Learning about plagiarism using Turnitin detection software

Context and setting Year 1 students receive early experience of academic writing through an essay-writing project undertaken in their first term. Self-directed learning resources are provided to encourage students to take responsibility for developing their own skills. Why the idea was necessary It is considered important to ensure that students develop an appropriate approach to academic writing from the beginning of their course. Plagiarism is reported to be a growing problem amongst undergraduates. Interviews with students who have plagiarised usually reveal a misunderstanding of what plagiarism is rather than any intention to deceive. Our faculty routinely uses plagiarism detection software (Turnitin; iParadigms LLC, San Francisco, CA, USA) to check any work in which plagiarism is suspected. This software checks for matching text from Internet resources and from previously submitted student work. As part of a review and update of teaching about plagiarism, it was proposed to make this service available to Year 1 students to check their own work prior to submission in order to assist them in identifying inadvertent plagiarism. What was done Turnitin was made available to Year 1 students to check their essays for evidence of plagiarism. Students were sent an e-mail containing a password which allowed a single submission to the service, approximately 2 weeks before the essay submission deadline, together with brief instructions for using the resource. Students were asked to complete a questionnaire after submitting their essay in order to evaluate their use of the service and their perceptions of its value. Evaluation of results and impact A total of 236 students responded to the questionnaire (98%). Of these, 207 (88%) had submitted their assignment to Turnitin and 186 (90%) of those who did agreed that they had found the Turnitin report useful. Free comment suggested that students had found it reassuring to check that they had been successful in presenting material free from plagiarism. A number commented that the focus on plagiarism during preparation for this assignment had made them worried about their ability to reference and present material appropriately. Some issues were raised regarding the interpretation of Turnitin reports. There were concerns about unavoidable (and appropriate) usage of technical phrases, highlighted by Turnitin as plagiarised. Students also requested additional guidance regarding how to interpret the percentage figure for copied material supplied by the report; it became apparent that some students felt that there should be a declared ‘cut-off point’ giving an ‘allowed’ level of copying. It is clear that students need more guidance to assist them in interpreting Turnitin reports; this will be included in course material in subsequent years. Although many students requested that Turnitin be available for checking all assignments, staff are agreed that its use should be strictly limited in order to encourage students to perceive it as a learning aid, rather than developing a reliance on the service to detect poor academic practice. This initiative will be retained for a single use in Year 1. A second opportunity to be used as a reinforcement exercise in Year 2 will be piloted.