Muddiest Point Blog

After reviewing the videos, the one area that stood out as muddy and unclear was the rampant plagiarism among students.  This is a significant ethical concern for not only educators but the professional work force that in the future will hire and employ many of these students.  During the interview with my father we did not cover plagiarism however, in a recent conversation he described the same concern within the Marine Corps’ distance education program.  What was even more alarming was that the students who were caught plagiarizing were officers in the Marine Corps.  As an officer, it is your duty and responsibility to set the example of integrity.  It is one of our hallmark characteristics of leadership.  Similar to Liberty University, the Marine Corps uses the program Safe Assign to screen for any plagiarism.  My father through his subordinate leadership put out guidance to inform all students that plagiarism is not tolerated and that we (Marine Corps Distance Education Program) have software that will check for plagiarism.  While the warning and announcements are served to deter students from cheating, there is still a growing trend of young to mid-level officers caught plagiarizing work – sometimes turning in a paper verbatim from the internet.  Naturally, once the officer was caught their career in the military was over because we cannot tolerate a lack of integrity and judgment from our leaders.

It is shocking and unclear why students in a university and officers in the Marine Corps take the easy way out and plagiarize.  Some of the excuses from the officers was that they were too busy, did not understand the assignment, and laziness.  Plagiarism is relevant to my line of work because I will have Marines under my command that will enroll in distance education courses.  I think one way of curbing this trend is to talk to Marines who are currently enrolled and Marines that are about to enroll about the consequences of plagiarism.  Further, explaining to the Marines if they are having a tough time understanding an assignment that they can reach out to the instructor or peers for help.