If someone is caught plagiarizing, should they be failed on the spot or get a zero

[Little_Bear2013]

I won't go into much details but I've seen this happen twice ever since I've been in school. One time was in English class & in my nursing program. Both times, to my knowledge neither student was failed on the spot or expelled from the program, because I at least still still saw them coming to class everyday.

In my English class the student supposedly bought a paper from one of those websites & the teacher caught in on the spot & I stayed after class to ask a question & overheard the whole story & on top of that I heard I'm just going to give you a warning this time because we haven't really gone over plagiarism yet & I think to myself EVEN THOUGH IT'S IN THE #!(@ SYLLABUS & COMMON SENSE NOT TO DO IT!

This student in our nursing program decided to turn in an assignment not just word for word that another student used to help others to add things what they may have forgot & on top of that they turned in that actual document & forgot to remove the other persons name on the paper. I assume they received a zero on the assignment but I still see them in class, so I guess they're given another chance.

If I can't post this, you may remove it as you wish but what's everyone's thoughts on this? I always hold myself academically responsible & if I don't understand something or bomb a test I normally take it out on myself, so personally I think students like these should be expelled in my honest opinion in situations like I have explained, however if you forget to quote something I'd understand that.

[rob4546, ADN, BSN, MSN]

Oh god... Relax... Life happens.

Decision to cheat doesn't count as life happens.....

I think what other people do is their problem. You should worry about yourself.

Yep!

People often get worked up by others actions and forget that it has nothing to do with their life/situation. The only way this would matter would be if the cheating would put a patient in danger. We could make the argument that cheating through school would put many patients in danger but in this instance it isn't the fellow students job to police anyone. The instructor, school, NCLEX, hiring board, and nurses immediate supervisor should be responsible.

Understand that my opinion means nothing, but I would like to express it.

In a perfect world the student should be warned and given a second chance. The paper should be rewritten and graded but only given 0% as credit. This would promote the learning assignment but penalizing for the improper attempt that is against all school policies. If there is a second attempt then the student should be removed from class and have to reapply next semester/year. I am making the assumption that it is a fraudulent paper, not just a mistake in properly citing a source.

if it came down to self preservation, I'm gonna go with cheat and deal with the consequences if caught.

I just don't understand this. I wouldn't want a nurse who cheats taking care of my family or me for that matter. It is that important and should be important to a professional organization such as nursing (or CNAs, or PCTs, or MDs, or etc....)

[JBudd, MSN]

Keep your head down and see no evil? Not to my way of thinking.

No, what the faculty do with another student as far as discipline is none of your/my business. But to close eyes and pretend that cheating doesn't affect you or our profession..... People who have no qualms about cheating, deliberately, intentionally, will not make reliable nurses. They should be weeded out before ever being endorsed by their school as a competent provider. Knowing (not just thinking or wondering) that someone else has cheated should be reported. Just as seeing another nurse practicing unsafely/wrongly needs to be addressed, not just pretend it didn't happen. Doesn't mean I think he/she should lose their license pointblank on the spot, or there would be no licensed people left! Yes mistakes happen. Fix them. Go all the way if you have to.

Have I had students who lifted a passage word for word from the book? yes. I addressed it, and what was wrong with that, and they lost points. No one else's business at the time, but I certainly wasn't going to over look it. But it didn't necessarily mean I thought they would be bad nurses.

[Wave Watcher]

In my college plagiarism is reason for dismissal. Period. You do your own work and you take credit for your own work. There is no way this person did not know it was against policy and unethical. Plagiarism is deceiving the reader into thinking it is your own words/work.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

As an instructor I would write it up, make a contract with the student and then recommend fail if they repeat the offense.

In my experience, cheaters end up cheating themself. What they fail to learn will be expected of them later and that is when they fail big time.

[Spangle Brown]

This drives me nuts. I find it unfair that people get away with it. So I know in my heart, it's about the fact that they can do it, and I can't.

But nursing school, it's different. What we are learning , we should be able to retain and take the NCLEX and pass. How many people cheat their way through and are surprised they can not pass the test? There will be no cheating on the nclex. So what are they really getting away with?

[WeatherB]

While I dont condone cheating, I feel everyone deserves a second chance. This is like getting away with sleeping at a night job by getting same pay that those who dont sleep get. Has that ever happened to those who want the students to be expelled first time? If you sleep at your night job and still get paid you should not participate in this discussion.