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Overview
International Student Orientation
US Classroom Culture
January 21, 2010
Educational Style
y The US educational system:
y Department of Education influences schools, but does not
govern them
y Flexible for student, who can choose from a variety of courses
and change
g courses easilyy
y Undergraduate students not required to choose major
immediately
y Register for electives, not only major classes
y Student Code of Conduct
y Academic advisors are available as a resource to students
Classroom Interactions
y Interacting with faculty
y
y
y
y
U.S.
Teacher-Centered Approach
Learner-Centered Approach
Diversity of Perspectives
Communicate problems with professor
Potentially more informal
Professor expectations
Where to address conflict issues
y Interacting with classmates
y Being respectful – culture/gender/ sexual orientation
y Responsibilities in group projects
y Classmates seem isolated/distant
Communication
y Oral Communication
y Academic Writing
y As international students, you bring unique perspectives
which are highly valued in the classroom
y Emailing Professors
y Communication may be very informal in the classroom
y Students are encouraged to ask questions and raise important
points in class
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Expectations of Students In the
Classroom
Resources on Campus
y Many academic resources are available on campus, including:
y Take Initiative
y Ask for help
help, clarification if needed
y Be motivated to learn for the sake of learning,
not to receive the highest grade
y Contribute to discussion in the classroom
y Be responsible for your own work
Plagiarism
y Counseling Center
y Disability Support Services
y Learning Assistance Services
y Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Education
y Office of Information Technology
y Writing Center
Academic Integrity
y We want you to be armed with the knowledge of what
plagiarism is – so you do not unknowingly commit this
academic transgression
http://www.lib.umd.edu/UES/plag_stud_what.htm
l
Plagiarism
y All of the following are considered plagiarism:
y turning in someone else's work as your own
y copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
y failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
y giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
y changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving
credit
y copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of
your work, whether you give credit or not
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How to avoid Plagiarism
Citation Assistance
y The internet is full of web sites to help you with citations:
y Plagiarism can be avoided by citing sources.
y Acknowledge that certain materials have been borrowed
y Provide the necessary information for readers to find the
source(s) of your research
y citationmachine.net/
y www.palomar.edu/dsps/actc/mla/
y citationcenter.net/ctool.php5
y www.sourceaid.com/
y citationbuilder.com/
Plagiarism in the Digital Age
But how will I get caught?
y Paper submissions are almost exclusively done via web –
professors run papers through these services.
y All universities use certain technological services to check
student work for plagiarism
y DO NOT THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH PLAGIARISM!
y Turnitin, iThenticate,WriteCheck
(to name a few)
y More than 11 billion web pages crawled & searched
y 12,000 major newspapers, magazines & scholarly journals – from
aroundd the
h world
ld
y Tens of thousands of books including literary classics
y Work with all subjects
Consequences of Plagiarism
What is yours?
y Academic Consequences
y All products of your academic labor:
y Expulsion from the university
y Papers
y Semester or year length suspension from the university
y Lab reports
y Immigration Consequences
y Essays
y Loss of immigration status
y Book reports
y Leave the US
y Quizzes and tests (take-home & in class)
y Dissertations
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Open Questions to Panel
Open Questions to Panel
y Tell us about your first week or semester. What were some of
the things that surprised you about college courses in the
United States?
y What differences have you noticed between your Professors
here and at home? Your classmates?
Open Questions to Panel
Open Questions to Panel
y Tell us about your favorite professor and your least favorite
y If you had to give one piece of advice to the students here
professor.
today, what would it be?
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