What strategies do you plan to implement in order to reduce the possibility of cheating and plagiarism in your online course?
What strategies do you plan to implement in order to reduce the possibility of cheating and plagiarism in your online course?
If an instructor is using threaded discussions, short papers, live chat sessions and other forms of interactive online instruction, it's possible for that instructor to develop a strong sense of an student's writing style and thinking to know if a student has been cheating.
In teaching a course, it may be helpful to post some notes on the concept of plagiarism with students. Many students may have only a vague idea of when and how to give references to the words or ideas of others. I think the best prevention for plagiarism is open and detailed discussion with students. Students should be absolutely clear as to the type of material they may and may not use as well as how such material should be cited. Sometimes I have found requiring students to hand in a copy of their rough drafts as well as the final version of a paper to be helpful in controlling the potential for plagiarism.
It is also necessary to make clear to students what the course rules are regarding collaboration on assignments. There is wide variation among faculty as to how much collaboration is permitted or encouraged, and this may be confusing to students too.
We have an online plagarism tutorial and we use turn it in also.
Hi Tony,
Thank you for the points on plagiarism. This is a growing problem that is challenging instructors more all the time. Your approach really makes it clear for your students as to what is and what is not plagiarism.
Gary
The primary strategy must include providing a written policy or guideline clearly explaining the following: defining plagiarism and examples; a clear policy prohibiting plagiarism; the ramifications of abusing the plagiarism policy; how to properly paraphrase material; and patience. Many students do not understand the multiple dimensions of plagiarism so I must be able to communicate and educate students regarding plagiarism.
JoDee, Plagiarism online is more difficult than on ground since we cannot really know who is writing the work. Having online help like Turn-it-In has cut my "plagiarism" hunt down tremendously! I do find that most students want to do their own work and do not simply copy and paste. Some students do too much quotation or copy/paste. With these students, I of course grade lower with comments such as "Be sure to not use quotes to present topic knowledge." I also include in my first chat of the course how to properly use quotes, include in paragraph citations and the ways we tell the reader, "these are not my words." Educating student about the correct way to cite helps curb accidental plagiarism. Continued low scoring for too much copy/paste helps motivate students to do more original work.
Hi JoDee,
Thank you for sharing these excellent suggestions for reducing cheating and plagiarism. They will be of great help to instructors just starting to teach online courses.
Gary
