I think it is important for instructors to incorporate the topic of plagiarism into their courses. Students need to be aware of other options and what the consequences could be. There are a lot of software programs now available for institutions to help check for plagiarism. Additionally, encouraging the student to recall on their own experiences and teach them how to properly cite sources could help deter them from plagiarizing, intentional or unintentional.
What plagiarism detection software is available to online instructors?
What plagiarism detection software is available to online instructors?
Turnitin.com, mydropbox.com, and scanmyessay.com are great tools for online instructors to check papers for plagiarism. Additionally, the students can upload their papers directly. This saves the instructor time and may help the students keep in mind proper rules of citations knowing their papers will be reviewed.
How can the design of assessments help prevent academic dishonesty?
Assessments can be created to encourage students to respond in their own words or based on their own experiences when possible. This would help eliminate academic dishonesty as the student would need to recall their own past experiences.
What facilitation strategies do you propose to use as a current or future online instructor?
I would be sure to educate my students regarding what plagiarism is, what the consequences are, and how to properly cite resources. According to Christine Jacoy and David DiBiase (2006), “…students who received no explicit plagiarism instruction plagiarized twice as often as those who participated in active instructional activities such as class discussions of definitions of plagiarism, review of Turnitin.com plagiarism reports, and exercises requiring students to identify instances of plagiarism in example essays (pp 5).”
I would follow similar strategies to reduce plagiarism such as require students to upload to Turnitin.com and activities that help students identify plagiarism.
What additional considerations for online teaching should be made to help detect or prevent cheating and plagiarism?
Knowing your students can help. If you are familiar with their writing style in the discussion boards and how they interact with others, you can use this information when reviewing their papers. If the writing style is completely different then in other assignments, you may want to take a closer look. Additionally, if you know your student is struggling in writing or not properly citing resources, you could provide additional support.
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. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Melisa,
ReplyDeleteI was surprised this week to learn how effective plagiarism education is in combating plagiarism. As a junior high school teacher I made sure my seventh and eighth grade students knew about the seriousness of plagiarism and the importance of properly citing sources, so I assumed every college student had been in the habit of properly citing sources for years before attending college. It is encouraging that plagiarism decreases significantly when the issue is explained and understood.
Melisa,
ReplyDeleteI liked your suggestion to compare an assignment to the students prior work. I agree that sudden changes in word choice or general writing style can be a "red flag" to prompt further investigation.
Of course, this approach is less effective in the early weeks of course or if a student has been consistently copying someone's prior work.
Which brings up another tip for instructors to help avoid plagiarism - vary assignments from term to term. If instructors keep giving the exact same assignments, then the chances increase that a student copy work from another student from a previous term.
Stephen
Melisa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about knowing your students. I definitely think that will help with many plagiarism issues. It is the instructors job to learn how their students write and their areas of improvement. Good job!