If a student commits a fairly minor but nevertheless clear-cut act of plagiarism, and is penalized, and promises (after a series of abject apologies) not to do it again – and then turns around and does it again, in a much more egregious manner, for another class, what could explain this decision?
1. A person serially incapable of doing her own original work?
2. A calculation that instructors and faculty are saps, or (more charitably) that they don’t talk to one another and compare notes, so that even if detected she can talk her way out, one-by-one, of the ultimate penalty – i.e., being referred for dismissal proceedings?
3. A conviction, despite evidence to the contrary, that she’s immune to detection and discovery?
What’s the theory of action here?
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