Attitudes and behaviors of social studies teacher candidates and teaching staff towards plagiarism problem

Purpose of this study is to determine state of plagiarism in homework prepared by social studies teacher candidates who receive education in Social Studies Teaching Programs and attitudes and behaviors of academic staff that teach in Social Studies Teaching Programs. This study has been conducted by participation of social studies teacher candidates from Mugla SÕtkÕ Koçman University, Afyon Kocatepe University and Uúak University. Following application a quantitative research instrument, focus group interviews have been carried out. Additionally, face to face interviews have been hold with a group of academic staff who either teach or have possibility of teaching in Social Studies Teaching Programs The data have been analyzed via SPSS 16.00 computer package program. Descriptive data collected with the quantitative research instrument has been analyzed by using descriptive statistics, t-test, and analysis of variance. The data gathered with qualitative methods has been analyzed with contend analysis. The study has revealed that plagiarism is extremely common among teacher candidates who receive education in Social Studies Teaching Programs. Reasons why the teacher candidates plagiarize and common plagiarism methods have been determined. It has been understood that academic staff experience difficulty at coping with these widespread plagiarism events. It has been emerged that the universities do not provide an institutional support to fight against plagiarism. Keywords: Academic Ethics, Plagiarism, Social Studies Instruction, Teacher Candidates