
♦ See the “Validity” lesson plans.
♦ See the “Citing web sources” lesson plans.
