Sixth Bad Apple Case

 

Just added: a new Bad Apple evaluation challenge: Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.

For years, we've used the endangered Pacific Tree Octopus as a test case to teach investigative searching skills:

• URL truncation
• Site browsing
  
• Fact Checking
• Ownership
• Purpose

Now you can test your investigative savvy using six criteria: Author, Publisher, Bias, Freshness, Backlinks and Fact Checking.

Give it a try. If you've never read about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus before, you really owe it to yourself. 

Start here

Solution to Plagiarism Dropbox Example (Smart Fabrics)

 

There are a couple of ways to avoid plagiarism in this example.

First, is to paraphrase the content and cite the source in the text. Then add the source to the Works Cited (aka references) section at the end of the paper.

Merely quoting the entire section and citing the source is not a good solution. There's nothing original and citing so much makes for a poor paper. Adding new content would solve this problem.

Once again, here's the original source:

Fabrics have become an arena for competition for scientists all around the world. The race is on to be the first to develop new fabrics that will not only keep you warm but also cool, dry, moisturised and free of bacteria, odour and stains while measuring your heart rate. Welcome to the world of smart fabrics.

The fundamental job of clothes is to keep us warm or cool, so it's no surprise that many of the smart textiles entering the market look to regulate body temperature.

Source: Hile, J. (2004). Smart Fabrics. http://www.abc.net.au/catapult/indepth/s1435357.htm

And here's the plagiarized example:

Fabrics have become an arena for competition for scientists all around the world. The race is on to be the first to develop new fabrics that will not only keep you warm but also cool, dry, moisturised and free of bacteria, odour and stains while measuring your heart rate. Welcome to the world of smart fabrics.

The fundamental job of clothes is to keep us warm or cool, so it's no surprise that many of the smart textiles entering the market look to regulate body temperature.

A combination of quoting/citing and paraphrasing/citing would solve the problem. Adding new content would enhance the paper.

For more about Plagiarism Dropbox, see our site.

 

Fix this Plagiarism

Can your students recognize plagiarism? Do they know how to avoid it?

Here's a sample page from Plagiarism Dropbox to get students thinking about plagiarism and how to avoid it.

First, read the passage below:

Original Source

Fabrics have become an arena for competition for scientists all around the world. The race is on to be the first to develop new fabrics that will not only keep you warm but also cool, dry, moisturised and free of bacteria, odour and stains while measuring your heart rate. Welcome to the world of smart fabrics.

The fundamental job of clothes is to keep us warm or cool, so it's no surprise that many of the smart textiles entering the market look to regulate body temperature.

Source: Hile, J. (2004). Smart Fabrics. http://www.abc.net.au/catapult/indepth/s1435357.htm

Then read this passage that someone wrote based on the original:

Fabrics have become an arena for competition for scientists all around the world. The race is on to be the first to develop new fabrics that will not only keep you warm but also cool, dry, moisturised and free of bacteria, odour and stains while measuring your heart rate. Welcome to the world of smart fabrics.

The fundamental job of clothes is to keep us warm or cool, so it's no surprise that many of the smart textiles entering the market look to regulate body temperature.

The task is to "fix" the plagiarism by taking one or more of these actions:

1. Put " " around copied sections 
2. Paraphrase the existing content 
3. Add new content 
4. Cite quoted sections in text 
5. Cite the paraphrased text 
6. Add Works Cited 
7. Do Nothing (it's not plagiarized)

Feel free to share your solution(s) in the comments section.

For more of a Preview of Plagiarism Dropbox, click here.

We'll reveal the solution in an upcoming post.

Fifth BadApple Challenge and Scoring

 

Just added: a fifth Challenge to our new Bad Apple investigation game. This one tests individual skills using a current controversy in the news: The Thomas Jefferson Statue in New York City.

Also new is a scoring feature that assesses investigative skills. Demonstrate Information Fluency by earning a score of 80% accuracy or higher. Pick up valuable investigative tips and tools along the way. Tutorials are suggested if you want to improve your score.

Play today or with your students:  https://21cif.com/tutorials/evaluation/badapple/

Hard-to-find Citation formats

 
A question came to our Help line from one of our Citation Wizard users: 

How do I use APA to cite case law?

Citing legal information isn't one of the pre-formatted options available on our site. It raises a larger question: How do I figure out the proper format for citing unusual information?

When in doubt, each style manual addresses all the possibilities. Libraries have this information in their reference sections.

But for more immediate help, a good online source for citation styles information with examples is maintained by Purdue University's Online Writing Lab, also known as OWL. A Google search for APA citation case law retrieves this page from retrieves this results from OWL: Legal References (APA). It details a large range of legal reference types.

When in doubt, search for help!

A Fourth BAD APPLE Challenge

Just added, another BAD APPLE Challenge:

• Challenge 4: North Shore Whale Watching
  

 

Here's a trustworthy tourism site with a section on whales in Lake Superior.

All four challenges are available without a subscription. Try them out today!

https://21cif.com///tutorials

Do you have a page or site you'd like to nominate for this evaluation tutorial? We're going to add a fifth challenge soon. Let us know if you have one to recommend.

Two New BAD APPLE Challenges

 Two new BAD APPLE Challenges have just been added to our Website:

• Challenge 2: All About Explorers
• Challenge 3: CBS News Hoax Sites

 

Both provide a mixture of GOOD and BAD APPLES to sort out. Can the sites be trusted? How can you know?

For a limited time, both Challenges are available without a site subscription. Try them out today!

https://21cif.com///tutorials/evaluation/badapple/