Caught for Plagiarism

So last week I received a 0/50 points for plagiarizing an answer from quizlet. But the thing is, I never actually went on quizlet for the answer..

I read the whole chapter at least twice, and I STILL could not find the one-word answer to this question. Since I had no other option, I had to ask one of my classmates for the answer before class or else I wouldn't get the credit for the question. Being the intelligent lady she is, I did not doubt her answer, even though I did not understand it. 2 days later, the professor pulled out of class to inform me that the answer my friend provided was from quizlet and that I did not cite the website.. which calls for plagiarism. Oddly enough, my friend did not get caught and received credit for the homework.

I have an "interview" with the professor next week and I'll have to explain him everything. He's going to write me up unless I can think of a logical reason not to. Getting written up is a BIG punishment at my school.. 1 more write up and I get kicked out of nursing school.. and I only have 2 years left! Anyways, this professor is a very closed-minded individual and rarely takes anything into consideration. Do any of you guys think there is anyway that I could go about in talking to him about this so I don't get written up, WITHOUT talking about my friend? Regardless, he's probably going to write me up even if I do, so I have to think of another excuse.. he might even write up my friend if I mention her. She's been a friend of mine for a very long time, and helped me out so much throughout school, so I would never stab her back and call her out like that. I was thinking about just saying "my friend told me the answer" and not mention her name, but he still has the homework. Apparently, the whole class got the same answers..except for us. Lucky me. Any suggestions?

 

So from what I've read, she basically stabbed you in back (and knowingly), but you're afraid of telling the whole story to the professor because it would be stabbing her in back?

 

No, she did it unintentionally. She thought the answer was correct because it made sense to her, but it turned out to be wrong. She got the question wrong, but she still got the points for doing the homework. SO basically she got 49/50. Sorry if it was worded awkwardly.
Like I said though, even if I mentioned her, it wouldn't change the fact that the answer that only her and I put was from a website that I did not cite.. which I supposedly plagiarized.


I edited it, sorry for the confusion.

 

i dont think his friend intentionally did it. i definitely wouldn't use that you copied off a friend, because then he will definitely want to know who it is and if you don't say, then sounds like he's the type to get really mad.

as for getting kicked out if you are written up again. do you mean this one time or you would need to be written up again after this? if so, just take it on the chin bro.

edit: if those are only homework pts. just take that sh!t on the chin my dude. if you get written up this time, you still have another chance, right?

 

If i get written up again, I get kicked out. Which is scary because I still have 2 years to go.. :/

My professor has an odd grading scale. He weighs homework more than quizzes. So basically you get a maximum of 50 points for homework and a maximum of 20 points for quizzes. Considering that Im in a trimester school with 8-week courses, its going to be tough getting it back up.. but thats honestly the least of my worries.

 

all i can say is good luck man.

personally, i wouldn't mention your friend. that's your fault for not doing your homework, which im sure i don't have to say for you to know that. but my point is, that it's not your friend's fault; so definitely don't put their future at jeopardy for your mistake.

i think i'd try to get the teacher to sympathize with you. obviously he cares or he wouldn't have this 'meeting.' say you were overwhelmed with work and make up stuff and say you were freaking out about your homework, and you copied off a site because you were so tired. teachers will often sympathize for you, and honestly, that's really your best and ONLY bet right now. because ratting out your friend will just get her caught and in the same situation. i can't see it turning out for the better. just act like you copied off this site or whatever, and hopefully he let's you re-do it for maybe 50% of the points or doesn't write you up. just stress the fact you were overwhelmed and you were irresponsible. show sincerity in your voice and you really do feel bad for being immature/irresponsible. im pretty good when it comes to saying what teachers/authority in general want to hear. use some social engineering skills. i did it plenty in high school

 

I'm in college, and if there's one thing they taught us, is that plagerism is the equivalent to academic suicide. That being said, we were very well taught in how to avoid being a ''plagerist.'' You said you forgot to cite the source of your information. There is your answer. You must always, and I repeat, ALWAYS cite any important information you use, whether it be right or wrong. Otherwise, you will give the impression of taking their information and pretending you came up with it.

 

Yeah, it was my fault for doing what I did. There were 50 questions on that homework, and I did EVERYTHING but that one question.. I didn't think he'd even notice it. In terms of the meeting, its part of the protocol when writing people up He honestly doesn't even wanna do the meeting and just wanted to write me up on the spot (I know this because I was eavesdropping his conversation during open lab while he was speaking with another professor). Nonetheless, thank you so much for the tips! I may consider saying that because I honestly was overwhelmed and tired considering that I stayed up til 2AM working on it

 

i thought the same kiln, but im assuming he wasn't suppose to copy from a source at all, that it wasn't just forgetting to cite a website. i could be wrong. otherwise, yeah, he could just say he forgot to cite the website but it sounds like that's not a good enough reason. but i mean what the fuck does the professor expect you to say? that you're the owner and didn't think it was necessary to site your own website. LOL

edit: yeah man, that blows. over ONE fucking question. how god damn pathetic is that. i fucking hate professors like that. i was thinking it was like a one question type homework and that would look a lot worse.

it sounds like you're fucked man. that really sucks. i wish i could help man. i really do. cause it sounds like the type of professor that's going to be like, well you shouldn't of been up, you should of had your priorities together.

you know what? he sounds like a judge. tbh, you best bet as i said before is just to try to get him to sympathize and say everything he wants. don't argue one bit, or that will set him off. he wants a sense of power. say you had some time to think and tell him your story. say you really regret doing this and you've been freaking out about getting kicked out and that your life is essentially going to be ruined. i mean, give him your STORY. make him feel for you. cause i feel for you bro and i don't even know you. you will have the chance to tell him face to face. say you really messed up, etc.

hope it works out. post back here how it goes.

 

Mate, I never said that I forgot to cite it. I took her one-word answer (since the answer only needed one word) in hopes that she understood the question, and I wrote it down. I did not cite it because I did not even KNOW that she took it off the website. I can't FORGET if I did not even KNOW

 

Oh ok, gotcha. Well then, do you know whether she cited her answers from the site? because if she did, that is the difference that is crucial =s If she did not credit her work, then yeah it's weird and I'd call bullshit to the teacher.

 

I wouldn't throw your friend under the bus. Either take it and hope that he grants you a "pass" or you could resort to telling the truth which is usually the way to do things.

Also, tell him and explain to him that you couldn't find the answer so you had to look online and that you forgot to attach the citation page with quizlet on it. That could maybe help with it a little bit.

Not too sure on this situation but good luck!

 

Lmao, tell me about it. I should just find the person who made the page and buy his account so I could say that I wrote it..
Thank you for the help, thats probably what I might do. I'm not a big fan of lying, but I have to tell him SOMETHING. I suppose the best option would be to agree with him, apologize, and see how it'll turn out :/

 

what do you mean it was a one word answer? you can't plagiarize a one word answer. please explain.

 

She told me that she didn't cite it either.. Maybe he was just too aggravated with my paper that he didn't even bother checking others for plagiarism.. i dunno :/

Thats what I was thinking, but I don't think the "i forgot" excuse works well in college

 

yeah, a sympathy story is definitely a better bet than 'i forgot.' he'll tear you a new ass if you give him that type of answer.

 

a similar thing happened to me once, we were 3 at a table in my statistics class. An Asian, me, and my friend. My friend and I hadn't done our homework so we asked the Asian to share his answers. we started copying, and the teacher saw us and called us on it. She confronted all 3 of us after class, and threated to write up a plagerism report on all 3 of us, even the innocent Asian. Now my quick thinking saved our asses. I said, we were not going to hand in our papers (my friend and I) we were simply writing down his answers so we could study for the test coming up, because we are having a hard time. He believed our story and gave the Asian his grades he deserved and let us go with no penalty. So I guess I could say to you, saya similar story that I did.

 

ah, quick thinking. but he already turned in his paper, pretty sure that's not going to work.

 

The question was **REMOVED**
The two-worded** answer that I put was wrong (coronary muscle) . He noticed this because if you look for the word "coronary muscle" , there is no such thing. The word is too generalized to be a legitimate answer.

 

Lmao, how nice of you to save the asian man!
But psycho is right, I turned my paper in already >_<