AT LEAST 250 WORDS FOR EACH DISCUSSION DISCUSSION 1 Prepare Begin your discussion post by viewing the CBS video CBS September 2023

Next, read the scenarios below that highlight some of the most common plagiarism issues at the college level. The scenario is assigned to you by the first initial of your last name in the chart below. Carefully read the scenario and respond as directed.

Scenario 1:
Copy-Pasting 
The discussion board prompt for Serena’s American History class asks students to brainstorm ways to improve the democratic system of government. Serena searches online to help her come up with ideas for what to write. She comes across the following sentences and copies and pastes them into her discussion post without any additions or her own commentary: “We cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the founders of the Republic. There is no way to improve upon that. But, what we can do is to find new ways to implement that system and realize our destiny.” Serena submits her discussion post but has a bad feeling about it. She is not sure what she should have done differently.
Write a paragraph of advice for Serena explaining why copying and pasting in the way that she did was wrong and what she should do differently next time.

Scenario 2: 
Paraphrasing Without Citation 
Kelly is researching the representation of females in film for her composition final. She wants to discuss the films of Kathryn Bigelow. She searches for “Kathryn Bigelow” in the Ashford University Library databases and locates an article by Joel Johnson that discusses Bigelow’s film, The Hurt Locker. Kelly finds a sentence that she feels perfectly covers what she wants to say about Bigelow’s filmmaking: “Bigelow is one of the few female directors who has consistently tackled ‘masculine’ subjects in her films.” She writes in her paper, “The subjects of Bigelow’s films are often male-centric, which is rare for a female director” but does not credit the idea to the source.
Write a paragraph of advice for Kelly explaining the importance of citing sources. Describe to Kelly what steps she needs to now take to avoid plagiarizing the author of the article.

Scenario 3: 
Fabrication 
Shawn is assigned a paper on biases in the judicial system. Shawn is having difficulty figuring out where to find sources for this topic. He has searched online and once briefly in the Ashford University Library databases but has not found what he is looking for: statistics of the number of people currently in jail in the United States versus 10 years ago. Feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, Shawn decides that he knows enough about this topic to guess an average number. He writes, “The number of incarcerated males in America has increased by 10% in the last 10 years.”
Write a paragraph of advice for Shawn explaining why creating a fact statistic is wrong and what he should do differently next time. Explain to Shawn what he should have done in this situation instead of fabricating a statistic.

Your initial post should contain a minimum of 350 words and be written in complete sentences. It must answer all aspects of the prompt (refer to “Think about it this way” below).  Demonstrate what you learned in the APA Skill Activity this week by citing your sources correctly.   Your initial post must be posted by 11:59 Thursday evening.

Reply to at least two of your classmates who explored a different scenario than that which you examined. Will the advice they provided be helpful in the future for the individual in the scenario? What might your classmates add to their advice to make it even more helpful? Post your two peer responses during the week to maximize the opportunity for vigorous discussion.

Think about it this way…
This discussion is asking you to do six things.

• View the CBS video CBS Morning News “Plagiarism” story. Then, review 6 Ways to Avoid Plagiarism and Generally Be a Cool Person.
• Describe your reaction to the video.  What does this mean to you and your work?
• What did you know about plagiarism before watching this video and reading the review?
• Describe instances of plagiarism of which you are aware.
• Read the scenario assigned to you and answer the question located under the scenario description.
• Respond to at least two of your classsmates’ discussion posts in a way that furthers the discussion.

DISCUSSION 

Prepare: Take a few minutes to think about the material that we’ve covered in this course so far.

• What struck you in particular as you explored the course materials this week?
• What insights have you had?
• What have you been struggling with?
• What questions have come up for you at this point?
• Do you have any helpful tips that you’ve picked up in this course or in a past course?
• Do you have questions about the assignment that your classmates might be able to help with? (If you have a question for the instructor, be sure to contact your instructor through email or in the Ask Your Instructor Forum).

 
You are required to post at least 100 total words in this forum this week. You can post one time or ten times, the only requirements are that you post at least 100 words total and that you engage in conversation related to course content. Ask questions, answer questions, provide extra resources you found that are interesting, or engage in a debate about something you learned this week. The only requirement is that your comments have to relate to the course content.

Provide a full explanation of the issues that you discuss in your posts. For example, if you write that you had difficulty thinking of a topic for your annotated bibliography, explain where in the process of determining a topic you had difficulty. Could you not think of any topics? Could you think of too many topics? Did you have a hard time finding useful information when you did background research? 

Similarly, when responding to your classmates, be sure to elaborate. For example, if you write that you also found a specific topic interesting, explain what about that topic you found interesting and why. Is it the same aspects of the topic that your classmate found interesting? Were you unaware that events associated with the topic took place? Did the information that you learned change your understanding of those events?

If you have a question for your instructor, you should contact your instructor through email or in the “Ask Your Instructor” board. This Open Forum is a place for you to collaborate and connect with your classmates as well as support one another. Your instructor will monitor this board and may post, but he/she is not expected to answer all questions.

If you notice a classmate is struggling with something that you can help with, use your responses as a way to support them. Helping out your classmates will not only benefit them, but it will also help to solidify your own knowledge.