Faryl,
I use SafeAssign which is like TurnItIn to teach students how to properly cite their sources. I give them their paper back as it has been graded by SafeAssign and show then where they have made their mistakes and plagiarism has occurred. It has been helpful. Thanks for your input.
I find that TURNITIN is one of many possible ways to determine plagiarism. I tend to use Google. If I am concerned that a student has plagiarized or if I am doing a random check for plagiarism, I copy and paste a sentence into the Google search bar. It is amazing how many students plagiarize.
Darren,
Thanks for your posting on this forum. Turnitin and SafeAssign are both good packages to help with this. I also use it to show students how information seems plagiarized when they do not write a reference in the proper format.
So, it's a learning tool too. Thanks again.
Yes, I have also used Turnitin and found that it useful for finding writing assignments that were plagiarized. Also it is a good check and balance, if the students know you are going to check the work for plagarizm then they are less likely to blanket copy from the internet. I could have also done the search of their work manually using Google, but Turnitin makes it a bit more efficient.
Catherine,
We use SafeAssign. It's not only helpful to catch plagiarism, but also to teach studnts how to reference material properly. If they don't reference properly, it shows up as being plagiarized when it really may not be. . .but just referenced incorrectly or not at all.
Thanks!
Miranda,
I used Turnitin for the first time this semester. I found it very helpful. It took us about a week to feel comfortable with the system but it was worth it. It saved me a tremendous amount of time.
The students found it helpful to directly view the information that was considered plagiarized. Sometimes it is nice to have an outside source show the students their errors instead of them being critiqued by a professor.
I would walk the students through the submission process during a live chat session. The students may find it easier to use if you demonstrate how to navigate the system.
Cathy
Nathan,
Dustball. . .I will have to look at that one. That is the cool thing about these forums. . .we continue to learn from each other. Thanks.
I have had problems with Turnitin as well. It seems to be inaccurate much of the time and I do not find it to be very user friendly.
I have honestly had more success using a free online webtool - dustball.
Miranda,
Yes, Turnitin it a competitor to SafeAssign. I have not used Turnitin.
We use SafeAssign. It works through our Blackboard system and I have found it helpful. One thing it does too is that as students submit their work, it searches other students' work against it as well as the Internet.
Therefore, if (for example) students are writing science lab reports based on their experiments (and this happens every semester, every year), a student from this semester can't turn in the same thing his friend turned in last semester.
