4.4 Scenario
Read the scenario below and reflect on the questions that follow.
Scenario
Ms Hopeton divides the class into groups to complete a group assignment. Imran's group has an initial meeting and decides how to divide up the work. Mia, one of Imran's group members, offers to write a particular section of the paper based on some great information she found on the internet.
One week before the project is due, Imran finds out that Mia has chosen to copy and paste most of her paper from this internet source. Imran confronts Mia and asks her to redo her part of the assignment without plagiarising, but Mia claims she’s too busy with other schoolwork and a part-time job. Mia assures Imran that Ms Hopeton will never find out about the plagiarism, but if she does, Mia will take the blame for it.
Imran feels extremely uncomfortable about it. He feels partly responsible for the plagiarism because he knows about it but really wants to get a good mark for this assignment.
What do you think?
What should Imran do? Who should he talk to about this?
Once you’ve considered these questions, select the heading below to confirm your knowledge.
Imran should discuss it with the other group members. Imran and the others in the group are all responsible for ensuring that the work they submit is original and that all the sources of information they’ve used are properly acknowledged.
If Mia refuses to redo her part of the assignment, she’s putting the whole group’s work at risk. According to the school’s rules, this could result in zero marks for the whole group. In this situation, Imran should also speak to Ms Hopeton because if he doesn’t, he may be found to have colluded with Mia about the plagiarism.
By knowing that Mia intends to deliberately plagiarise, Imran could be seen to be part of the problem. He knows that what Mia is doing is wrong and compromises the overall work of the group.
Check your understanding
After you have worked through Topic 4, complete the quiz to confirm your understanding of the content.