Freshmen Presentations
Posted by Stuart at 04:41 PM on April 24, 2003In my Introduction to Computers class, I had my students (mostly Freshmen) form groups of two or three, research a technology topic on the Internet, write a 10+ page report, and give a presentation in front of the class. The idea being that the students, some of whom had very little computer experience before the class, would end the semeseter having used search engines on the Internet, a word processor to write a paper, and Power Point to present it. Along the way hopefully I can impart some basic knowledge about how to write research papers and how to give presentations.
All good in theory, but I quickly realized that "use the Internet to research and write a paper" was translated into "find a website and copy and paste into Word". Even though I taught CTRL-C / CTRL-V in my other class, it became my enemy in this one.
Unfortunately, I think this is just an example of a deeper issue in Thai society. At times I am amazed at the creativity of Thai people, at others I am surprised at the flagrant abuse of copyrights and trademarks.
For example, sometimes I look at various websites to find travel information about various places in Thailand. I am shocked to see the EXACT SAME text on three or four websites. Not only does it show a lack of pride and ethics on the part of the web site creators, it is also very annoying and time-wasting for me.
Another example is in the software industry. Anyone can go to very well-known malls in Bangkok and buy Microsoft Office (yes, the entire suite) for 150 baht (US$3.50). And no, I did not make a typo there. Ditto for Adobe Photoshop, or any other commercial software.
Obviously, these are pirated copies. The Thai government (under pressure from Microsoft et al, I'm sure) is trying to crack down by threatening fines and jail terms for offending shops and malls, but so far there has been no change.
So it's a serious problem that will take a long time and a lot of effort to eradicate. Of course America isn't immune to this problem either -- every now and then we hear stories of plagerism or theft. In any case, after preaching to my students about using copy and paste for good and not evil, most of them took heed and turned in some impressive reports. Hopefully they learned more than just the information in the paper.
Stuart,
Sounds like you're not only teaching them computer science but also computer ethics. That's great. I am sure this is probably new to most of them because from what I heard (as you also indicated) there is no such thing as copyright in most countries in Asia. Most of your students probably didn't think that it was wrong to copy other people's work, right? I am interested to hear what their reaction was when you confronted them.
Great project. I agree with you that the students will benefit a great deal from it, especially the presentation skills. Having seen so many presentations from work, I belive that this is something that most people just have to keep practicing. I don't mean to steotype but most Asian tend to very very shy in front a large group so this is a great thing for them. It would be very interesting to see how the presentations turn out.
I might "copy" your idea and use it for my class. Oops, is this plagiarism? :)
Have a great day.
David