This is a section from the syllabus for all courses.

 

The Evidence Checklist: These requirements are standards common in academics and for jobs dependent on factual accuracy. They are the requirements used for grading every written assignment in this course, including the major ones. Making these things your habits for doing work will also help you learn history—and think well about anything.

1

Use approved, reliable sources. For this course, the only approved sources—the only sources you can use—are:

-          The textbook chosen by the History Department

-          The sources I have provided in our Blackboard course (such as links I wrote, maps, primary sources, and videos).

 

This requirement means you do not rely on the Internet, another textbook, or any other source—including your own memory.

2a

Write facts in your own words. For example, you cannot copy an author’s phrases without quotation marks or just replace a few words in an author’s sentence. This is what The Bedford Handbook calls “half-copy” plagiarism (page 692)

2b

If you use another’s words, you must either not change them or follow the specific rules in The Bedford Handbook to reveal what phrases the author wrote and any changes you made to those words.

3

Write facts accurately. To write accurately, you must read accurately. Before you say something is true, you must check approved sources. If you are certain something is true and you cannot find it clearly in our sources, ask me for help.

4

Carefully distinguish facts in the source from your analysis of those facts (or from your feelings or opinions about those facts). To distinguish yourself from the source is a combination of clear language and—when required—clear citation.

5

Know exactly where in the source each fact came from—whether that fact was in the author’s exact words or in your own words. Even if a type of assignment does not require that you cite, you need to be able to say the specific page where the fact came from if asked. If asked, you would need to say a specific page (such as 299), not a range of pages (such as 297-300) or a set of pages (such as 88, 230).

 

 

Copyright C. J. Bibus, Ed.D. 2003-2012

 

WCJC Department:

History – Dr. Bibus

Contact Information:

281.239.1577 or cjb_classes@yahoo.com

Last Updated:

2012

WCJC Home:

http://www.wcjc.edu/