Problem
Scenario: It is your second year of teaching at your educational institution. You have caught several students plagiarizing during your first year, and each of them was given a zero grade for the assignment where they plagiarized. Several of the students failed your course as a result, not surprisingly, since they were weaker students to begin with. This year, the first student that you have charged with plagiarism is your top student in the class. You know she has aspirations of continuing on to graduate school, and a zero for the assignment would reduce her grade in your course from an A to a C. Her excuse was that she was rushed for time and didn't want to settle for a poor grade on the problem.
1) What action could you take?
2) What are the pros and cons of each alternative?
3) What action should you take? What actions will you take?
4) Do your answers to these last two questions differ?