Abstract:

This paper presents the results of a study of the prevalence of the phenomenon of cyber-plagiarism among students enrolled in secondary education(aged 13-16) but, in this case, from teacher’s experience and point of view. The survey was based on a self-assessment questionnaire completed by 356 secondary school teachers from Balearic Islands (Spain). The study has been carried out among teachers belonging to 25 high schools centres. It’s important to highlight the results obtained, where teachers suggest that a high and relevant rate of their students plagiarise while doing their coursework and essays. The main action mentioned by teachers carried out by their students is the act of copying and pasting information from the web without referring sources: 95,5% of participant teachers admits have detected at least once this phenomenon among their students -30,2% more than 10 times; 17,8% between 6 and 10 times; 26,3% between 3 and 5 times; 21,2% between 1 and 2 times-.
The research described in this paper is part of the activities carried out in the Research project "Plagiarism amongst Balearic Islands secondary education students" funded by the Spanish
Ministry of Science and Innovation with reference EDU2009-14019-C02-01

Keywords:

Plagiarism, High School, Information Literacy, Academic Dishonesty.