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Jean9 wrote:I am not sure if this the place for this question, but since it is connected to an Eagle merit badge I thought I would try it here.
I am the MBC for CITW and a scout sent me the answers for requirements 5,6, and 7 via email. I know that they are not in his own words (he has submitted answers before and I sent him back to correct the information). The document he sent included articles cut and pasted, and hyperlinks to other wikipedia articles embedded in the text that he cut and pasted from there. I don't think he meant to do that. I am in a quandary about what to do. I want to send it back and tell him to do it over in his own words. The other thing I am thinking of doing is printing it out and meeting with him and discussing it with him. I really don't think he understands most of what he was writing and is just doing it to get the badge done.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Jeannine
MBC for CITW, CITN, CITC
WeeWillie wrote:Cutting and pasting someone elses work without attribution is plagerism and a clear violation of "A Scout is Trustworthy." Give the Scout the benefit of the doubt that he hasn't been taught that in school and go from there!
Nuts4Scouts wrote:Personally, I do not have a big problem with cut and paste. This is not school. This is not a writing class. Nowhere does it state in the requirements "in your own words".
As I said, the final decision is yours, not ours. You can see his email, we can't. However, unless there is a real problem with what he sent, I would be inclined to accept it after a brief discussion with him of what he learned (to verify that it was indeed him who did the reading, research, cutting, and pasting).
You build character by insisting your Scouts act with integrity in all situations and EXPLAIN to them when they don't. Making a Scout do the right thing is not punishment.
Jean9 wrote:I encourage my students and the scouts to research, but then to take what they have learned and put it in their own words.
The operative word above is "encourage". Be very careful that you do not add to the requirements by insisting the Scout tell/name/list/explain "in their own words", which is not specified in most MB requirements. Remember, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
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