Carrot or stick? Student engagement with Turnitin - Evaluative findings of students' use of Turnitin as a formative writing tool: A case study ...

Carrot or stick? Student
engagement with Turnitin

   Evaluative findings of students’ use
  of Turnitin as a formative writing tool:
         A case study from Kent

                 Judy Cohen

www.kent.ac.uk

Background

• Autumn 2005 pilot of Turnitin

• November 2005 Workshop by Jude Carroll

• March 2006 recommended purchase of Turnitin licence

• Autumn 2006 Turnitin made available to all staff

• May 2007: 28 staff using Turnitin in 57 Modules in 10
  departments

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Implementation of Turnitin

• Available via WebCT plug-in

• Available to all staff

• Web resources on using Turnitin, plagiarism and good
  academic practice created
  (http://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/ai/index.htm)

• Guidelines for the use of Turnitin developed
  (http://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/ai/students/guide.htm)

                                                       3

Guidelines on using Turnitin

• to ensure student equity
• to ensure that students have a clear understanding of
  the issues and procedures involved
• to promote academic integrity
• to encourage the development of good academic
  practice
• to support the development of good academic
  scholarship and learning
• to avoid a punitive, policing approach to the
  improvement of student academic writing

                                                          4

Initial surveys of staff

• A handful of staff responded to the initial survey
   • Keen to use Turnitin
   • Unsure how it may impact their workload
   • Hazy about University guidelines (!)

• Very few departments responded to departmental
  survey
   • Definitions of plagiarism ranged from standard to
     departmental
   • Of those intending to use Turnitin, reasons cited include
     detecting plagiarism and changing student culture

                                                             5

Turnitin concerns for staff…

• Electronic submission

• Matching printed and electronic assignments

• Some questions over using Turnitin as a sampling tool

• Confusion over percentages in originality report
  (superficial approach)

• Support in pursuing cases of plagiarism

                                                      6

Student concerns before the trial

• Concern over IP rights to work (staff too)

• Introduction of bias in marking

• Acceptable minimum/maximum percentages

• Fairness of application

• Staff not understanding the system

                                               7

Piloting Turnitin as a formative writing tool

• Autumn/spring piloting the formative use of Turnitin in
  L2 Economics course and L3,L4 business courses
• Economics: Students given a draft/revision assignment
• Business courses: students given free access to
  Turnitin
• Both groups given two sessions with Turnitin
   • Using Turnitin and uploading work
   • Interpreting the originality report

• Students advised that Turnitin will be used

                                                            8

Student survey results…

• The formal practice sessions gave students:
   •   Information about Turnitin
   •   Valuable practice in writing & referencing
   •   Reduced anxiety about their work
   •   Assistance for some to improve referencing skills
• Students felt that Turnitin:
   • Ensures university standards
   • Improves value of their degree
   • Adds value to students and lecturers

                                                           9

What did you like about using the software?

• ‘Good way of encouraging students to use their own
  words’

• ‘Easy to use and I support its use’

• ‘Helped significantly with proper referencing’

• ‘Useful to see how my work matches up with other
  texts’

• ‘It improved my writing style and the layout of my
  essay’
                                                       10

Did you find the workshop on the originality
 report useful?

I learned:
• ‘How to reference without plagiarism’
• ‘My work was fine’
• ‘How many references I used’
• ‘There will be a certain amount of matching text’
• ‘How I should reference and time management’
• ‘That I could have plagiarised unknowingly’
• ‘The level of plagiarism I had’
• ‘Nothing- I knew my references were correct’

                                                 11

What would recommend to students?

• ‘The annoying thing is Turnitin shortens the
  official deadline’
• ‘It’s necessary to ensure university standards’
• ‘It seemed daunting at first but … it’s beneficial’
• ‘Helpful way to avoid plagiarism’
• ‘Can be over-sensitive’
• ‘Take the time to use it’

                                                   12

What would you recommend to staff?

• ‘Use it on every student and every module’
• ‘Be specific about the processing time for
  essays’
• ‘Some of the matches are not the ones I used’
• ‘It’s a very useful tool and should be used
  often’
• ‘It should be available to students’
• ‘It should be a policing tool with only one copy
  to be handed in’

                                                 13

Final comments…

• Pitfalls include:
   • setting up draft/revision assignments
   • Promoting student engagement
• Future steps:
   • Write a specific ½ page outline and guide to Turnitin
   • Formative assessment: regular Turnitin assignment with
     unlimited resubmissions
   • Summative assessment: draft/revision assignment and allow
     viewing of the OR
   • The first page of the OR printed and attached behind cover
     sheet

                                                                  14

Problems encountered…

• Technical:
  • The WebCT plug-in
  • Down-time (iParadigms and WebCT)
  • Resourcing issues

• Implementation
  • Departments or individuals ‘going it alone’
  • Lack of consistent approaches
  • Policies for areas of Turnitin eg requests for student
    papers from external users

                                                        15

Next steps…

• Staff and student support
• Support in following up suspected cases of
  plagiarism
• Reaching more departments
• Practical issues such as:
  • Storage of work submitted to Turnitin
  • Guidelines on requests for papers
  • The plug-in!

                                               16

Discussion points

• Working with departments: best ways to get
  them ‘on-side’

• University guidelines: to guide or not to guide?

• External requests for papers: sending our
  student’s work to other institutions

• Storage

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