Memorising/Copying Other Peoples Essays (2 Viewers)

[Phaze]

So this is a topic that always causes a lot of strife when discussed since people are always strongly against the notion of memorising another persons work for your your own benefits in the HSC whilst others have nothing against it and will do so willingly. I wanted to bring this up because I've found myself in a situation where I have people around me who are on both sides and I'm curious what people here have to say. Personally I am someone who is against the idea of it, plagiarism is something which is extremely shunned upon and carries severe consequences within the University environment. Yes it's true that high school is not the university environment and it is much easier to copy someones work in High School, but the idea of copying someone elses work is still morally and ethically wrong as well as creating an unfair playing field for those who choose to do their own work.

Copying someone elses work at the end of the day is cheating, it makes you no different from someone who might have cheated in a far more conventional manner yet people still justify copying other peoples essays yet disagree with the idea of cheating. Ideally I'd just like to hear what opinions people have about this issue, and where the majority of people stand.

 

[strawberrye]

Memorising/copying other people's essays may get one high marks, but at the end of the day, the person will lose because they are unlikely to gain much from their learning-i.e. they are unlikely to derive much enjoyment from it, and in the long run-these people will also suffer a lot in university where plagiarism will potentially get them expelled from the course.

 

[Phaze]

Memorising/copying other people's essays may get one high marks, but at the end of the day, the person will lose because they are unlikely to gain much from their learning-i.e. they are unlikely to derive much enjoyment from it, and in the long run-these people will also suffer a lot in university where plagiarism will potentially get you expelled from the course.

as selfish as it may sounds, I'm not too fussed about the negative effects that the WILL face in the future if it becomes a habit but it's more to do with how it disadvantages everyone else who is actually trying and putting in the effort.

 

[strawberrye]

as selfish as it may sounds, I'm not too fussed about the negative effects that the WILL face in the future if it becomes a habit but it's more to do with how it disadvantages everyone else who is actually trying and putting in the effort.

Well, do you have any suggestions on how we can alleviate this problem then?

 

[Phaze]

Well, do you have any suggestions on how we can alleviate this problem then?

I'm sure everything I could say has been said in others, it probably all just goes back to how repetitive the questions have become (not blaming anyone, people can't be expected to always come up with original questions) and also the fact that it's so easy to get your hands on resources and that there is so many resources out there it is impossible to check if its original work or not unless you're just blatantly ripping one of the first things that come up in a google search.

 

[williamdaft]

So this is a topic that always causes a lot of strife when discussed since people are always strongly against the notion of memorising another persons work for your your own benefits in the HSC whilst others have nothing against it and will do so willingly. I wanted to bring this up because I've found myself in a situation where I have people around me who are on both sides and I'm curious what people here have to say. Personally I am someone who is against the idea of it, plagiarism is something which is extremely shunned upon and carries severe consequences within the University environment. Yes it's true that high school is not the university environment and it is much easier to copy someones work in High School, but the idea of copying someone elses work is still morally and ethically wrong as well as creating an unfair playing field for those who choose to do their own work.

Copying someone elses work at the end of the day is cheating, it makes you no different from someone who might have cheated in a far more conventional manner yet people still justify copying other peoples essays yet disagree with the idea of cheating. Ideally I'd just like to hear what opinions people have about this issue, and where the majority of people stand.

I completely agree with you. Doing your own is beneficial towards one's learning and by university, plagiarism is a BIG thing.

 

[Phaze]

I completely agree with you. Doing your own is beneficial towards one's learning and by university, plagiarism is a BIG thing.

A change in the area of study as well as reworking the modules in English help in a way because much of the existing essays become somewhat useless, but it isn't really a proper fix, and can there actually be one, or it's just a part of the HSC and will always be, ergo justifying how flawed the system is at times?

 

[williamdaft]

^yeah it is flawed.

 

[rumbleroar]

I'm against both memorising/copying. Copying more so, because it's plagiarism and "ethically" wrong. The worst is getting called up on it, and not understanding what you have written because it is purely rote.

 

[Phaze]

I'm against both memorising/copying. Copying more so, because it's plagiarism and "ethically" wrong. The worst is getting called up on it, and not understanding what you have written because it is purely rote.

Are you against rote learning in general as well?

 

[rumbleroar]

Are you against rote learning in general as well?

To a degree yes. I believe its better to fully understand something and synthesise connections yourself, rather than relying on "shallow" memorisation (really can't think of a better word right now lol)

but if rote works for you, then great lol. Personally, I prefer to understand as a method of learning rather than rote, so yeah.

 

[Phaze]

To a degree yes. I believe its better to fully understand something and synthesise connections yourself, rather than relying on "shallow" memorisation (really can't think of a better word right now lol)

but if rote works for you, then great lol. Personally, I prefer to understand as a method of learning rather than rote, so yeah.

yeah i get where you're coming from, for me rote doesn't even work in general, I don't remember things for long, unless I actually join the dots and memorise it. The only time I've had to rote learn things would be stats for Eco and Cases for Legal Studies. But they don't stick for long.

 

[nerdasdasd]

I'm against rote learning, but the current system of academic testing allows people to abuse it. People do not really learn anything or gain much from rote learning as it is usually used for the purpose of regurgitating and spitting out information.

 

[Phaze]

I'm against rote learning, but the current system of academic testing allows people to abuse it. People do not really learn anything or gain much from rote learning as it is usually used for the purpose of regurgitating and spitting out information.

the system is flawed >< it is so easy to cheat as well as the fact that there is no consistency across the board.

 

[gilza95]

You're in high school to get the best mark possible in order to get into Uni. Who gives a flying fuck, you're not there to derive any enjoyment out of your study. I plagiarised 3 generic essays for my modules in advance english in the HSC external. Prior to that in the half yearlys and trials I was averaging 66% and managed to pull a 88 in advanced HSC mark and if I didn't plagiarise I might've been borderline b5...

 

[Phaze]

You're in high school to get the best mark possible in order to get into Uni. Who gives a flying fuck, you're not there to derive any enjoyment out of your study. I plagiarised 3 generic essays for my modules in advance english in the HSC external. Prior to that in the half yearlys and trials I was averaging 66% and managed to pull a 88 in advanced HSC mark and if I didn't plagiarise I might've been borderline b5...

what's the point of getting into Uni if you're not even learning things properly in high school? The stuff that we learn at school wasn't just randomly chosen, there's a reason we study and learn it, so if we just copy other people's work we aren't benefiting in any way what so ever other than just getting a nice mark which acts as a facade to hide our lack of ability or laziness. You're in high school to learn, and you go to Uni to further that learning.

 

[Darth_UNSW]

I advocate memorising essays so long as you have the ability to appropriately adapt your intro, topic sentences, links, etc. However, I think it's very dangerous to memorise someone else's especially if other people can do the same thing and also because your lack of understanding will make it very hard to adapt.

 

[Phaze]

I advocate memorising essays so long as you have the ability to appropriately adapt your intro, topic sentences, links, etc. However, I think it's very dangerous to memorise someone else's especially if other people can do the same thing and also because your lack of understanding will make it very hard to adapt.

I'm not against the idea of memorising your own planned out essay and what not, it's your own work, of course that's fine but it's copying other peoples work to just get yourself easy marks with the unethical and selfish attitude of "Fuck everyone else I do what I want for my own good".

 

[obliviousninja]

Each HSC there are very few people who get caught for plagiarism. irrc around <50. But the question is whether you want to risk it.

 

[obliviousninja]

Also gg when uni comes.