Assistant Director Steve Kaminczak.

Web Designer Stephanie Leary.

The UWC is pleased to announce the addition of two key staff members: Steve Kaminczak has signed on as the UWC’s assistant director and Stephanie Leary is the writing center’s first full-time Web designer.

Kaminczak was previously the assistant director for the writing center at Sam Houston State University. At the UWC, he’ll have a variety of administrative duties, including overseeing the schedule, and he’ll work closely with consultants as a team leader.

The UWC consultants have definitely made a good impression on Kaminczak. “The consultants here are truly student leaders. They know what they need to do, and they do it. They’re very independent,” says Kaminczak.

UWC Executive Director Valerie Balester thinks Kaminczak is a seamless fit for the UWC: “The interaction between consultants and clients is at the heart of what we do, and Steve understands and values that interaction. He knows the challenges our consultants face and is quickly finding ways to enhance their training.”

Leary, who comes to the UWC after serving as the Web Communications Specialist for the Texas A&M University System, is excited to be in a position where her work will be accessed directly by students and faculty.

In addition to retooling the UWC’s extensive Web site, Leary will also oversee the center’s appointment system and Online Writing Lab (OWL).

“We’re so excited to have Stephanie on board,” enthuses Balester. “She’s already established herself on campus as a terrific Web designer, and I know that under her skillful direction, our site is going to become not only more user-friendly, but also a more engaging and dynamic place to visit.”

Students are less likely to plagiarize when instructors discuss not only how to cite sources but why.

If you teach writing, you’re going to confront plagiarism: it’s that simple. But there are steps you can—and should—take to discourage it, actions that are far less time-consuming and far more pleasant than dealing with a suspected case.

With all we hear about plagiarism, it’s easy to forget that much of it is unintentional. Students from other cultures or those with limited experience with academic research may truly be unaware that it’s wrong. You may also encounter students who know they must cite when using direct quotations, but don’t know the rule applies to paraphrasing.

Even students who know plagiarism is wrong often don’t understand the process of using and citing sources. Learning to quote and paraphrase correctly takes time, as does learning to write citations. As a writing instructor, you have to specify what is and isn’t acceptable use of another’s words or ideas. Have students practice paraphrasing. Show them how to integrate quotations into a text. And share scholarly articles, so students have a model for how a professional approaches citation in your discipline.

Far more troubling than innocent lapses, of course, are deliberate acts of plagiarism. While we can’t eradicate all such acts, the first step to deterring them is understanding why students plagiarize.

Students plagiarize because they’re up against a deadline.

You can encourage students to manage their time more effectively by imposing interim deadlines. Divide longer assignments into manageable sections. Either require students to submit multiple drafts or assign writing (such as proposals, research logs, audience analyses, mini-essays, or readings journals) that lay the groundwork for a longer project.

Breaking an assignment into less-demanding tasks—and giving students feedback on those tasks—means the work you see at the end of the process is less likely to be plagiarized. It’s also likely to be of higher quality, since students have had a chance to revise.

Students plagiarize because they don’t value the work.

Students are more likely to seek shortcuts when they think an assignment is just another box to check on the way to graduation. That’s why instructors should work to develop assignments that have real-world application and engage students in a deeper way than the traditional, end-of-term essay. While a few students may still resist, the majority will be glad that, if they have to write, they can at least see the relevance of it.

Also, always explain the purpose of an assignment and ask for feedback on it. And try to complete it yourself before assigning it; only then will you discover problems, such as a scarcity of scholarly sources, that could lead students to plagiarize.

Students plagiarize because they are overwhelmed.

Struggling students may plagiarize out of desperation, either because the material is too difficult or because they are weak writers. Such students may have an especially hard time paraphrasing: taking another person’s thoughts and recasting them in your own prose is especially challenging for an inexperienced writer dealing with the assured authorial voice of an academic source.

Collect early drafts to help you identify students who need additional support. In addition to offering your own help, you can also encourage them to visit the University Writing Center.

In some cases, it’s not writing, but conducting research that students find daunting. Ask your students how much experience they have with academic research, particularly in using the kind of sources they’ll need to complete your assignment, and be sure they know how to get help from the library staff. You can identify students who need assistance by requiring all student to give early reports (written or oral) about their research or having them make regular entries in a research log.

Students plagiarize because it’s easy.

College papers are easy to come by these days. But using another person’s paper or recycling their own from another class is much more difficult for students when writing assignments are specific and detailed, so be sure you’ve crafted your assignments with that in mind. If you want to give students a choice in what they write, give them options only within a controlled framework.

You should also specify the type and number of sources to be cited; asking for very recent sources can cut down on plagiarizing, as can requiring a unique combination of sources.

Be sure to alter your writing prompts every semester: at the very least, change the intended audience, redefine the scope of a project, adjust the requirements for interim drafts, or reconfigure the kind of sources required. Never leave papers outside your office for students to pick up, which can not only feed material to potential plagiarists, but also violates student policy.

Using a plagiarism-detection service such as Turnitin.com can also help curb plagiarism, but both you and your students need to know that it won’t find every abuse. It’s best used with drafts, and the reports need to be discussed in class so students understand their results. Finally, remember that most of the actions you take to deter plagiarism are also sound practices in the teaching of writing. These practices will help make your students more confident and capable writers, perhaps the best deterrent of all.

Assistant Clinical Professor Pat Wiese wants her students to understand the power of writing well.

Pat Wiese, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture, knows that teachers can have a lasting impact on their students—and in terms of their writing advice, that’s not always a good thing.

Wiese, whose students are education majors preparing to teach reading and writing to children in elementary and middle schools, is surprised by the misinformation her students have accumulated.

“I’ve had students say, ‘Well, my high school English teacher said that you put a comma every time you breathe,” Wiese recalls with a smile. “So I ask them, ‘Does that mean if you’re an Olympic swimmer, you need fewer commas?’”

Wiese gives her students, who will soon be running their own classrooms, mini-lessons on grammar to correct such misconceptions. But the biggest weakness Wiese sees in her students’ approach to writing is their failure to recognize the importance of revision.

“Too many times they’re just pulling the paper out of the printer and turning it in. Instructors end up getting what students think is a final product, but it’s really a rough draft,” she explains. “I’ve had students tell me that, before coming to college, whenever they were required to turn in a first draft, they would write their paper and then just mess it up a little to create a ‘rough draft.’”

Wiese’s students, however, learn that revision is about more than appearances. Her W courses are structured to take students through each stage of the writing process: thinking, drafting, getting feedback, and revising. She routinely assigns low-stakes writing that allows students to practice in a low-stress way.

That’s key for Wiese, who believes students’ fears about writing really hinder their ability to write well: “They haven’t done enough writing before they get to the university level to calm their fears. What writing they have done has often been centered on the [state-mandated] TAKS test or some other test, so it’s very much a writing-for-the-test mentality and a very formulaic type of writing. These students think of writing as they think of taking tests.”

Wiese instead encourages her students to see writing as a way to clarify their thinking. In one course, she assigns journal dialogues, in which students reflect on readings from their text. They then share the dialogues with Wiese or other students before the whole group discusses the material in class. The result has been better writing and more thoughtful discussions.

Wiese also uses Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) in her classes and was surprised at first by how much her students like the process of peer response. It’s a critical step for them in learning to assess writing, a skill they’ll need in their own classrooms. The CPR exercises help them understand what kind of feedback actually helps a writer improve.

For the past two years, Wiese has served as the College of Education’s representative on the W Course Advisory Committee. When Wiese proposed her first W course, she didn’t think it would have to change much, since it was, after all, a course about teaching writing. But, she acknowledges, the course originally didn’t give students a structured way to revise. She had always invited students to bring their papers by during office hours, but the ones who needed the most help were often the least likely to seek it out.

Now that her students are required to submit multiple drafts and conduct peer reviews, their writing has improved.

Wiese’s advice for other instructors? “I’d say to anyone who’s proposing a W course that the rewards are substantial. It’s a lot easier to grade a good paper than a bad one.”

Wiese herself has come full circle. She began her career as a junior high English and social studies teacher, but left education to work in risk management, eventually becoming a company senior officer. She missed the classroom, though, and decided to pursue her doctorate.

Reflecting on her own career path has made Wiese even more convinced of the importance of writing. “The success I have had is due, more than anything else, to my ability to write,” she observes, adding, “Writing is powerful.”

And so, she might add, are writing teachers.

If you’d like to know more about TLC, contact the group’s chair, Jean Layne of the Center for Teaching Excellence at j-layne@tamu.edu.

“These conferences are a great opportunity for our consultants—not only do they learn more about helping writers, they also get a chance to experience what it’s like to develop, propose, and create a public presentation,” says Balester.

Another group of consultants will attend the South Central Writing Centers Association Conference at the University of Oklahoma in March.

Dr. Balester also presented two addresses at conferences this year: she was a co-presenter of the keynote at the International Writing Centers Association Conference in Houston and delivered the keynote for the North Central Writing Centers Association in Frisco, Texas.

Graduate students are welcome to make appointments for consultations at the UWC.

As of this fall, graduate students are welcome to make appointments for consultations at the UWC. Previously, appointments were available only to undergraduates, since their fees funded the center’s operation, while grad students were seen only as walk-ins.

Last year, however, the Graduate Student Senate, recognizing the importance of writing for graduate students, voted to pay the $8 per semester fee, opening the doors for those graduate students who pay the fee to have full access to UWC services.

“We’ve always been committed to serving graduate students in whatever way we can,” says UWC Executive Director Valerie Balester. “Of course, they have different needs than undergraduates. They’re typically working on longer documents, and some, especially international students, may want more extensive help. We’re working to meet those needs, but our basic philosophy remains the same: we’re here to help writers learn to become more confident and ultimately self-sufficient. We’re not an editing service.”

Currently, graduate students are limited to five consultations per year on their dissertations or theses, but that policy will be revisited periodically as the UWC gauges demand.

The UWC employs both undergraduate and graduate students as writing consultants, which means doctoral candidates may get tutoring help from juniors or seniors.

Explains Balester: “All of our consultants receive the same training, and all are fully capable of helping their fellow writers. So you might find, for instance, an undergraduate business major helping a graduate student in electrical engineering. That works surprisingly well, since what most writers need is a sympathetic and attentive listener who can bring a fresh perspective to the work.”

Dr. Balester has hired nine graduate consultants; five of them are international students and three have expertise in English as a Second Language. These consultants will help conduct UWC training, ensuring that all consultants are familiar with the specific needs of both graduate students and international students.

In addition, the UWC has created several new programs targeting graduate students:

• The Graduate Student Writing Series. Upcoming topics for these lectures by faculty experts will include scientific writing on February 15 and writing in the humanities on May 9.
• Informal classes for international students. One class is designed to acquaint students with the conventions of writing in English. The other uses popular media to spark discussions about cultural differences. Students also meet with conversation partners to enhance learning.
• Workshops on grammar and style for graduate students. So many graduate students asked to sign up for the UWC’s faculty workshops, even though they weren’t teaching, that the writing center has created additional workshops just for them.

UWC Executive Director Valerie Balester.

This fall UWC Executive Director Valerie Balester received the Association of Former Students College-Level Distinguished Award in Teaching.

The peer review workshop is especially well suited to W courses, since one of the principal aims of a W is to encourage students to use feedback in their revision process. Peer response can be an important part of that feedback, and additional instruction can make the process far more beneficial for students.

The workshop on correspondence includes information on writing letters, emails, and memos. The presentation highlights not only the use of correct formats, but also the importance of considering the needs and expectations of the intended recipient.

All of the UWC’s classroom workshops are designed to offer concise lessons on common writing issues. When instructors schedule a presentation—conducted by a trained UWC consultant—they are invited to view the material online and can request that it be customized to meet the needs of their particular course. Or, instructors can opt to use the workshop’s PowerPoint presentation to teach the material themselves.

Classroom workshops are available only for W courses, but any instructor can download and customize the PowerPoints or request a brief classroom presentation outlining UWC services.

To request a workshop, visit the UWC Web site at writingcenter.tamu.edu.

“Fortunately,” she adds, “changes we have seen in W courses so far in the recertification process have been positive. Over time, faculty learn better ways to incorporate writing into their content courses and more efficient ways to respond to writing. Some courses have also benefited from a lowering of the instructor-to-student ratio, as departments have realized how much time it takes to provide meaningful response to student writing.”

The W Course Advisory Committee recommends that courses be recertified a year before their expiration date. To find the expiration date for a course, go to the UWC’s Web site (writingcenter.tamu.edu) and click on “Approved W Courses” in the Faculty and Advisors’ section.

Also available on the Web site are detailed directions for the recertification process, as well as the necessary forms. Instructors can opt to send materials to the committee’s representative from their college for an initial assessment at the outset of the process.

For courses with multiple instructors, the committee asks to see a few representative syllabi. Additionally, the committee needs to be informed of any significant alterations related to writing in the course, such as a change in the percentage of the grade based on writing or a change in the amount of feedback being given.

In most cases, recertification can be completed entirely by email, although instructors are welcome to make an appointment to meet with the committee in person, if they prefer.

For more information about recertification, contact your college’s representative or Dr. Balester at v-balester@tamu.edu.

UWC Executive Director Valerie Balester urges instructors to assign more writing in all courses, not just Ws. Students need the practice, and writing will also help them engage more deeply with their subject matter.

UWC Executive Director Valerie Balester advises faculty to view online services such as Turnitin.com as just one component of a larger plan to discourage plagiarism. For more information on how writing instructors can foster academic integrity, see “Teaching Tips” on page 7.

This summer, Instructional Technology Services (ITS) advised Texas A&M University students to exclude identifying information on work submitted to Turnitin.com—the popular plagiarism detection service—because of privacy concerns. Their advice reminds us that any time we bring a new technology to the classroom, we should recognize its limitations and consider its larger implications.

Some professionals in the field of composition worry that plagiarism detection tools, such as Turnitin.com, may be detrimental to student writing. The most influential professional organization in composition, the Conference on College Communication and Composition (CCCC), suggests that this kind of plagiarism detection program “undermines students’ authority over the uses of their own writing.” In other words, it takes away students’ sense that their writing conveys their own ideas in their own words. When students write with authority, they are not just spitting back “what the teacher wants.”

Why, you might ask, should we care? After all, student writing is just practice writing, isn’t it? It’s not like our writing as academics, which is our bread and butter.

But when we treat student writing as inconsequential, so do students, and the result is the careless productions that we are working to remedy with W courses. Students who do not feel pride of ownership and control over their writing will not give it the time and attention it needs to be excellent.

Composition faculty are also concerned that plagiarism detection programs create an expectation that most students will cheat. Few will do so, although many will document improperly or plagiarize inadvertently. The assumption that students need to be caught undermines trust and makes writing even more distasteful, reinforcing the common belief that it is simply one more hurdle to jump before graduation.

The CCCC also worries that programs like Turnitin.com make faculty complacent by shifting responsibility for detecting plagiarism onto technology. It’s only a matter of time before students learn to beat the system. I have personally tested the service with students, asking them to enter plagiarized writing deliberately for my class; many of their transgressions went undetected. That means students who rely heavily on reports from Turnitin.com or similar services may never discover their errors. More important, they may never learn how to avoid those errors.

Learning citation properly is far more than learning a set of rules; it is learning how a discipline creates and disseminates knowledge. It is subtle, takes time to master, and is the mark of a professional. Still, difficult as it is to teach, we must do so.

As instructors, we cannot let a technology find all the errors, and then, without discussing those errors, expect students to correct them. Turnitin.com cannot teach how to ease a citation into a text without distracting the reader, nor can it teach the difference between direct or indirect quotations, or when or why something might be considered common knowledge. It cannot explain why in some citation styles dates are foregrounded, while in others they are not, nor show why some documents provide internal citations, while others do not.

The key is responsible and ethical use of Turnitin.com. Syllabi should always say if students are expected or required to use it, and they should be informed of the privacy issues raised by ITS. Make sure they know what “identifying information” means. Better yet, do not require the use of Turnitin.com, but make it available to students to use in drafting their writing. Offer help in interpreting results.

Most important, devote class time to discussing the logic of citation and explaining to your students the ways that knowledge is disseminated in your discipline. After all, no technology will ever supplant the need for sound teaching.