Plagiarism
Detection and Prevention
The definition of plagiarism according to Webster II New
Riverside Office Edition is “to take and use as one’s own the ideas or writings
of another” (Webster\'s II new, 2009). Basically, this means that plagiarism means
stealing someone else’s work and then lying about it later.
Since more and more universities and colleges are
offering online learning and distance learning courses, it has become essential
for instructors and students to understand and protect themselves against
plagiarism.
It is vital for instructors to be aware of the characters of
plagiarism in order to be proactive in preventing it from happening.
What is Plagiarism: (CCC Library, 2010)
There are many different plagiarism detection tools
available for instructors to prevent plagiarism within the online/distance
learning environment. By developing an
understanding of various plagiarism detection software tools, it will allow the
instructor to determine which one will work better within their online/
distance learning environment.
Some examples of plagiarism detection software include:
Professional, student, and newbie, can equally benefit
from it Dupli Checker. Upload essays, thesis, research papers and other written assignments , and get the analysis
report within seconds.
iThenticate: http://www.ithenticate.com/
iThenticate's offers writers, researchers and editors
insight into plagiarism issues across different industries, and guidance for
avoiding plagiarism within various roles and environments. Unfortunately, this is not a free
service.
Turnitin: http://turnitin.com/
This website ensures that submitted work is original by checking submitted papers
against 24+ billion web pages, 300+ million student papers and leading library
databases and publications.
How can the design of my assessments help
prevent academic dishonesty?
In designing assessments there is no single approach that
will deter plagiarism, but various strategies that can be adopted and
reinforced. Assessments should be designed with the student in mind but also
assessments should be aligned with the course goals and outcomes.
Assessments plans generally have at least four types of
experiences important to evaluation for example:
- · Participation in discussion post
- · Automated low stakes quizzes
- · Individual projects that include analysis such as critical thinking and communication of that work to others in a final product of some type, such as a paper, interview, report, podcast, or presentation.
- · Team projects of various sizes and purposes (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010).
It is important for instructors to give clear instructions and guidelines concerning course assignments so there is less room for students to copy and paste from other
sources.
What facilitation strategies do you propose
to use as a current or future online instructor?
I currently use turnitin in my online/distance courses
with great success. By using this software tool, I feel that I have the ability
to identify student work that is not written in their own words.
In the future, I plan on allowing my students to submit
written assignments early to check their progress. I feel that if the student
feels that their work is going to be checked for plagiarism throughout the
course at different points, they will be less inclined to plagiarize and cite
all of their sources. This will also give the student the ability to edit their assignments as the course progresses to ensure that their activities reflect their
actual
knowledge.
What additional considerations for teaching
should be made to help detect or prevent cheating and plagiarism?
It is very important that clear guidelines and
consequences for plagiarism be given early in the course and stated in the
course syllabus. If a student is suspected of plagiarism they should be
confronted with direct and specific details from the assignment that was
detected as plagiarized. Many institutions have student handbooks that will allow the instructor to follow the standard rules and regulations of the institution.
Boettcher, J., & Conrad ,
R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint.
CCC Library. (2010). Plagiarism [Video]. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw6NxvwP41U
(2009). Webster's II new riverside dictionary. (Revised ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Hi Jarice
ReplyDeleteGreat video source you shared on your blog! Congratulations on a well-written post.
I think the video you’ve shared covers the important aspects of plagiarism: definition as well as consequences. I would like to get permission to use it when informing students about what plagiarism is and how to prevent it in the future when I teach. I was not aware of Dupli Checker, thank you for that resource. Within the subject of properly quoting intellectual property, we also have a responsibility to include information on image(s) we use on content we create. I learned this in a class “Advanced Instructional Design” and the importance of properly giving credit to the images and videos we incorporate into our blogs. It is very difficult for me to do that, I admit that many times I forgot and my professor brought it to my attention. But it is important to credit artists of the images we use with our written work.
Sonia,
DeleteThank you for the reminder to credit for photos as well. I cited my source for the video, but I do have to admit I forgot to credit the photo sources.
I'm glad to help. I forgot to ask you how do you add the clock gadget to your blog? I checked app but I didn't see it.
DeleteHello Sonia,
DeleteIts actually a Google gadget. I have my blog through my gmail account so I have access to the Google gadgets.
Hi Jarice,
ReplyDeleteI really like your multimedia choices, they really enhance your post. In reference to having your students submit work early, do you think the class format would play a role in whether or not this is feasible? In this program, with assignments being due three to four times a week, do you think many working students would be able to take advantage of this? Also, as a professor, do you think that you would be able to handle the additional grading with a class of 30? It seems like a daunting task.
Christopher,
DeleteI do agree that with a large class that having them submit work early would be a daunting task. The way I would do this is to have a project or research paper that would be due maybe 5 weeks into the class. In this way the student would be able to submit their work at least once for early review.
Jarice,
ReplyDeleteThis post was very well done. Each question was answered thoroughly, and the use of the video and graphics really enhances the design of the blog. I agree with your points about academic dishonesty. Not only do instructors have to give clear instructions and guidelines concerning course assignments, but they should also create several opportunities to assess student learning, occasionally in place of examinations (using the aforementioned experiences) (McNett, 2002).
I found two other interesting plagiarism detection software programs that I thought you might find interesting:
Viper is an alternative to Turnitin for both teachers and lecturers (Viper, n.d.). It enables students to view any areas that might be vulnerable to accusations of plagiarism from a lecturer or tutor. It also provides a free plagiarism scan against billions of documents, including books, journals and websites.
Academic Plagiarism is a trusted program offered on CNET for individual users and academic institutions (Cnet, n.d.). It is specialized online software for detecting and preventing academic plagiarism. It features sophisticated algorithms and advanced finger-printing technology, and is able to run comprehensive plagiarism checks against web pages, books, academic journals, online publications and databases of pre-written essays and papers.
References:
Cnet (n.d.). Academic Plagiarism Checker. Retrieved June 15, 2013 from
http://download.cnet.com/Academic-Plagiarism-Checker/3000-2051_4-75689602.html#ixzz2WGSN1KlK
McNett, M. (2002). Curbing Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses. Retrieved June 16, 2013 from http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/pointersclickers/2002_05/
Viper (n.d.). Plagiarism Free Software?. Retrieved June 15, 2013 from http://www.scanmyessay.com/plagiarism-free-software.php
Jarice,
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I love your graphics. Plagiarism is such a negative subject, but it is extremely necessary. How do you feel that Turnitin affects plagiarism? Do you think that students will plagiarize less if they have to turn in their assignments to plagiarism detection software like Turnitin? I recently viewed an archived training at a college where I will be working. The training video tracked one student plagiarizing nearly every paper for at least 12 classes. The student was finally discovered, but the previous grades could not be reversed because they were already on the transcript. This university does not use plagiarism software like Turnitin, but instead opts for free tools such as Google. Do you think this student would have plagiarized so freely and so often if she had to post her assignments through Turnitin?
Hello,
DeleteI believe that if students believe that their work will be check against a much broader database then they will not be so quick to cheat. I know I would not.