---
title: "Avoiding plagiarism"
course: "ENGL 100 · Write clearly"
unit: "Building and refining arguments"
lesson: 12 of 19
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/write-clearly/avoiding-plagiarism
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Avoiding plagiarism

Lesson 12 of 19 in **Write clearly** (ENGL 100), unit "Building and refining arguments". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Identify plagiarism in its common forms, including patch-writing, uncited paraphrase, and unattributed AI output.
- Fix a passage that borrows from a source without proper attribution.
- Distinguish accidental from intentional plagiarism and the responsibilities each carries.

## Teaching notes
Emphasize that plagiarism goes beyond direct copying and that both accidental and intentional cases must be corrected.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 12 complete: Avoiding plagiarism."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Finding credible sources" (lesson 13 of 19), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/write-clearly/finding-credible-sources.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Reasoning and counterarguments
Next lesson: Finding credible sources