Discussion Overview – Unit 6
Plagiarism is often thought of only in the context of academic institutions, but there are many reported situations outside of the classroom where individuals use ideas from other people without giving proper credit. While in school, the consequences may be reflected in a student’s grade. Outside of school, the consequences may tarnish a professional’s reputation and potentially bring legal action. This week’s reading and learning activities included resources to help you avoid plagiarism, and this discussion will give you an opportunity to practice those skills. For another helpful overview of plagiarism, review the TED Talks Punishable Perils of Plagiarism.
Rubric for Discussion unit 6
Criteria 1 Initial Response Quality
● Responds in well-developed paragraphs that exceed specified length requirements
● Responds to all questions in the prompt and remains on-topic
● Applies and references relevant course material
● Includes a relevant, open-ended question
Criteria 2 – Engagement With Others
● Responds to three or more classmates’ initial posts
● Responds to at least one follow-up response by instructor or classmates
● Applies and references relevant course material
Criteria 3 – APA Style
● Contribution to the discussion includes asking relevant
questions and/or providing situational examples
● Applies APA style to credit sources, when needed, with no errors
● Uses language appropriate to the writing context
● Uses inclusive and respectful language
Criteria 4 – Writing conversation
● Demonstrates control of language, sentence variety, and complexity
● Applies editing skills to ensure few or no grammar or punctuation errors
For this week’s discussion, you will find a credible source that either presents a rival perspective to your argument for change or will help you address a rival hypothesis that you identified in the Unit 4 Assignment. Then, you will share a key passage from the source that is relevant to the rival hypothesis and paraphrase that information using a signal phrase and in-text citation. Respond to the following prompts in at least two well-developed paragraphs (not including the copied-and-pasted material from your secondary source):
1. Identify the rival hypothesis you need to address in your essay.
2. Describe the rival source you found and why you selected that source. What makes this a credible source?
3. Copy and paste a 1–5 sentence passage from the source and label it as the “Original Passage.”
4. Paraphrase the short passage you shared in a way that you might use the idea in your essay (for example, refute the rival hypothesis). Be sure to use in-text citations with any sentences paraphrasing ideas from the source, e.g., (Doe, 2013) or According to Jane Doe (2013). Remember from your reading that an effective paraphrase sets up the information and explains it in a way that connects it to your argument (Krause, 2007).
5. Ask an open-ended question related to how you can effectively address the disagreement in your argument or related to paraphrasing and using sources.
6. At the end of your post, provide a complete Reference page citation in APA style for the source.
NOTE: You can begin working on a references page for your upcoming assignments by tracking the key elements of each source:
Author’s name Publication date Title of source Publication information URL
1. 1 1 1
2. 2 2 2
3. 3 3 3
Author’s name Publication date Title of source Publication information URL
Academic Writer can help you identify the type of source you have and create a properly formatted citation in APA style.
REFERENCE THE READING:
Refer to and credit the unit reading concepts to help validate your ideas and give you practice with using and crediting source information. When you refer to concepts from the unit’s reading, be sure to use a signal phrase like “According to . . . [name of reading].” If you are directly quoting the Reading or another source, be sure to use quotation marks and cite the source using proper APA in-text citations and full references. See the Purdue Global Writing Center’s Using Sources for resources on APA citation formatting.
WRITING EXPECTATIONS:
All discussion posts and responses to peers should be written in complete sentences using Standard English. Before posting, proofread for grammar, spelling, and word-choice issues. Be sure to respond fully to every aspect of the discussion.
RESPONSES TO INITIAL POSTS:
Respond to at least three of your classmates’ initial posts. Be sure to address their writing concerns and what you think they might also do to achieve their writing goals. Advance the discussion by asking relevant questions that motivate your classmates to continue the discussion. A strong response would be around 100 words. Also, refer to credit unit reading material in your posts to help support your ideas.
RESPONSES TO FOLLOW-UP:
Continue the discussion by reading and responding to the questions and comments your classmates and instructor offer in response to your initial post. Aim for at least 50 words in each follow-up response
