Turnitin Presentation - DCU

Interpreting originality reports: Case studies
Dr. Eloise Tan, Learning Innovation Unit, DCU
/
http://beyondtheclassroom.wikidot.co
m/sarah-johnston

Overview
What is an originality report?
How do we read it? (components)
Interpretations (examples)
Tips on how to use originality reports

Video (student facing): How to
interpret your originality report
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yYf8
AihndI
Oxford Brookes University video for students
on interpreting originality report.

Is plagiarism in the internet
age ‘new’? No… but…
Internet makes it easy to copy and paste
File sharing, proliferation of information
Remix 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)

Webquest: Take 5 minutes to see what online
resources exist for students to plagiarise in your
discipline

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

Why is plagiarism important to
us?
Academic integrity – giving due credit to
authors
Academic 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?)

Why do students plagiarise?

Why do students plagiarise?
Ignorance: Lack of understanding of
academic requirements/citing and
referencing
Pressure/lack of time
Cultural differences
To improve marks
Can get away with it
Overassessed

Note
First years:
Generally have never had to paraphrase or
summarise
Have never read a scholarly article/journal
Have never traced an idea or theory through the
literature
Have very little disciplinary knowledge
Have never used an academic library
Cannot be assumed to have critical thinking or
analytical skills
Tend to copy for accuracy – often lose sight of what is
theirs and what is from other sources
(Adapted from University of Minnesota)

Prevention vs. Detection
Prevention
- Assessment
design
- Referencing
tutorials
- Model good
practice
?
Detection
- Look for
warning signs
- Online tools

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

Make sure they know
You may need to explain plagiarism in
detail, preferably with examples of
good/bad practice
Use positive reinforcement
Give guidelines with each assignment
Use Turnitin as a ‘Health Check’ rather than
a ‘Gotcha’ mechanism