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Thread ID: 114668 2010-12-12 20:00:00 IT students Nomad (952) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1161182 2010-12-12 20:00:00 Is there something different with IT students?

I'm doing an IT course pursuing a change in career. At the end they have a fiction Project Management module which you do the research and write up these various reports.

I've been to uni and students at first year they are asked to write essays and so forth.

Why is it that with IT students (diploma courses) that right up to the end of the project, no matter how much emails has been sent out and spoken in person they just go onto Google and copy and paste?

I've written up 2 of the first reports myself and I just let them pass. Now this report, all they were asked to do was write a tutorial up with screenshots and a line or two for each saying what they are doing. And, it's like they just opened up a tutorial off the manufacturer's website and select all - copy and paste. Not one word has been written up by the student. The margins/columns were still like the internet page, it still had URL links on them.

Or are IT diploma students more just about learning about the product and answering multiple choice questions?
Nomad (952)
1161183 2010-12-12 21:04:00 It's human nature to do as little as you can get away with. If the tutors marking the coursework are any good, they will recognise the copy/paste and apply "Fail" grades.

Tutorials aren't hard to create, there are lots of online tools to facilitate that kind of thing, including one of my favourites: Jing (www.techsmith.com)...
johcar (6283)
1161184 2010-12-12 21:19:00 It is the tutor's/teacher's jobs to be one step ahead of their students no matter what the educational aspect. Maybe the tutor/s should be under scrutiny if they constantly turn a blind eye to what is an obvious copy and paste.

Getting ideas from Google is the modern method of going to the library for ideas. We never saw that as cheating, because we (well, most) never just copied someone else's work. It often gave a valuable insight into something we may not have previously thought of.

Any copy or quote from another source is used, then acknowledgement should be given.
Marnie (4574)
1161185 2010-12-12 21:37:00 The school doesn't want me to fail them . One has been thrown out of group already . They were good performers in the "IT modules" that dealt with multiple choice questions .

They want me to guide and help them but you know . . . when time approaches the end of the project and that is all they provide despite all the advise I have told them . . . . :waughh:

And it's like one of the other modules that required some research and writing, it was a group presentation . Many of them did no work, got someone else in the group to write it all up for them and all they did was read this while standing up there . . .

Copying and pasting a 20 page tutorial guide :illogical

I guess . I will just grade them for what I believe and let them past with a relatively low grade and hey I am a IT graduate :rolleyes:
Nomad (952)
1161186 2010-12-12 21:55:00 Is flicking it back at them and telling them to do it again (and the reason why) an option? johcar (6283)
1161187 2010-12-12 22:08:00 I have done that but generally what happens and I expect with this is ...

They would delay replying to emails, until it gives you no time and you either just submit as it is or you do the work for them. If OTOH you set up a meeting, they would send you an email saying they cannot attend :angry:

Well that's what happened before.
Nomad (952)
1161188 2010-12-12 22:35:00 I'd go to your course director and complain, it's what they're there for after all. I've been there, done that ... Tell them to up their game and not give students a free-ride.

Still, once you've actually *got* a job in IT, being able to use the Google Machine is pretty essential for most roles :D
Chilling_Silence (9)
1161189 2010-12-12 22:36:00 It is up to the tutors to mark a fail for bad cut paste work.

a few years back we had a bad tutor, i handed in a product review, taken directly from the internet.

got a pass mark even when it was a cut and paste in spanish...
robsonde (120)
1161190 2010-12-12 22:56:00 Regarding the school not wanting you to fail them, Nomad, I had a feeling you are between a rock and a hard place, I feel for you. Because they wouldn't hesitate to point the finger at you if it came to any repercussions.

The school is only marginally different to the 'nobody must fail' in our more junior education system; meaning the school wants the $$$, but to me, it's still very wrong. No wonder so many can't face up to any disappointment that life throws at them.

If the worst thing you ever do in your life is fail an exam then you are doing better than most.
Marnie (4574)
1161191 2010-12-12 23:28:00 Dont be a PC softie Nomad...You asked for an assay, NOT a copy and paste...FAIL THEM....kids today are too used to having it esay...TEACH them now!, how to do the job properly.....although I have to say Chilli is right...google is an essential tool nowadays, however for as long as Ive lived, plagiarism has NEVER been acceptable in exams! SolMiester (139)
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