1. Authenticity of Assessment Can it be achieved in the Age of Google?
Dr Mary Kiernan Dr Ray Stoneham

2. The Symptom of a Problem

3. The Challenge
To write coursework and use TurnItIn to ensure authenticity of assessment for large international cohorts of students studying for a UK honours degree in their own countries under collaboration arrangements.

4. The Aim
To identify good practice on how to write coursework in such a way as to minimise the opportunity for plagiarism and maximise the chance of its detection.

5. Previously
Leedham, Maria (2009), “From traditional essay to 'Ready Steady Cook' presentation : Reasons for innovative changes in assignments”, Active Learning in Higher Education vol. 10: p. 191-
Szabo, Attila and Jean Underwood (2004), “Cybercheats : Is Information and Communication Technology Fuelling Academic Dishonesty?”, Active Learning in Higher Education vol. 5: p. 180-
Price, Margaret, Jude Carroll, Berry O'Donovan and Chris Rust (2011), “If I was going there I wouldn't start from here: a critical commentary on current assessment practice”, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 479–492

6. The Scenario
The move to 100% coursework assessment (from 50% examination) for a mature University of Greenwich course delivered in 40 countries for over 1000 students created the challenge to write appropriate coursework

7. The Uniqueness
Collaboration arrangements with international colleges add an extra layer of complexity as it is the moderation of the marked work that is being considered, and the local tutors who do the marking are not necessarily aware of all the issues.

8. The Evidence
To be provided at the conference

9. The Use of TurnItIn There is a lot of noise in the system
Previous submissions by resit students
Students including a headersheet from Banner
Students including the question in their answers
Students following templates provided by the centre (eg with centre name, headings)
The threshold percentage to accept therefore depends on the nature of the assessment
Analysing the reports requires academic judgement

10. Issues with The Use of TurnItin
Students may get low percentage match “authenticity reports” because when they upload into the system it does not store their work for comparison with other students. Storage only happens when the centre uploads it.
When running “authenticity reports” it is essential that all options for matching are chosen.

11. Conclusions for Collaborative Provision
Plagiarism is a significant issue
Education of local tutors and students is essential
Centralised systems are essential
Assessments have to be precisely specified
Extraneous material (“noise”) is difficult to eliminate
TurnItIn really can help identify original material