Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a major concern in our online classes. Fortunately there are resources such as Turnitin.com to catch offenders. The question we struggle with is how much similarity (measure by percentage plagiarized) constitutes cheating? For example, some instructors argue that only 0% is acceptable, other contend that anything under 15-20% is allowed. Thoughts?
Miyuki,
Teaching students to cite correctly is a must. So many students simply do not know how or if they have to!
Shelly Crider
Plagiarism is an extremely difficult subject in online classes especially with the technology we have available. One can merely cut and paste information gleaned from nearly anywhere. If it is properly cited and supporting their argument constructively it will still distort the similarity score. If the quotes are not properly cited then it makes it easy.
What score is acceptable is also a hard topic to discuss. My own thoughts are anything above 20% must either be rewritten or dismissed altogether. I have the utmost respect for those that hold their students to an even higher standards
Mrs. Hall
I agree that students need to learn how to properly cite even when paraphasing the author. I think that they should learn how to cite in middle school, and or high school. It should not wait until college or higher learning education to learn. I think it will help learners be more prepare for college work if they learn early.
I have experienced the exact same scenario Jerry. In many cases students papers are not cited correctly which leads to a heightened similarity percentage. The similarity report is a starting point but each paper should be examined individually to determine if the items plagiarized intentionally.
I understand as well. I always post all the resources and guidelines but there are always a few that do not even look at the requirements of the assignment before working on it. I post reminders to look at the requirements as well.
Al
Jerry, I feel your pain. I provide an APA template, an extensive document that provides multiple examples and tips on how to use sources, and provide live chats and instruction on the use of citations and references. Often to no avail. By the end of the course, I am deducting major points just for not using the APA template. I gave you the template! Just use it!!!!
Rant over.
Plagiarism has all been a problem in academia since we started online learning. Therefore, I usually have a 20% tolerance since even properly quoted phrases will show a match on a report. A score 20% and under after checking it out raises minimum questions.
Thanks for the advise, but I have ALWAYS posted the APA Template in the Instructor File section of the classroom. I also post announcements remining the students that the template is there for them to download and use. I also have 2 video links in the announcement area that tells the students how to cite and format their papers to meet the APA standard. During the last session (1203B) I e-mailed the APA template to ALL my 33 students and only 2 of the students used the template.
Jerry,
Exactly. Many times students do not get all the citing done correctly. I recommend that you post APA/MLA style resources somewhere in the class.
Shelly Crider
Each time I get a report with a similarity score above 30% the first thing I do is to check the sources to see exactly what the student copied. I discovered recently that some of the students do not know how to cite the source, so they put the reference and "forget" to put quotation marks around the material they cited.
The score is an indication that something is wrong, so it is up to us as instructors to find out what is wrong, and find the best way to fix it.
I agree that sometimes what appears as plagiarism is in fact a deficiency in understanding proper citing in APA or other style. I make sure that on the first day (in the first live chat) I go over in great detail how to effectively cite (in text) as well as reference page and all that is required. I have found that when I walk them through the process and structure that I see less plagiarism. I also advise them of the sites to avoid and will call them immediately on what might be appearing to be plagiarism. Additionally, I have found that with turnitin and other types of programs that this reduces plagiarism drastically.
Rose-Mary,
I so agree with you! Teach to cite and keep reminding the student.
Shelly Crider
Yes, I could not agree more that the bottom line is to teach student how to cite. I provide the class with handouts to follow; we practice in class how to cite. I find that there is a student every now and then that will send me a paper that was completely copied from the internet. Why does this happen? I cannot answer the question, as I know that I have covered the topic. I tell the students that I use the turn it in results however, I will look to see what turn it in is saying as well as sometimes they will not catch something that is cited or on other occasions I have found that it will give a different reference. In other words I will not fail a paper until I look it over.
joy,
Absolutely!!! Most students do not even know they are not citing correctly.
Shelly Crider
On ground or on line plagerism will be a problem I have used Turnitin on ground and found it to be effective.the bad part of turnit in if the student turn in their work more than once then they plagiarise themself. Sometimes turn it in does not pick up in-text citation and will count tha. Bottom line is teach student to do proper citation.
Joel,
We need to make sure that students know how to cite their work correctly and how much of a resource they can actually use. Tunitin is a great tool for instructors, but also helps students learn what is accepted.
Shelly Crider
