Collaborative Writing
Students have many projects as participants of a group or team. Working in a team or group helps students learn new material and helps with class projects that would be too large for one person. In many occupations, group work is the norm and faculty want students to have experience working as they will require to do in the workforce.
Sometimes students react negatively to these assignments because credit for the assignment does not reflect the extent of each member's participation.
Scenario #1
Narda is working on a school project. Her mother has a Ph.D. in a similar area and is helping her write her paper. Narda does not mention her mother’s help on the paper.
Is this an example of collaboration?
Scenario # 2
Katie, Margaret and Bonnie are working together on a group project assigned by their biology professor. They are supposed to do the research together but turn in different papers. However, when the papers are turned in and the professor compares them he realizes that there is little difference in the three papers.
Is this an example of collaboration?
Scenario # 3
Kevin’s girlfriend, Sarah, had the same class the previous semester but from a different professor. Since it was a core course, all the professors used the same syllabus and assigned the same research paper topics. Sarah said Kevin could use her old papers so they could have more time together. Kevin is tempted. He reads the paper, updates it, and gives credit to Sarah for the material he used.
Is this collaboration?
These are three examples of collaboration where a professor could have the option of questioning the credibility of a student’s paper. There may be other scenarios that fall into this category.
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Defining the boundaries of acceptable collaboration is difficult. Each professor seems to have a different definition of collaboration and a different standard for measuring student's participation in group or team work. If your professor’s directions are unclear, ask for clarification of the assignment. To clear up any misunderstanding of collaboration, check the Academic Code of Honesty.