Structural conditions that drive plagiarism and how to deal with them: Opinion

In an article for Inside Higher Education, Steven Mintz discusses the structural factors that drive undergraduate plagiarism and how postsecondary institutions can tackle this problem. Citing Dave Tomar, Mintz explains that students cheat because they are overwhelmed by their workload, experience the pressure to enter competitive majors and maintain high GPAs for scholarships, and may lack fundamental English or math skills. To mitigate cheating, Mintz suggests that professors incorporate writing instruction and low-stakes papers into their classes provide students with more learning opportunities. To deal with the larger, systemic problem, Mintz advises institutional leaders to reduce academic workloads and embed writing into all curricula. Inside Higher Ed Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.