Reusing Papers

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

That's a choice I can see one making for any number of reasons. Are you of the opinion that making that choice is unethical in and of itself?

If the choice is undertaken specifically so the student can submit an old paper in order to avoid writing a new paper, as the assignment implicitly or explicitly requires, then yes, it is unethical.

[LadyShea]

writing a new paper, as the assignment implicitly or explicitly requires

That's a factor I hadn't considered. Are assignments often given with the requirement that it be new? How is new defined? I sort of assumed a requirement for "original" work, but I might not necessarily define that as "new"

Also, what if one chooses to write the same new paper for two current assignments? Also problematic?

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

That's a factor I hadn't considered. Are assignments often given with the requirement that it be new? How is new defined?

As I said before:

Originally Posted by ChuckF

In academia, assignments are typically understood to call for new work product.

They are not typically understood to call for the mere re-submission of old work. This is why they are assigned at all, to have students research and write a paper. Assignments are not intended to allow some students to do less work than other students and receive the same grade, merely because they chose a topic that allowed them to re-submit old work.

Also, what if one chooses to write the same new paper for two current assignments? Also problematic?

Yes, for the same reasons. Submitting an identical or substantially identical paper for two current assignments, particularly when topics were chosen in order to achieve that duplication to avoid doing the same work that other students are expected to do, is unethical. Advancing a creative construction of the word "new" does not reduce the ethical problem.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by ChuckF

In academia, assignments are typically understood to call for new work product.

How does one come to that understanding?

Yes, for the same reasons.

It's a new paper, and was designed to cover the requirements for two classes. That is unethical?

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

How does one come to that understanding?

I don't see how one can avoid it. I have never, in my fairly prolonged academic career, encountered an assignment asking, for example, that students research and write a paper or submit a previously researched and written paper. The very concept of taking a course presupposes that the student is seeking to learn something not presently known. Writing a paper is more than the ministerial submission of a certain number of pages.

It's a new paper, and was designed to cover the requirements for two classes. That is unethical?

Who "designed" it? Did the student select the topic specifically for the purpose of submitting a single paper twice, for two grades in two courses, without consent of the instructors? Yes, that is unethical.

I cannot imagine a student going to a professor and saying "Look, I'm writing a paper for my other class, can I just submit the same paper to you for this assignment?" and securing the agreement of the professor. Allowing the student to do so would allow the student to do less work than other students for the same benefit, and defeat the purpose of the assignment to teach the student something new.

I understand that you think this is inefficient. I agree that it is. But efficiency is not the animating principle.

[LadyShea]

Yeah, I don't think it's possible for me to understand it in the way that you and Demi do. I don't see one student's designing their product or managing their assignments and time more efficiently than others do as being unethical.

As long as they are meeting the requirements of both assignments (explore and explain x or whatever) and the work is their original research and writing, then any problem with that comes down to some kind of value system I don't adhere to or even comprehend.

"Look, I'm writing a paper for my other class, can I just submit the same paper to you for this assignment?"

See I don't even get why that would even be asked. If my paper meets the requirements of two assignments (which as you said is probably not common anyway in two different classes) then it meets the requirements of both. Why should the instructor know or care that I gave the paper to someone else as well?

Doesn't it come down to individual goals, again?

I should probably leave it to you students, I don't have a stake in this.

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

If my paper meets the requirements of two assignments (which as you said is probably not common anyway in two different classes) then it meets the requirements of both. Why should the instructor know or care that I gave the paper to someone else as well?

Because, as I said, the professor's role is more than ministerial. She is not there to tick a box showing that the student submitted a paper in fulfillment of various requirements. She is there to encourage the student to engage in a learning process, which purpose is frustrated when the student circumvents the assignment by consciously using prior duplicative work.

And as I've noted, there is an issue of basic fairness that would reward this hypothetical student for his re-use of a prior work product, while other students who did new work - in keeping with the spirit of the assignment and education in general - would incur costs in time and effort.

Doesn't it come down to individual goals, again?

No.

[Sock Puppet]

LS, I think you're seeing fulfilling the requirements of a class as the same as fulfilling the requirements of a job. If you see the primary function of the class as generating a grade and getting you closer to a degree or other piece of paper, I can sort of see your point. But in the view of academia, that's not the primary function at all.

In my very first semester in college, this point was drilled into my head rather harshly (but justifiably).

**ANECDOTE ALERT** One of my favorite teachers had assigned a paper. I didn't really understand what he wanted, so I put it off for quite awhile rather than just meeting with him (he was a bit intimidating and I was a shyish kid). Eventually he announced to the class that he would not be giving us comments on the paper if it wasn't turned in by a specific date. (That's where I should have gotten the hint.) So I knocked off a fumbling attempt at responding to the rubric.

He decimated the paper, of course. But what he said at the end was what stuck with me. "This is a thoughtless and perfunctory paper. If you needed more time to complete it, you could have asked me. You seem to want a C, so -- C. Let me know if you want a different letter."

The point is, he wanted us to explore something, learn something, and get feedback. He didn't give a shit about the grade. Obviously it's not quite the same issue, but imagine if I'd submitted a paper I'd written from another class. Even if it addressed the rubric much better than I did as a stupid freshman, I still wouldn't have gotten anything out of the assignment (maybe a little if his comments gave me new insights, but still).

I suppose this can be summed up with the old cliché "You're only cheating yourself." But that's ultimately what intellectual dishonesty does to a student, and to me is more serious than tricking some professor.

[LadyShea]

If you see the primary function of the class as generating a grade and getting you closer to a degree or other piece of paper, I can sort of see your point.

I suppose this can be summed up with the old cliché "You're only cheating yourself." But that's ultimately what intellectual dishonesty does to a student, and to me is more serious than tricking some professor.

My point is that at least some percentage of students are in the class specifically to get a grade and get closer to a degree. They have different goals than others and they hold to different values. Instructors, as humans, also vary in their reasons for being there and in giving the assignments and their short and long term goals.

What I am hearing here is that different viewpoints are wrong, that choosing methods that meet one's personal goals or values, but that differ from others, are wrong. I take some issue with that.

But in the view of academia, that's not the primary function at all.

"Academia" holds a single view?

[Sock Puppet]

I don't know if I'd call it a single view, but the view of schools as primarily grade-and-degree-generators tends to be from the outside, while that of schools as Institutions of Learning tends to be the inside view. The inside view is what will inform the attitudes of the establishment.

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

My point is that at least some percentage of students are in the class specifically to get a grade and get closer to a degree. They have different goals than others and they hold to different values. Instructors, as humans, also vary in their reasons for being there, their short and long term goals, and in giving the assignments.

True. Some students and indeed some instructors may find it perfectly acceptable to re-use prior work. Some students and some instructors may find it acceptable to plagiarize. Some students and some instructors may find it acceptable to cheat. Some students and some instructors may find it acceptable not to cite sources. All of these things can help the student get a grade and get closer to a degree. They are highly efficient. But they are not ethical.

The reason for assigning papers, in addition to improving writing skills, suggests that there is some value in the process of preparing a paper. Otherwise, why not use a multiple choice test for all grading and evaluation? If we're not worried about original thought and insight, but are most concerned with completion of requirements and retention of a certain set of learned facts, just have the students fill in a Scantron. It's easier for the professor.

But many, many courses use writing and research assignments. Why? Because there is something valuable in doing the assignment. When students re-use prior papers, they don't do the assignment and don't get the value.

"Academia" holds a single view?

In my experience, yes. I have never heard any other view advanced by faculty or policy, not in college, grad school, or law school. I would frankly be astonished to hear differently from any credible institution of learning.

[LadyShea]

I don't see writing an original paper that does double duty, or reusing one's original work, as analogous to plagiarizing off others or cheating or not citing sources.

If you are still doing the research and work, then you are still benefitting from the research and work, and learning whatever it is you learn from that research and work. That's all I am saying.

Sure, you would probably* learn more by writing two different papers on two different topics, but, if due to time constraints, or limitations of individual ability, or any number of factors you choose to use one paper twice, then you have still learned the one topic. Maybe that's cheating yourself, or maybe that's being realistic with yourself. The outcome varies as well.

*Assuming that at least some people don't really retain all the information they research or write about, or learn much at all in the course of writing a paper.

[livius drusus]

Chuck alluded to this but I think it's worth emphasizing that usually the instructions of the assignment require that a paper be written, not reprinted, not mimeographed, not retrieved from a hanging file folder. If the syllabus says "write a six to eight page, double-spaced paper on subject x" and you don't do that, then you're not fulfilling class requirements. So even if you take an entirely businessmanlike approach to the ethical question, you haven't done the required work, ergo you fail the assignment.

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

I don't see writing an original paper that does double duty, or reusing one's original work, as analogous to plagiarizing off others or cheating or not citing sources.

All of these things are more efficient paths to getting a grade and a degree. They save immense amounts of time. They are not ethical.

If you are still doing the research and work, then you are still benefitting from the research and work, and learning whatever it is you learn from that research and work. That's all I am saying.

You are benefiting from the research once. If that were enough, everyone would write exactly one paper. Learning to write and research is a process - one that takes years if not a lifetime - and students should improve with each paper. Again, it is not about checking a box.

Sure, you would probably* learn more by writing two different papers on two different topics, but, if due to time constraints, or limitations of individual ability, or any number of factors you choose to use one paper twice, then you have still learned the one topic. Maybe that's cheating yourself, or maybe that's being realistic with yourself. The outcome varies as well.

*Assuming that at least some people don't really retain all the information they research or write about, or learn much at all in the course of writing a paper.

Well, again, you're doing the work and research for one class and getting grades for two. All students contend with time constraints and limitations of individual ability, or any number of factors. None of these things provide an ethical pass for handing in an old paper as though it were written for the new assignment. There is a mechanism for dealing with these things: grades. I don't see why students should be rewarded for defeating the purpose of an assignment by submitting prior work rather than completing the assignment like other students in the course.

[lisarea]

Especially in liberal arts studies, though, the final product isn't the only point. Your course credits represent an expanding body of work, and an ability to consistently produce a certain quality. In a way, it's almost like accumulating flight hours to get a pilot's license.

And if some students are reusing their own work, they're creating an uneven playing field for the others, who are working under more constraints.

[Nullifidian]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

Sure, you would probably* learn more by writing two different papers on two different topics, but, if due to time constraints, or limitations of individual ability, or any number of factors you choose to use one paper twice, then you have still learned the one topic. Maybe that's cheating yourself, or maybe that's being realistic with yourself. The outcome varies as well.

To be absolutely blunt, most professors I know would say that if a student doesn't have time to do the course work properly, then that student shouldn't be taking the class. Most of them would probably phrase it somewhat more diplomatically, but that's what it comes down to.

If a student has to double-dip on a paper because of lack of time, then that's likely going to be a problem that arises again. So what are they going to do? Double-dip again for a paper topic? If you keep on using papers written for one class to fulfill the requirements of another class, then you might as well have never taken the other class in the first place and saved yourself the time.

So in fact, one can argue that efficiency—when defined as getting the most out of the time and effort you expend in attending class—actually implies that you should do different papers for each class.

And aside from that, there are the issues of fairness and honesty that Chuck has already discussed above. Letting a student get away with submitting the same assignment for two classes devalues the work of all the students who submitted separate papers for their classes. Furthermore, letting a professor believe that you have written a paper for his or her class, when in fact you wrote it for some other class that just happened to also be applicable to your current one, is a kind of misrepresentation.

Lastly, in practical terms, I couldn't recommend it. Many professors use Turnitin.com or some other plagiarism-catching sites. And I don't know about the others, but Turnitin.com does cache the work of students that is submitted to it, and you can never tell when a professor has made use of the system. So if one's previous professor has submitted one's paper to Turnitin, then it will show up as plagiarized if you turn the same paper into another professor, and he or she also submits it to the same site.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

If the syllabus says "write a six to eight page, double-spaced paper on subject x" and you don't do that, then you're not fulfilling class requirements..

But you did write the paper. Maybe you wrote it last month, maybe last week, maybe today and you print two copies, one for class x and one for class y.

How is writing a paper not writing a paper?

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

But you did write the paper. Maybe you wrote it last month, maybe last week, maybe today and you print two copies, one for class x and one for class y.

How is writing a paper not writing a paper?

Really? Has this not been extensively addressed already?

[LadyShea]

It has been addressed, yes, and I thank you all for your patience. Unfortunately, it all sounds like some alien cultural mores with no rational basis to me. I think I just have no comparable frame of reference. I would like to understand, but I simply don't.

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

But you did write the paper. Maybe you wrote it last month, maybe last week, maybe today and you print two copies, one for class x and one for class y.

How is writing a paper not writing a paper?

"Write a paper" is in the present tense. It means write something now, not gather material written in the past. It describes an action that the professor requires you to take, not a product to deliver.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

"Write a paper" is in the present tense. It means write something now, not gather material written in the past. It describes an action that the professor requires you to take, not a product to deliver.

I was also thinking of my example of choosing to write the same new paper for two different classes

[Demimonde]

I think it is the ethics of the thing that has you hung up.

So to get a grade, a student must complete x, y, and z, which they agree to do.

Student 1 spends their time doing the work, completes x, y, and z, and receives a grade.

Student 2 spends less time, completes x, x, and x, and receives the same grade.

Is that fair? Both students agreed to the terms that they were to do x,y, and z. Only Student 1 completed the work. Student 2 portrayed that they had done y and z, while in actuality they did not.

Now compound that over the four years and 120 hours it takes to get a degree. At graduation Student 1 did all the work for that degree. Student 2 only did a third of what Student 1 did, but is getting the same degree.

Is that fair?

[Kyuss Apollo]

Also--a writing assignment is an opportunity for students to gain practice with the writing process and, in turn, the thinking process that should always accompanies said writing.

What thinking goes into recycling a paper for Round 2? How much practice at writing does it provide?

[erimir]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

"Write a paper" is in the present tense. It means write something now, not gather material written in the past. It describes an action that the professor requires you to take, not a product to deliver.

If the PE teacher tells you to run a mile, would you respond by saying that you ran a mile a week ago?

Obviously running a mile does not produce the same physical artifact that you could "turn in" to the PE teacher, but it's the same idea. They are asking you to run a mile now, not run a mile at some point in your life.

Also, theoretical question for everyone: What would be the ethics involved as a student if you were taking a course on how to cheat?

[LadyShea]

If my PE teacher tells me to run a mile, and my doctor just told me to run a mile a day, is it unethical to count that PE run mile as my doctor prescribed mile for the day?