Browsing by Author "Huttunen, Maija-Helena"

This Master's Thesis investigates the perceptions of students of educational sciences (general and adult education) concerning plagiarism. Previous studies regarding students' perceptions of plagiarism have shown that students' understandings of both plagiarism and the principles of academic writing are insufficient. This study aimed to identify different repertoires of speech the students used when talking about plagiarism, to examine how the repertoires of speech were constructed interactively, and to look into how the themes concerning students' perceptions of plagiarism recognized in a previous study (Confusion, Fear, Perceived sanctions, Perceived seriousness, Academic consequence and Resentment) were reproduced in the students' speech in this study. 19 students of educational sciences from the University of Helsinki took part in this study, from which 6 focus groups were formed. Focus group conversations were executed with the help of a facilitator introducing the topics of conversation, with the focus group members freely interchanging their thoughts and opinions about the topics. The conversations were analyzed discourse analytically while the previously recognised themes acted as a theoretical premise to an otherwise data led analysis. The various repertoires of speech the students used concerning plagiarism were interpreted in the context of an episode they were a part of. Different types of episodes formed four (4) themes: Confusion and its consequences, Understanding of why plagiarism occurs, Stance towards an act of plagiarism, and Disadvantageousness of plagiarism. The previously recognized themes were largely reproduced in this study. It is evident that students' understandings of both plagiarism and the principles of academic writing are insufficient. Numerous previous studies and this study indicate the need of developing both the instructions given concerning plagiarism and the teaching of the principles of academic writing.