please tell me if this is entirely my fault

[skim milk]

I'm taking this summer course which I paid few hundred dollars from my bank account at the beginning of the summer

I obviously have no clue how lenient the grading is going to be, how they want the work, etc.

I also did not realize there were only four assignments composing 40% of the final grade


I did the first assignment a month before the class even started and submitted it online.... just to get a feel for the grading system and how they grade, and I got a 100%. So then I proceeded to follow the EXACT same format and did the other three assignments that were available. I submitted all of them a month before they were even due. I did not start getting my grades until recently and got points taken off for "copying and pasting" sentences. I REFERENCED them all but I just did not use "quotations". I did the same thing on assignment one but got a 100%. On assignments 2 and 3, I got 70% or lower because I got points taken off. I would not be angry about this if they clearly stated that I did something wrong in the first assignment so that I could learn and fix what I did wrong but they didn't do that. I thought what I was doing was correct because I got a 100% on the first assignment. I also did not realize that only four assignments composed 40% of the final grade...

I feel that this is not entirely my fault and that the professor of the course should remedy this problem.. what do you guys think.

 

[Electric Amish]

You = busted

You = Fault

 

[wfbberzerker]

copying and pasting from where? your first assignment?

 

[skim milk]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish
You = busted

You = Fault

busted for what? I referenced everything I used to write the paper, the only thing I did not know is that I had to use quotations for sentences I used. They didn't take points off from assignment 1 so I used the same method to do my other assignments

 

[skim milk]

 

[K1052]

They made a mistake by missing your mistake. Have you talked to the professor yet?

Though, this is pretty basic stuff. Paraphrase or quote.

 

[Jzero]

What kind of class?

 

[ugopk]

did you cite them (e.g. xxxxxxxxxx (author, page) ) or j ust referenced them in your bibilography? My university is really strict about these kinda stuff!

 

[JoeKing]

you referenced them, but how would the reader, while reading the paper, be able to tell what thoughts were yours and what were "quoted". My profs were pretty strict about plagiarism... or the act of preventing it. Remeber you can plagiarize even if you dind't mean to.

is this an English 1xx course?

 

[dullard]

Universities are very strict about stuff like that (they want to cover their own backs). If you don't quote correctly, you can be thrown out of classes and given a failing grade at many locations. You didn't quote correctly. You can consider yourself lucky that you might still pass.

Yes they should have told you earlier. But that doesn't make what you did correct.

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: ugopk
did you cite them (e.g. xxxxxxxxxx (author, page) ) or j ust referenced them in your bibilography? My university is really strict about these kinda stuff!

Yeah. If you put the refference in parentheses(sp?) after the passage in question then it shouldn't be a problem, unless you copied verbatim from whatever you cited. When you copy it exactly you have to put it in quotes; otherwise it's plagarism.

If your first assignment had the exact same format for identical situations and you weren't deducted any points you may have an argument. Then again the professor could decide to be an asshat and retroactively lower the grade you got on that assignment. I think if you talk to him (or her) in a calm and reasonable manner and explain that you would have corrected the mistakes had you been corrected on them in the first place he (or she) may let you fix it and get a better grade on it.

 

[Triforceofcourage]

I just paraphrase everything I write because quoting everything doesn't look good. So just put everything in your own words and paraphrase it you lazy bastard

 

[Epoman]

Just drop out and goto IRAQ.

 

[ATLien247]

Originally posted by: Triforceofcourage
I just paraphrase everything I write because quoting everything doesn't look good. So just put everything in your own words and paraphrase it you lazy bastard

Paraphrasing is acceptable, but you still have to give credit to the author of the idea. Otherwise, it's still plagiarism.

 

[memo]

Originally posted by: yukichigai

Originally posted by: ugopk
did you cite them (e.g. xxxxxxxxxx (author, page) ) or j ust referenced them in your bibilography? My university is really strict about these kinda stuff!

Yeah. If you put the refference in parentheses(sp?) after the passage in question then it shouldn't be a problem, unless you copied verbatim from whatever you cited. When you copy it exactly you have to put it in quotes; otherwise it's plagarism.

If your first assignment had the exact same format for identical situations and you weren't deducted any points you may have an argument. Then again the professor could decide to be an asshat and retroactively lower the grade you got on that assignment. I think if you talk to him (or her) in a calm and reasonable manner and explain that you would have corrected the mistakes had you been corrected on them in the first place he (or she) may let you fix it and get a better grade on it.

If he went back and changed the grade I would consider that capricious grading. Though I guess he has the right to do it, I wouldn't do it myself when I was a grader. If you make a mistake, it is not the students fault he got a grade slightly better than what you intended to give him. Now if his assignment was mixed up with a fellow students, then thats a different story.

 

[Triforceofcourage]

Originally posted by: ATLien247

Originally posted by: Triforceofcourage
I just paraphrase everything I write because quoting everything doesn't look good. So just put everything in your own words and paraphrase it you lazy bastard

Paraphrasing is acceptable, but you still have to give credit to the author of the idea. Otherwise, it's still plagiarism.

When you paraphrase you are giving credit to the author when you put his name after the paraphrased sentence. pwned!

 

[ATLien247]

Originally posted by: Triforceofcourage

Originally posted by: ATLien247

Originally posted by: Triforceofcourage
I just paraphrase everything I write because quoting everything doesn't look good. So just put everything in your own words and paraphrase it you lazy bastard

Paraphrasing is acceptable, but you still have to give credit to the author of the idea. Otherwise, it's still plagiarism.

When you paraphrase you are giving credit to the author when you put his name after the paraphrased sentence. pwned!

Me, pwned? I think not...

You need to be more specific when paraphrasing so the reader knows which ideas are yours and which are the author's. Simply including the name after the paraphrase is not sufficient.

I'd give examples of what I mean, but it'd be best if you read through a style guide for yourself to figure it out.

 

If you're not taking your first year english class, you have no excuse for not knowing how to write a paper.

 

[cronos]

if you feel that you're treated unfairly, just ask the lecturer and argue your case.

i think it's your fault though. you should have known how to write a paper.

 

[booger711]

Originally posted by: ATLien247

Originally posted by: Triforceofcourage

Originally posted by: ATLien247

Originally posted by: Triforceofcourage
I just paraphrase everything I write because quoting everything doesn't look good. So just put everything in your own words and paraphrase it you lazy bastard

Paraphrasing is acceptable, but you still have to give credit to the author of the idea. Otherwise, it's still plagiarism.

When you paraphrase you are giving credit to the author when you put his name after the paraphrased sentence. pwned!

Me, pwned? I think not...

You need to be more specific when paraphrasing so the reader knows which ideas are yours and which are the author's. Simply including the name after the paraphrase is not sufficient.

I'd give examples of what I mean, but it'd be best if you read through a style guide for yourself to figure it out.

and tri, don't declare your own pwnage.

 

[jpeyton]

If you're copying sentences, you MUST quote. That's just common sense.