bit of a problem...

[missyR]

i did a booklet on sex education for my guidance teacher and it was soo long ago but i remember getting it back and feeling dismayed...
Reason being that she had put "you would have got a higher mark if it was in your own words!"
I was shocked because a s far as i could remember it was all in my own words. We were at a parents evening for year elevens last year and my mam brought it up and made a complaint. The teacher rang back this morning, after ages, and told my mam that she had read something with my words in or something like that. But i honestly can't remember if i did. It wasn't in an exam or anything but im almost 100% positive it was my own words. Now though, my tutor, mam and teacher will all think i'm a liar when i wasn't lying! It was just so long ago that if i had copied then i must have mixed some of my words in or something. But i don't know what to say to any of them? I still get the teacher in question now so how awkward! I just don't know what to do because everyone will think im a big fat liar!! :o((

[bednobs]

couldn't have been a great leaflet if you are unexpectedly pregnant now!
Anyway, theres not really much you can do, because if you wern't penalised in exam or assessment way then whats the point?
you could ask the teacher to provide the original she thinks you have plagarised

[redcrx]

how can you be unsure? surely you know if you have ever copied work from other sources?

[missyR]

This is exactly the thing redcrx you would know if you had definatly copied out of something. Cos if i had then i wouldn't have opened my mouth but the thing is it was so long ago and i was touching every subject, that when i read it i thought , eh? but thats my format of writing. So yeah i've just made everything confusing but it wasn't an exam or assessment and i wasn't lying at all i really believed it my stuff but i want to see this leaflet but at the same time cant help but feel akward and embarrassed which is why i dont know what to say!

[missyR]

Cheers bednobs! lol

[Octavius]

In cases where plagiarism is suspected students should expect to be questioned on the content of their work as part of the process of establishing whether they are the genuine author. If you are not 100% certain that you used source text without crediting it and giving your own view of that text, then you might want to drop it. Otherwise you could challenge the assessment, which will mean the work you have done will go to the academic body for further assessment and a decision. But then if it is so long ago, why worry about it?

[sense4all]

Yup,as a parent I'd ask her to show me / you what she regards to be the origional.! You can't say something like that without documentary evidence.

[Octavius]

You see, I think they can. A teacher should be skilled enough to recognise whether the student is capable of the work submitted and whether the work appears original in that context. If you challenge it then it goes to an academic review (i.e. a group of teachers/senior teachers etc). If they conclude between them that the work is considered not to be original � and this will involve an interview and assessment with the student � then the contravention will stand. If the student feels so strongly that the work is their own and they are confident of that then they could go through that process, bearing in mind that there is always a possibility that the original source can be found, if it exists. You would need to convince your peers that you are capable of creating the work in your own words through your own thought processes.

A lot of emphasis is made these days on crediting sources. It doesn�t matter that you use them, providing you credit them and provide a critique of that text as part of your case/argument.

[saxy_jag]

State your case to all three of them. Don't be a wimp about it - be positive. Tell them as far as you know, you haven't plagiarised the work, and that if your teacher can't state or show what she maintains is the original, then she'll have to accept your word. There's also the fact that she's teaching the same thing to, what, twenty or thirty odd other students at any one time, all with access to the same sources of information (probably recommended by her anyway). Loads of teachers complain that one student's essay is much the same as another when this is the case. If you know in your own mind that the work is yours, then that's all that matters.

At the end of the day, she's only a teacher, and probably couldn't do much better herself (they don't always know more than you do, you know). Those photocopies worksheets they give you in class? They don't make them themselves, you know. They share them around at all those conferences and courses they go on, or lift them from books and/or the Times Educational Supplement - I know, because I've often had to prepare them for teacher training and development courses.

[johnny37]

I am not sure any coursework can ever be truly original. You have got to get your ideas from somewhere and re-present them in your own words. I believe when doing a thesis you have to list sources.

A letter from your parents to the head for an explanation might be useful, we pay their wages after all. And then forget about it.

[sense4all]

I was interested when my daughter started Uni. that she had to sign a doc. that stated that all work would / could be subject to authentication process ( computer assisted ). Indeed any source WAS valid if credited etc. I do know that there have been people who abused the system, and cut and pasted mega chunks of others works . I just think that a teacher should not be more able to bandy the suggestion of foul play without evidence, because they are a teacher!. I would be cross at six, sixteen or sixty if I was unfairly accused of plagerism without proof of an infraction having occured. Goodness you'd be gutted if you turned in an exceptional piece of work - only to have others cast doubt on it because you excelled yourself! Whatever you do don't dwell on it, you don't have time to waste, do something productive instead - in one of your other subjects perhaps! Teachers are just people : some good, some bad, some professional, others marking time pay check to paycheck. Is it worth your time and effort being bothered by this ... do you think the teacher in question is losing any sleep over any of this? Ask your Mam what's her take on it, you may be surprised! Good luck what ever you decide, some good points in these posts - review if it's worth diverting your attention from other studies to take this issue on.

[Eve]

Have a chat with your teacher and see if you can sort something out.

It's crap being accused isn't it :( I had problems at school with and english teacher who used to make comments accusing me of getting my english teacher father (who used to work there) of doing things for me or helping me.

It was only after a piece written solely in a class setting they realised it was my work and then bigged it up and entered it into a competition...hmph.

My younger brother had a similar problem with his maths, they accused him of having me help him which is a laugh cos maths definitely isn't my strong point. He got straight A's then a first for his maths and stats degree and is about to finish his PhD in something I don't understand but is very maths related so think that solves that one :)