Understanding By Design: APA and Preventing Plagiarism Unit

Title of Unit
Curriculum Area
Developed By

APA citations and Preventing Plagiarism

Digital Citizenship
David Brown

Grade Level
Time Frame

College student in Communications Class

One Week

Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)

Content Standards
ACRL Standards
Standard Five:
The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and
uses information ethically and legally.
Performance Indicators:
1. The information literate student understands many of the ethical, legal and
socio-economic issues surrounding information and information technology
Outcomes Include:
A. Identifies and discusses issues related to privacy and security in both the print and electronic environments
B. Identifies and discusses issues related to free vs. fee-based access to information
C. Identifies and discusses issues related to censorship and freedom of speech
D. Demonstrates an understanding of intellectual property, copyright, and fair use of copyrighted material
2. The information literate student follows laws, regulations, institutional policies,
and etiquette related to the access and use of information resources.
Outcomes Include:
A. Participates in electronic discussions following accepted practices (e.g. "Netiquette")
B. Uses approved passwords and other forms of ID for access to information resources
C. Complies with institutional policies on access to information resources
D. Preserves the integrity of information resources, equipment, systems and facilities
E. Legally obtains, stores, and disseminates text, data, images, or sounds
F. Demonstrates an understanding of what constitutes plagiarism and does not represent work attributable to others as his/her own
G. Demonstrates an understanding of institutional policies related to human subjects research
3. The information literate student acknowledges the use of information sources
in communicating the product or performance.
Outcomes Include:
A. Selects an appropriate documentation style and uses it consistently to cite sources
B. Posts permission granted notices, as needed, for copyrighted material

Understandings
Overarching Understanding
The students will understand that:

They must know how to format a research paper in APA

Recognizing copyright issues for any source is crucial
Plagiarism must be avoided
Properly citing material is one way to avoid plagiarism
They must properly cite any material used for their research
paper
The Dalton State College APA guide is the source for citing

Essential Questions
Overarching
How do you format a paper in
APA?

Topical
How do find and use the
librarys APA libguide?

How do you cite sources in

APA?

How do use the automatic

citation features in Galileo to
cite sources in APA?

How do you recognize

plagiarism?

How do you prevent

plagiarism?

Related Misconceptions
Citing in APA is easy and straightforward
Plagiarism is always deliberate

Knowledge

Skills

Students will know

Students will be able to

Most plagiarism is accidental.

Correctly format a research paper in APA.

Correctly cite source in APA.
Find and use the automatic citation button in Galileo.
Prevent plagiarism by knowing what it is and how it can happen.

The library has an APA libguide for students and librarians who are
APA experts.
Galileo databases have automatic citation buttons that are more

accurate than Easybib or other online citation sites.

Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)

Performance Task Description
Goal
Role
Audience
Situation
Product/Performan
ce
Standards

Students will use Dalton States APA libguide to cite their five sources in APA.
I will direct students to the areas of the libguide they need to be using.
The audience would be the students in the COMM 3500 class
Students are trying to create a reference list in APA.
A reference list for five sources in APA.
The information literate student acknowledges the use of information sources in communicating the product or
performance.
Outcomes Include:
A. Selects an appropriate documentation style and uses it consistently to cite sources
B. Posts permission granted notices, as needed, for copyrighted material

Other Evidence
Students will take a post-unit test on the last day of class. Instructor will review and go over the answers after the test.

Learning Plan (Stage 3)

Where are your students headed? Where
have they been? How will you make sure
the students know where they are going?
How will you hook students at the
beginning of the unit?
What events will help students experience
and explore the big idea and questions in
the unit? How will you equip them with
needed skills and knowledge?
How will you cause students to reflect and
rethink? How will you guide them in
rehearsing, revising, and refining their
work?
How will you help students to exhibit and
self-evaluate their growing skills,
knowledge, and understanding throughout

I will begin by giving an overview of the session on APA and plagiarism. I will find out
how many of the participants have written a paper in APA. I will also find out how
difficult they think APA is.
Near the beginning of the unit I will show a video that includes examples of
plagiarism on a typical college campus.
I will show how to use the colleges APA libguide to cite and format a paper. I will
also show how to use the automatic citation button in Galileo.
At the end of the session I will summarize what we have learned. I will also list the
best resources for citing in APA and how to find help from a librarian.
The participants will be asked to choose one of their sources and to cite it in APA.
The students will also be required to find and use the automatic citation button in
Galileo. Finally, students will take a test at the end of the unit testing their

the unit?
How will you tailor and otherwise
personalize the learning plan to optimize
the engagement and effectiveness of ALL
students, without compromising the goals
of the unit?
How will you organize and sequence the
learning activities to optimize the
engagement and achievement of ALL
students?

knowledge of APA and plagiarism.

I will conduct a learner analysis before the workshop to determine learning styles
and knowledge of APA. I will also ask the participants how knowledgeable they are
about APA and plagiarism and then tailor my presentation based on how they
respond If they have a great deal of knowledge about APA, I will show them more
challenging citation examples.
I will organize activities to engage all participants. I will get an idea of their
backgrounds through questions I ask them in the learner analysis and then try to
include information that all participants would find applicable. I will also include a
variety of materials and tools such as videos, slides, and images to appeal to all
types of leaners.