EIDT 6510 - Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

One of the concerns that always seems to be leveled at online education is that online education is rife with cheating in general and plagiarism in particular (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015).  While this may be the case in some situation, as Dr. Pratt states in this weeks learning resource video, plagiarism exists just as much in on-ground courses as it does in online courses (Laureate Education, 2010).  To assist with the detection of plagiarism, there are several technological tools available to instructors.  Below is a list of just a few of these.

Turnitin: This is one of the more popular plagiarism detection programs on the market.  Turnitin allows students to submit their papers prior to submission to get a sense of whether or not their paper contains plagiarized sections.  The program scans the paper and gives a rating of how much similar content is contained in the paper.  It also goes into detail about which areas are possibly plagiarized and provides suggestions on where it may have come from.  Turnitin can also be used by instructors to check student submissions with the same results above.  In either case, Turnitin provides a robust scan of student work to detect possible violations.

Grammarly.com: While Grammarly is for the most part a tool to help students write better in terms of grammar and mechanics, it also provides a plagiarism detection service to both students and instructors.  Like Turnitin listed above, grammarly provides an overall rating of the submission and highlights specific portions that may be plagiarized.  This is another excellent choice for students and instructors that may be concerned about plagiarism in their classroom.

iThenticate: iThenticate also performs a scan of uploaded documents and/reports for similarity matches.  It then highlights specific phrases and/or sections that appear to be similar to other documents.  Again, instructors and students can take advantage of the service to detect problems in papers and act accordingly based upon the academic integrity policies of their specific institution.  In this case, as with the others, the software performs the scan relatively quickly and delivers easy to read results.

How can the design of assessments help prevent academic dishonesty?

While plagiarism detection is certainly of value, a better strategy would be to try and prevent plagiarism from occurring in the first place.  One of the best ways to prevent plagiarism in assessments is to design them with a clear and precise definition of what plagiarism is according to the academic integrity policies of the institution (Simonson, et al, 2015).  When designing an assessment, be sure to leave no doubt in the mind of students what plagiarism is in relation to the assessment.  Also, place this description/definition right into the instructions of the assessment, do not rely upon the student to read the syllabus or academic policies handbook.  Leave no doubt in the mind of the student.  A second strategy that could be used is provide separate but intensive instruction about plagiarism in the course (Jocoy & DiBiase, 2006).  Students that received specific instruction about plagiarism are half as likely to commit plagiarism than students that received no instruction related to plagiarism (Jocoy & DiBiase, 2006).  If possible within the confines of the course, having students analyze sample assessments for plagiarism can reduce plagiarism occurrences and give students a greater understanding of how to avoid plagiarism (Jocoy & DiBase, 2006).

What facilitation strategies do you propose to use as a current or future online instructor?

As an online instructor, I will facilitate a combination of technological tools (such as Turnitin) with some of the strategies listed above.  Specifically, I believe that one can never share information enough so I would design assessments with plagiarism definitions built into the instructions as well as provide a workshop early on in the course for students as a means of trying to reduce plagiarism when they get to the assessments.  I will have them look at samples and highlight and/or define the elements that are plagiarized as the assignment for the workshop.  This will of course need to be a graded assignment to ensure participation.  Additionally, I will provide tutorials on how to use turn it in so students can take advantage of the product before turning in their submission.

What additional considerations for online teaching should be made to help detect or prevent cheating and plagiarism?

In addition to what was listed above, I believe that one additional consideration that should be made is the opportunity for students to re-work their papers if plagiarism is detected.  In cases where the occurrence of plagiarism is relatively low, it is likely that the similarity is accidental and/or the student forgot to cite the appropriate work or did not cite it correctly.  In these cases, students should be directed again to the definition relating to plagiarism and offered the workshop once again.  The student can then revise their paper and run it through the Turnitin software again and see how it rates.  If it rates in the acceptable range, they can submit the paper as is.  If the paper is still in the unacceptable range, they will need to continue their revisions.  The student needs to be made aware that he/she must submit the paper for review prior to submitting it to the instructor.

References

Jocoy, C., & DiBiase, D. (2006). Plagiarism by adult learners online: A case study in detection and remediation. International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 7(1), 1-15.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2010). Plagiarism and cheating [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://class.waldenu.edu.

Simonson, S., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (6th ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.