One way to put the brakes on plagiarism lies in the design of the writing assignment itself. Incorporating the ideas below can steer students towards authentic writing.

• Change Writing Prompts Regularly: Current prompts remove the temptation for students to use previous essays written for your class as the basis for their own.

• Make the Topic Specific: broad writing prompts such as "explain the impact of labor unions on early 20th-century American economic policy" can tempt students to appropriate information from expert sources.

  Instead, make the topic specific, hinging on some concrete idea, point, quotation, or idea: "Using specific examples from class discussions and the text, explain how Richard B. Mellon's statement 'You can't mine coal without machine guns' characterizes labor-business relations in pre-WWI America."

  Or, specify a limited range in the prompt: "President Bush should/should not withdraw financial aid to Israel in order to encourage peace in the Middle East."

• Tailor the Topic to the Class: Similar to the example above, choose a focus that specifically relies on a class concept, principle, or detail: "Using the ideas presented in Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities as a starting point, construct an argument as to what 'fairness' should mean in terms of public school funding."

• Connect Current Events to Course Content: An assignment such as "Compare and contrast the tone, trends, and partisan positions of national political dialogue post-Sept. 11 with that following Pearl Harbor" can connect textbook knowledge with contemporary events. This makes it harder for students to use canned responses, and less tempting when the topic clearly matters now.

• Consider a UWC Consultation as Part of the Assignment: UWC consultants can help writers with specific one-on-one feedback about focus, organization, clarity, transition of ideas, and repeating grammar issues.

  An example of how you can include a UWC consultation in an assignment:

...Along with the other requirements for this term paper, a University Writing Center consultation is part of this assignment. Your UWC consultant can serve as a useful test audience for how well your essay is supported and organized. In particular, you should ask if the consultant can identify your thesis, and which sections of your essay are unclear. Be sure to bring any drafts, notes, research, and questions about your work with you when you visit the UWC.

You should reserve your appointment a few weeks in advance, and the appointment should also be scheduled at least three days before the paper due date, so that you have time for revisions. Please turn in a copy of your UWC Record of Consultation with your term paper. To reserve an appointment, visit the UWC website at reach.ucf.edu/~uwc, call 823-2197, or drop by MOD 608.

If you require a visit to the UWC as part of an assignment, it's a good idea to schedule a due date for this part of the assignment as well.