TRANSCRIPT: You have been asked to write a short reflective paper for one of your courses. The professor explains that a reflective paper is one where you carefully consider your own thoughts and experiences on a certain topic and include these in your paper. The professor has provided a choice of topics and stated that you should choose the one that you best relate to and draw on your own personal knowledge and experience to complete the paper.
Your professor also asks that you include material from at least two outside sources and properly cite them. It's a three-page assignment, and you have chosen the topic of bilingual education because you have grown up speaking two languages. You're passionate about this topic.
You have also worked in various roles with bilingual children in the past. The course readings for the week are on the topic of bilingual education as well. As you work on your paper you find that you have a lot to say on this topic, the words flow easily, and you think this is one of the best papers you have ever written.
You don't bother to read the course readings because you don't think they would add to your knowledge or make the paper any stronger. Instead, you include the references for the course readings from that week on the last page of your paper. You take the time to format your references in the preferred citation style and submit your assignment to your instructor. The following week your instructor gives back the assignment, and you're shocked to see that you received a low mark and a comment that you had plagiarized.