Academic Writing and Plagiarism

1. Is critical thinking about being critical in the usual sense of being negative,
or is it about thoughtful thinking?
Being critical does not necessarily mean being negative it can be constructive in
order to improve the outcome however in general criticism is thought to be hurtful.
Critical thinking means analysing a situation impartially (with no personal feeling
contributing) in order to reach a verdict. Therefore, there is a difference between the
two. Criticism is often not given objectively; it can be intentionally spiteful about a
persons work or reputation and can be made very personal. However sometimes
criticism that is seen as malicious can be unintended. Most importantly critical
thinking requires extensive knowledge of the subject being analysed whereas
criticism often comes from a lack of knowledge and ill-advised sources. Critical
thinking involves constantly asking questions rather than accepting facts. It comes
down to needing to be open minded when critically analysing something while
destructive criticism often comes from closed minded people.
2. After reading Jennifer Moons chapter, has your understanding of critical
thinking changed, and if yes, how? How could you use critical thinking as a
learning tool?
My understanding of critical thinking has not exactly changed however my knowledge
of it has expanded. As the chapter explains that there is no real definition of critical
thinking and so everybodys understanding is slightly different. What the chapter did
highlight for me, however, was the different paths that critical thinking can take. By
this I mean not only the different forms it can be represented i.e. actions, reflection,
understanding, speech and writing but also the range of different activities that
critical thinking is used in. Subjects that have a right or wrong answer tend not to be
critically analysed as it is an active search to find conflicting views however when a
piece is critically analysed it is not uncommon that the analyser comes out with the
same conclusion as the original. When starting to critically think it is important to
expect to prove the received work wrong and to not accept anything until you can
prove the process it came from and the conclusion. Critical thinking is a learning tool
as you generate new knowledge while proving the process and information of the
piece wrong or right. You have to read all of the sources provided to check the
reliability of them and then do wider research on the topic meaning finding many new
sources to contradict and to build your argument. It could also be used as a learning
tool on your individual work if given a topic to write an essay on then not only find
supporting sources but also contradicting to include two sides of the argument and to
gain a wider knowledge of the subject.
3. Write a short report on plagiarism based on the following quote:
Plagiarism is intellectual theft (Breach, 2009, 124). Include your own
knowledge/experience regarding plagiarism and using reference system.
Did you know what plagiarism was? Were you aware of the importance of
acknowledging sources?
Plagiarism is an act of theft. To plagiarise is to copy another persons work without
citing them. Nowadays there is so much technology and awareness to eliminate
plagiarism to the extent that it is almost impossible to get away with. Plagiarism is
intellectual theft is a self-explanatory quote. It is taken as seriously as theft of
belongings retrospectively in education and can lead to the exclusion of a student
from a course and therefore the failing of a degree. Turnitin is software that checks a
document against every other piece of text ever entered into it. Most universities in
the UK, many schools and workplaces use it and therefore if somebody has copied
work from a previous student or a book/journal/webpage it is most likely to be
identified. If someone else cheats, it is you who are being cheated, because the
cheater is devaluing your degree is a quote that stood out to me in Breach, 2009. I
had never thought of plagiarism in that way if the person who plagiarises happens
to get away with it they will get a better mark than they deserve and therefore

possibly lowering the mark of my fellow students and I who have written our own
work which is of course unjust.
During my A-Levels I worked towards an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)
(equivalent of an AS-Level). It is a 5,000-word essay, a log-book, a source table and a
presentation all about a topic completely of your choice. I chose to write my essay on
the Olympic Legacy and whether having the Olympic Games in a country leaves a
lasting sporting affect. I also dabbled into whether the economic cost of the Olympics
was worth it in the long run for the host country. During the year we had lessons
learning about plagiarism and Turnitin and every 3 months would have a Turnitin
deadline. We had to cite all the information we used as well as evaluate each sources
reliability in our source table. Before this I was unaware that sites like Wikipedia were
not creditable sources due to them being able to be edited by the public and the
project taught me how to find the author, the date it was written and where they
found their information. In the source table we would not only cite the author but
write a report on how creditable the source was. To cite my work, I used footnotes as
well as a bibliography as I found it the easiest way however I am still not certain I
completely understand how to work it. I am aware there are a number of different
ways to cite work however I feel I need them explained to me in detail and then I can
decide the best way for me now my type of work has changed. Before the EPQ I had
an idea of what plagiarism was but not how seriously it is taken and how advanced
the equipment is for testing it. For my first piece of homework in year 7 we had to do
research on coal and how it is used in art. I handed in a document that was the whole
Wikipedia page on coal copied and pasted hyperlinks and all, no changed font, not
knowing that was unacceptable. It is safe to say I got laughed at, have never felt
more embarrassed and have remembered it ever since. Every time I even think about
using someone elses work I think back to that moment in my year 7 art class. I had
no idea how important it was to acknowledge sources and even throughout my EPQ I
was being reminded to do so however now it is firmly in my brain. Overall all in my
project I came out with less than 5% unoriginality and so its safe to say I understood
in the end the importance and had learnt how to cite.