So I have this one fellow in one of my discussion sections who I am fond of. He really participates more than most of the other students and has clever and insightful things to say. The day that the professor sat in on the class in particular he was active and engaged and bright to the point that she mentioned him to me after class “That guy back there-- he’s good!”
However, his written English isn’t too hot (he’s hispanic-- I can’t help but feel sympathetic to him as this is a fairly homogenous school with few minority students and I want him to succeed). His first short (5 pp) paper wasn’t very good; I had to give him something in the C range for it, and his midterm was pretty bad. But I kept trying to run into him after class so I could tell him how much I appreciated his great particpation in section-- the moment never arrived.
The final exam is on Tuesday and I’m reading and grading their second paper assignment today. Reading his paper, initially I am really delighted at how much better this is than the first paper-- it’s really quite well done and I’m looking forward to praising him in the comments I’ll write at the end. By page three I realize that it is TOO well done.
I get home and plug a random sentence into Google. Sigh.
About 3/4 of the paper is a pastiche of entire sentences and groups of sentences pulled from 4 (so far) web sites. We made sure that the students know what plagarism is-- they had to read a form about it and sign it and turn it in. This isn’t even subtle or out of mere confusion-- it is totally premeditated and blatant. There’s no way I can be a soft touch here: I will have to totally bust his ass for this, per course policy (very large course).
I’m just depressed that it was THIS student, who I had actually become a bit emotionally invested in. I’m upset that he’s betrayed my trust, and I wonder if he thinks I’m a pushover or an idiot. Jeez, plagarists-- if you take something from the web, at least use a pay-for-use site! I wonder if the web is just too convenient and a horrible temptation for those who might otherwise come to their senses while going through the relatively involved process of retyping written plagarized sources?
Sigh, again. I’d better get used to this feeling, I suppose. 4 years of TAing and this is the first time I’ve been totally let down and dissapointed in someone I was rooting for.