plagiarism in the online environment
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Slides from webinar on 'Advantages and Disadvantages in Online assessment' given by Eloise Tan in the 2012 Online Assessment and Feedback Module at Dublin City University.TRANSCRIPT
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http://beyondtheclassroom.wikidot.com/sarah-johnston
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
LI502: Assessment and Feedback in the Online Environment
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Plagiarism and the online environment
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
OverviewWhat is plagiarism?Plagiarism and online culture Why do students plagiarise?Preventing plagiarismDetecting plagiarism
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
What is plagiarism? Your perspectives
What is plagiarism?: Chat box
Have you encountered it?: yes/no poll
What is plagiarism?: DCU definition
“Dublin City University defines plagiarism as follows: it is the deliberate act of taking and using another person’s work as your own. It includes absent references, reproducing the work (even with small changes) of another, taken from books, journals, articles, TV programmes, the Internet, lecture notes and so on. It also includes self plagiarism, i.e. submitting own work for more than one assessment, copying another person’s work, with or without his/her consent. Also included is collusion where a group of people collaborate or collude to present an assessment or a substantial part thereof, when the examiner required individual research and outcome.”
DCU Plagiarism Policy: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/plagiarism.pdf
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Do you include a statement on plagiarism in your syllabus? Yes/No
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
What is plagiarism?: Examples Submitting someone else’s whole work Copying sections of someone else’s work without
referencing it Paraphrasing someone else’s work without referencing it Buying work from “Cheat sites”: essay banks and
bespoke assignment services Self plagiarism: resubmitting the same piece of work
more than once Fabricating research results Collusion ** Plagiarism is not exclusive to text, it can be visuals as
well
Have you experienced confronting a student about plagiarism? Talk button
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Why is plagiarism important to us? Academic integrity – giving due credit to
authorsAcademic conventions – citing and
referencing are strongly valued in the academic community, induction for students into research skills
Learning – if students are copying then they aren’t learning (or are they?)
We value originality (or do we?)
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
The relationship between plagiarism and the online environment
Is plagiarism in the internet age ‘new’?
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Related to last webinar: Social,
collaborative activity rather than an online repository of information
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
No… but… Internet makes it easy to copy and pasteFile sharing, proliferation of informationRemix culture: “To combine or edit
materials to produce something new” http://www.everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series/
With online courses, how do we know WHO is taking the course? (See Palloff and Pratt, p.46)
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Web tour: Statistics on plagiarism http://www.plagiarism.org/
plag_article_did_you_know.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/
education/02cheat.html?pagewanted=all
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Webquest: Take 5 minutes to see what online resources exist for students to plagiarise in your discipline
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Cheat sites: essay banks and bespoke services
Taylor, M. & Butt R. (2006) Q: How do you make £1.6m a year and drive a Ferrari? A: Sell essays for £400
Market for online plagiarism estimated to be worth £200 million.
“The owner of one online organisation says he employs 3,500 specialist writers who have written more than 15,000 essays for students wanting a leg-up in university courses. The company made £90,000 in one week in May and the owner has a Ferrari and a Lamborghini in his garage.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/jul/29/highereducation.education
Cheat sites: essay banks and bespoke services
‘Write My Assignments’ is a Wicklow based company that is centered on educational progression….Your assignment will be completed by a postgraduate mentor who has completed your specific course which ensures an understanding of what is required to achieve optimum results. “
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/item/20589-write-my-assignments-an-o
http://writemyassignments.com/
Why do students plagiarise?
Chat box / Talk button: Discuss why you think students plagiarise in your discipline.
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Why do students plagiarise?
Ignorance: Lack of understanding of academic requirements/citing and referencing
Pressure/lack of timeCultural differencesTo improve marksCan get away with itOverassessed
NoteFirst years:
Generally have never had to paraphrase or summarise
Have never read a scholarly article/journalHave never traced an idea or theory through
the literatureHave very little disciplinary knowledgeHave never used an academic libraryCannot be assumed to have critical thinking or
analytical skillsTend to copy for accuracy – often lose sight of
what is theirs and what is from other sources(Adapted from University of Minnesota)
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Prevention vs. Detection
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Preventing plagiarism? (1): Raising student awareness Inform students of plagiarism policy Tell students that their work will be checked for
plagiarism Let students know that you are aware of essay writing
services etc Provide guidance on academic writing and on
citing/referencing:DCU ‘LETs’ tutorial: http://www.library.dcu.ie/lets/index.htm
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Make sure they knowYou may need to explain plagiarism in
detail, preferably with examples of good/bad practice
Use positive reinforcementGive guidelines with each assignmentUse Turnitin as a ‘Health Check’ rather than
a ‘Gotcha’ mechanism
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Assessment type Consider alternatives to the ‘essay’: e.g: Portfolios,
presentations, blogs, poster presentation, online journals, student created audio/video podcasts etc…
When using essays consider if you set up your assessment to look for critical original thinking, or primarily for collation of information.
For example, Discuss the differences between democratic and autocratic leadership styles in management studies.
Could become… ?
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Assessment type Group work: consider allocating marks
towards the process (editing, contributing, sharing, reviewing).
Related to social learning reading: are you assessing for process or product?
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Assessment design
Involve students in assessment design Avoid using the same assessment year after yearRequest drafts, lists of sources, progress reports
etc in advance of the assessment‘Personalise’ assignments: ask students to draw
on their own experiences o/ select a personally relevant topic
Give each student/groups of students unique data sets or contexts
Avoid designing assessments where there is one correct answer
Avoid designing assessments that simply ask students to “describe’ or ‘explain’: ask them to: critique. justify, evaluate, interpret, invent, create, revise etc.
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
How can we improve these assignments?
Group task: Create a 20 minute presentation on the Irish banking crisis
Essay: 2500 words on the history of Irish education
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Detecting plagiarism
Warning signs:
A sense that something is just not right Inconsistencies in writing style Inconsistencies in font/layout Very high standard of work, or changes in the standard of
work American spellings/phraseology Citing sources that are not available locally Out of date sources (on topical issues) Lack of non-Irish examples, irrelevant examples Failure to answer the question Student absent from all/most classes, or has not participated
in class activities, yet submits a ‘perfect’ assignment
Detecting plagiarism
Provides a more objective view on plagiarismCompares a student’s work with Internet
sources, journal articles and other students’ work
How does Turnitin work?
Student assignment
Originality reportAssignment compared with database:•Web•Journals•E-books•Other student assignments
How can Turnitin relate to: Principles of effective online assessment (p.30)Learner-centred Encourage self reflectionInclude rubrics for discussion / assignments
/ collaborationEncourage self and peer assessmentContextual and aligned to learning
outcomesInclude learner input
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
(Palloff and Pratt, 2009, p.47)
“Rather than using the tools punitively, having students run their own work through the software and then using the report generated as a teaching tool”
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
AvoidanceThe goal is to enable students to
demonstrate what they know/understand
Make it harder to plagiarise
Good citing and referencing are skills that must be learned – they are not automatic
Try to ensure that inadvertent plagiarism is minimised so that anything that looks like plagiarism is deliberate
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Tips: Research Papers(1)Have students submit their bibliography in
advance of the paper An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books,
articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.
(www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm)
This could even be an assignment in its own right or the first part of a two-part assignment
Try to incorporate thinking/opinions in assignments
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Tips: Research Papers(2)Oral presentation/markingAssign papers less than 6 pages (Paper mill
lower limit!)Restrict sources to a small number Add a ‘personal’/’tailored’ section worth a
few marks on its own but as a determinant of understanding and of final grade
Have a number of staggered deliverablesUse a research log/journal
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Tips: Research Papers(3)Change topics regularlyTry to specify topics narrowly in the early
yearsUse debating techniques – takes sides on
something quite localIncorporate current affairs/media
commentary, local/national mattersRequire papers to be mapped to topics
being studied
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Tips: Research Papers (4)Use detection techniques up front:
Ask for photocopies of sources quotedSay an oral interview may/will be used to
finalise marksSay students will be chosen randomly for
interview/oral presentationAdd a small number of personalised
questions which can only be answered if the work was done by the student
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Some useful demos: turnitin Turnitin Training videoshttp://www.youtube.com/user/
TurnitinAcademy?feature=watchUsing Peer Mark (Peer assessment) through
Turnitinhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=GvvjcBGFS-4
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Current Featured Resource on Moodle
www.plagiarismadvice.org
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University
Questions?
@t_eloise Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, Dublin City University