Teachers should not assume students already know about plagiarism and how to avoid it. Teachers cannot just assign a term paper at the beginning of a semester and expect students to know what to do. Instead, instructors need to explain how to research and write term papers. They need to explain plagiarism to the class and then explain how they can use and cite materials without plagiarizing. Teachers also need to discuss the severity of plagiarism and the class penalties for handing in a plagiarized assignment.
For smaller classes, teachers can assign a variety of small assignments. They can have the students do small research projects on different class topics throughout the semester. Each assignment should emphasize a part of the research process, with a focus on how to avoid plagiarism. For example, one assignment can consist of having students handle direct quotes, to see if they can do so without plagiarizing.
Having students do a lot of small assignments involves too much grading for teachers in larger classes. Another way to get the same results is to have students hand in portions of their term paper throughout the semester, rather than merely handing in the finished product. Each assignment can address a different aspect of the writing process and plagiarism; for instance, one grading period could involve students compiling the bibliography of their research.
A common form of plagiarism is when students buy or download someone else's paper and hand it in as their own. Avoid this phenomenon by personalizing the assignment. Have students submit research proposals and have them approved. That way, any paper that does not fit the approved proposal would be unacceptable. The teacher can also require a specific format for all papers. Downloaded papers would not fit that format and would be unacceptable.