Can I require students to publish?
Another issue has come in my teaching which may be related to the copyright issues involved with turnitin.com (see my earlier comments on that).
In two of the classes I teach regularly, I require students to publish original work at sites-of-memory.de. They are to go out, photograph a memorial site, research it, analyze it, and submit it to me. I then put it online at the site for them. (Student projects are listed their in their own section as well as within the main site.) This assignment is perhaps similar to those requiring students to contribute to Wikipedia articles or other online wikis, databases, or webpages.
Students own the copyright on the material they submit to university courses. So am I even allowed to do this? On the one hand:
- the projects are published under their names. They get full acknowledgement.
- they write it knowing that publication is part of the assignment. It is not the same as if I said, "Surprise!" and started publishing their term papers on line.
- they keep the copyright. They sign nothing over to me.
- I allow them to do so anonymously if they so choose (although other members of the same class section will know who the assignment is from).
On the other hand, it is "their's" and its appearance on a webpage could arguably detract from the value of the work with regard to other future uses of said work.
In two of the classes I teach regularly, I require students to publish original work at sites-of-memory.de. They are to go out, photograph a memorial site, research it, analyze it, and submit it to me. I then put it online at the site for them. (Student projects are listed their in their own section as well as within the main site.) This assignment is perhaps similar to those requiring students to contribute to Wikipedia articles or other online wikis, databases, or webpages.
Students own the copyright on the material they submit to university courses. So am I even allowed to do this? On the one hand:
- the projects are published under their names. They get full acknowledgement.
- they write it knowing that publication is part of the assignment. It is not the same as if I said, "Surprise!" and started publishing their term papers on line.
- they keep the copyright. They sign nothing over to me.
- I allow them to do so anonymously if they so choose (although other members of the same class section will know who the assignment is from).
On the other hand, it is "their's" and its appearance on a webpage could arguably detract from the value of the work with regard to other future uses of said work.
mhatlie - 5. May, 10:10 Topic: Teaching http://hatlie.twoday.net/stories/3691773/
Collegiate Professor
I think that, as part of the assignment, students should be reminded -- in addition to the other important things you tell them -- that "appearance [of their work] on a webpage could arguably detract from the value of the work with regard to other future uses of said work" and that you should allow them the option of not posting it but, rather, submitting it directly to you.
~Nile
Request, don't require
However, I do think it's appropriate to request that they do so. I've done something similar, and told the students they had the option, at no penalty, to turn it in privately to me. Most elected the (default) public option, and I think were pleased with it.
-- Fred