No matter what you do or what you say to your class, you probably will not be able to stop all cheating or plagiarism. Just for a further reality check, it’s important to recognize that people even plagiarize in dissertations and other graduate work (Chicago State, Chronicle of Higher Ed Article).

This is to say that it’s not about good people or bad people, ‘smart’ students or ‘dumb’ students, or even corrupt morals. Rather, it’s about an incentive system that you are a part of. No one cheats or plagiarizes when they are researching information about their child’s sickness or how to travel in Costa Rica. People only cheat and plagiarize when there is something to be gained. In this case, a degree or a credential.

So, how do we deal with it? We are going to talk about this at length, but there are some major takeaways.

1. De-incentivize cheating in your class. No test or paper should count for more than 30% of the grade unless it is broken into smaller parts (i.e., a final paper that has incremental deadlines)
2. Make incremental deadlines (i.e., have pieces due at different times – this won’t eliminate cut & paste plagiarism, but it will reduce the wholesale type).
3. Focus on the learning over the grades. The more you and your syllabus are learner-centered, the less the class is about racing for a final grade. It’s a small shift, but puts the focus on their experience over the end result.
4. Force students to get creative. Rather than simple answers (which are easy to look up on a phone, or write on legs, or inside a water bottle), make them analyze new and unique data. There is very little value in memorizing definitions, but a lot of value in using those definitions to analyze novel utterances.
5. This last one might be somewhat controversial, but encourage honesty by allowing them to work together so long as they identify who they worked with, and allow them to cite wikipedia rather than just copy it.
6. Teach about plagiarism and citations. Many students genuinely don’t know that you can’t cut and paste things they find on the internet, and that they have to cite ebooks just like regular books. No one knows these things until they are taught.

Even with all of this, you will not eliminate it, so there are some very important things to remember when you do catch students.

1. It’s not you – it’s them. REALLY. They do not think you are an idiot who wouldn’t catch them. In fact, they probably didn’t think about you at all. It is important to recognize that and get over the initial anger/hurt before dealing with the student.
2. Give them the benefit of the doubt – if you don’t have evidence, but you think it may be the case, bring them into your office or have them talk after class. Assume that they have a solid explanation in this meeting. Maybe they went to the writing center and their writing is getting way better or maybe their kid really was calling. Usually this talk will stop it if it was intentional, and keeps it amicable if it wasn’t.
3. If you have concrete, undeniable evidence, follow the campus guidelines. You want to be safe and treat everyone fairly. Even if you think that the campus punishment is too harsh, it’s not for you to decide.