Assignment: Analyzing Paraphrases of a Source Passage

In your Week 2 Assignment, you will continue practicing the important skill of recognizing the appropriate and inappropriate use of source material. You examined paraphrases of a sentence in the Week 2 Discussion, and you will examine paraphrases of a paragraph in the Week 2 Assignment.

To prepare for this Assignment:

Review the Week 2 learning resources. Pay special attention to the videos on effective and ineffective paraphrasing.

The Assignment:

Compose a two-paragraph essay in which you examine two paraphrases of the source passage presented below. In your first paragraph, identify which paraphrase is more effective, and explain why. In your second paragraph, explain why the other paraphrase was less effective and what the writer could have done to avoid the problems. Make sure to use your own words when analyzing the paraphrases. If you need to include short examples from the source passage or student’s paraphrase, make sure to place the examples in quotation marks, and do your best to cite them correctly. Most of the words in your essay should be your own.

Source passage:

“Plagiarism and copying of any kind, and particularly when it becomes habitual, means that valuable skills which form the core of the pedagogical process may well not be learned. For example, the research process involves a host of skills essential to that process but also skills for life. Evaluating sources, reading and note taking, annotating texts, paraphrasing and summarising are all skills which might be used later in a professional (work) environment. The process also involves key critical thinking skills especially in a discussion and recommendations section of a research report. If students are plagiarizing and these skills are not effectively learned there is also an obvious effect on the quality of their preparation for later endeavours, including postgraduate study and work” (Craig & Dalton, 2014, p. 58).

Student A’s paraphrase:

Craig and Dalton (2014) argued that plagiarism prevents students from learning fundamental skills that may benefit them in later academic work and also in life. Skills such as reading, critical thinking, paraphrasing, and analyzing sources may be valuable in a workplace setting, and students who commit plagiarism are missing an important opportunity to develop these skills (Craig & Dalton, 2014).

Student B’s paraphrase:

Plagiarism means valuable skills may not be learned. Evaluating sources, reading, paraphrasing, and summarizing are skills a student could use in a professional (work) environment. If students are plagiarizing, then these skills are not being learned and the student will not be prepared for later challenges (Craig & Dalton, 2014).