Experts
and the 5 Good Habits for Evidence
Reminder
about Writing and Points in a History Class.
The
2-Part Method- What Your Professor Requires of You
The
2-Part Method- What If You Think Your Professor Is Wrong?
The
2-Part Method- What Does It Mean to Your Future?
The
2-Part Method- What Should You Start to Do to Be the Expert You Want to Be
Before approximately the late
1980s, professors graded on evidence and caught plagiarism without having to
work at it. What was different then was there were:
·
Comparatively few sources in
local libraries to copy/read from
·
No Internet to easily copy from
·
Segregation of smartest women in
public school teaching—Before the 1970s and 1980s, those who wanted to think
about their disciplines had few choices but to teach in the public high school.
·
And there are more if you want to
hear them
The History Department requires
that all history courses require 25%
of the course grade be for written assignments. With a 1000-point course like this
one, that mean writing assignments consist of 250 points. The math shows (and
there is a link in the Course Plan to help you realize this), you must try to
do writing assignments if you want to make even a C. If this were a True False
question, the answer would be True.
1.
Your professor requires that you:
a.
Use only the required textbook
b.
Use only the required primaries. They are all
provided in the course.
c.
Cite from those required sources every fact that
you write for any writing assignment whether the fact is in your own words or
in the author’s words (a quotation).
d.
If you use the author’s words, use quotation marks
correctly and also cite.
e.
Read and write carefully—and without exaggeration
and without unsupported conclusions.
f.
Carefully select facts for your answer to match the
question.
g.
Proof carefully.
h.
*All of the listed items
2.
Your professor takes a long time to grade because
she grades every written assignment that every student does side-by-side with
the page of the textbook or the page from the primary that the student cited.
3.
Question 1 and Question 2 together mean that not
only can the professor easily recognize
if you used a source other than the required ones, but also she can quickly prove that you did.
General Tip:
To see the examples below, hover your mouse over the link and choose the option
to open in a new tab or window.
When
you compare the paper with the source, everything becomes obvious.
When you compare the paper (on
the left) and the source (on the
right) on the yellow
issue, the meaning for mercantilism is different. I entered “trade generates
wealth,” Google displayed—as I expected—websites using that phrase.
Tip: Your browser may not show the
right part of the illustration. If it does not, click here
to see both left and right parts.
(UIL:
http://www.cjbibus.com/Evidence_Quiz_2_the_Student_Who_Said_She_Used_the_Textbook_for_Evidence_But_Didnot.png)
|
One major event that lead
to the American Revolution was the sugar act. The British government had a
policy known as Mercantilism
which is idea that trade
generates wealth, this policy lead the British government to form new
ideas on how to enhance their treasury. (Essentials p,112) This was when the Sugar act
came to be. This act imposed a tax of six pence per gallon of molasses. (Essentials p, 122) The British
Government also came up with the Stamp act which imposed all American
colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. (Essentials
p, 125) These new policies angered the colonists to the point were they
responded violently and added to the big conflict of the American Revolution.
(Essentials p, 125) |
112 |
When you compare the paper
(above) and the source (below) on the grey issue, you find nothing about six-pence so the student was
using something other than the required reliable sources.
Tip: Your browser may not show the
right part of the illustration. If it does not, click here
to see both left and right parts. (UIL:
http://www.cjbibus.com/Evidence_Quiz_2_the_Student_Who_Said_She_Used_the_Textbook_for_Evidence_But_Didnot_On_Page_122_Either)
|
This act imposed a tax of six pence per gallon
of molasses. (Essentials p, 122) Tip: If you read the textbook
on right part, you will see nothing about 6 pence. Further, the textbook said
that Sugar Act “cuts the import tax.” |
122 |
4.
Question 1 and Question 2 together mean that the
professor can easily recognize and quickly prove if you copied the words
from our required sources without quotation marks. According to standard rules
for evidence, your doing that means you plagiarized or, at a minimum, did what
the Bedford Handbook calls
“half-copy” plagiarism.
When you compare the paper with the source, everything becomes obvious. Background: lovely student who was trying to replace her habit of just passively moving words around. She said her English teacher said it was right. I knew her English teacher so I asked the English teacher who said the work was “half-copy” plagiarism.” When I put the student’s paper side-by-side with the source, the English stated this was “half-copy” plagiarism. Look at the resources for what makes work “half-copy” plagiarism.
Tip: Your browser may not show the
right part of the illustration. If it does not, click here
to see both left and right parts. (UIL:
http://www.cjbibus.com/Evidence
Quiz_2_the_Difference_in_Seeing_Half-Copy_Plagiarism_When_The_Paper_and_Source_Are_Side_by_Side.png)
|
The paper included several sections of paraphrased text that were awkward, but in the middle of it was this phrase: work of spinning, sewing, and weaving |
to work spinning, sewing, and weaving – she could have avoid “half-copy” plagiarism
if she had not written it or if she had used only 1 example or if she had
quoted it exactly “spinning, weavng, or sewing.” Caution:
The fundamental problem with
“half-copy” plagiarism is not a little bit of cheating but a lot of not
paying attention and just copying words. Who would pay you for that. |
I have been wrong before and the odds say I will be wrong again. Example: I had a student who was looking a different section of the page than I was looking at. There was a statement there that an honorable and careful student could thought meant what the student.
· Because the student could see my evidence, he could tell that I was not referring to the section he had read.
· Because the student could provide contrary evidence by showing me that section, I could tell that he had evidence for what he said.
What do you do if you think my evidence is wrong? First, go look at my evidence by comparing simultaneously for each citation:
· Your paper with your citation and with my notes in the left margin
· Your source (from those allowed) turned to the exact page you said you were using – and you do that until you check each statement you made and the exact page of the source. t
If you are still sure I am wrong, just see me. I want accuracy and truth—even if it means I was in error. If you just want help or an explanation, just see me. I am glad to help each on of you.
Think about this for a second and look slowly at the table below. The experts (the boss who pays you or the prof who gives you a reference to help you get a job) can help you. They will notice—without having to work at it—if you do not use evidence accurately or if you just copy. On the other hand, if you use my 2-part method plus some tips I recommend in Good Habits for Evidence tutorial to learn to work, you should be starting your preparation:
· To be your own expert and to be your own problem-solver
· To be worth an expert’s pay. – To quote a former boss (and fortunately she was not talking about me that day), you are a problem-solver or you are a problem.
|
If you wrote or spoke and did not
use the Good Habits for Evidence listed below |
Would a boss who pays you who
is expert in the business notice? |
Would an upper-level professor
who can write a letter of reference for you and who is expert in the discipline notice? |
Would a professor using my
method notice? |
Will you notice if you use my
method with peer review? |
Would a prof expert in composition (But not history) notice? |
|
Did not use reliable source
(Good Habits for Evidence 1) |
Probably Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Probably Not |
|
Did not use a source page that fits the question (Good Habits for
Evidence 2) |
Probably Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Probably Not |
|
Did not proof every rigorously (Good Habits for Evidence 3) |
Possibly Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Probably Not |
|
Did plagiarized or “half-copy” plagiarized (Good Habits for Evidence
4) |
Possibly Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Probably Not |
|
Changed the meaning of the author or made the author look incompetent
with language (Good Habits for Evidence 5) |
Probably Yes on the meaning and probably No on the language |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Probably No on the meaning and probably Yes on the language |
5.
When you do any
written assignment, you need to do everything listed in Question 1.
6.
When you do peer
reviews (work that earns large points in this course) and if you want those large points, you must look for everything listed in
Question 1 and you must grade using
the same method explained in Question 2.
7.
Question 1 and Question 2 together combined with my
long experience in academia and industry where people had to understand new
things meant that your professor realized that any teacher using this
method can give the same type of
feedback on your understanding of reality that you will experience from:
8.
Question 1 and Question 2 together plus the content
already required by the History Department let you practice habits for figuring
out something small that requires similar habits needed for larger tasks such
as:
a.
Making a personal decision that could change your
career, health, money—your life
b.
Doing a job that requires you to solve problems and
not just repeat other peoples’ solutions
c.
Completing an academic assignment for an upper
level professor in your career field
d.
*All of the listed actions.
9.
What is different in these history assignments from
the real world is that:
10.
This requirement applies regardless of the standard
used by the course you are taking, with the common standards being MLA (Modern
Language Association) for English courses, APA (American Psychological
Association) for some social sciences such as psychology, and Chicago Manual of Style used by most
history instructors and by other disciplines as well. Citation is providing the
exact name of the source and the exact page or pages you used for the fact.
Citation always goes immediately _____ the fact you wrote. Choose the missing
word.
a.
*a. AFTER
b.
BEFORE
11.
This course follows the principles of when you cite
that are shown in the example pages about the Chicago Manual of Style provided in your course. You must follow the
Chicago Manual of Style’s principles when you cite, but you do something
different if you are in a Distance Education class or an on-campus class:
a.
If you are in an on-campus class, you cite
according to the instructions provided by the Department Chair of the History
Department and use footnotes.
b.
If you are in a Distance Education class, you cite
using a brief format that follows the principles of the Chicago Manual of Style, but allows you to place brief citation
within the line of text.
c.
*Either is accepted, but you do the one used for
your class.
12.
Your professor is willing to try to help every
student because practicing these habits can make every student’s future easier.
Just ask.
a. *True
b. False
