1. Prevention Strategies to Combat Plagiarism Assessments Shadia Fahim Professor of English

2. Purposes The purpose of this session is to help participants:  understand why students resort to plagiarism  practice shifting their focus to learning rather than policing when making decisions about their research and writing assignments.  explore strategies that minimise potential for plagiarism and maximise potential for deep learning.  identify institutional learning services that may provide support for their students ’ research and writing activities.

3. Reasons students give  I have to succeed, everyone expects me to succeed  I got desperate at the last moment  I could not keep up with the work  I don ’ t understand what I have to do to avoid plagiarism  Why can ’ t I use the author ’ s words if they are better than any I could think of?  But you said “ work together ”  Others are doing it, so it ’ s okay, as long as you don ’ t get caught.  I don ’ t need to learn this, I just need to pass it Carroll 2002  Pressure; cultural expectation  Poor time management; procrastination  Assignments perceived as beyond the students ability  Unclear definition;unclear instructions on referencing  Lack of experience of academic writing  Misunderstanding of the role of collaboration  Testing the system; enjoying breaking the rule  Lack of interest or motivation

4. Plagiarism detection/prevention … Prevention is better than cure

5. Problems  Not enough awareness about it  Differing understandings of what is acceptable  Different learning style/culture previous to university experience  Panic near deadlines/ poor time management  Students do not understand the seriousness of the consequences associated with plagiarism  Low confidence in own writing skills  Ease of access to information via the internet: ‘ Cut & Paste ’ phenomena  Unfamiliar with citation and referencing style conventions

6. What can be done about it? Effective role of Staff We need to be part of the solution by:  educating students  enculturating students to the values and conventions of academic integrity  Redesigning assignments and assessment strategies  offering supportive information for students

7. Plagiarism detection/prevention … Prevention is better than cure

8. Problems & Solutions - Tips  Students feel overwhelmed with work: Help Students improve time management skills.  Students fear a bad grade and feel insecure academically:  Office hours  Teaching assistants  Writing Centre  E-learning links

9. Prevention strategies- Best Practices 1.Approach 2.Assignment design 3.Process and product 4.SafeAssign requirements 5.Assessment strategy 6.Marking criteria

10. 1. Approach: Convince rather than police Look at academic writing as CONVERSATION “ Writing well means engaging the voices of others and letting them in turn engage us ” (Graff and Birkenstein IX).

11. Writing as ongoing conversation In conversation we  Listen to other voices  Reflect  Evaluate  Respond using appropriate language, tone and gestures According to conventions of polite behaviour In writing we  Introduce what others have said  Summarise what others have said  Reflect  Evaluate  Respond using appropriate diction and control of language According to conventions of academic documentation

12. 2. ASSIGNMENT DESIGN - Tips Design assessment tasks that minimise opportunities for plagiarism:  avoid classic, stereotype topics as these increase the probability that similar materials will be available on the web or to purchase;  Change topics from semester to semester: recycling assignments invites academic dishonesty;  relate topics to local, current areas of interest or primary research;  Seek application of a common theory to different situations ( “ urban design in ………” Sources derived from: Carroll 2002; Harris 2002; Brown 2001; Irons 2004 and UH Business School Staff Survey

13. Assignment Questions  How can we ask questions that will challenge our students to make up their own minds?  "Go find out about ------------------"  "Which of these cities would you like to move to?"

15. Opportunities for academic misconduct in essay questions: [based on Carroll 2002] Purchase from database Cut and paste from web CollusionPlagiarism Theoretical essay Theory with general application Not very likely Theory with specific application Very unlikely Not very likely Not very likely Theory with individual application NoVery unlikely

16. Plagiarism vs. critical thinking :  Plagiarism hampers critical thinking: Students do not exercise their own thought process when plagiarising.  Plagiarism is the antithesis of critical thinking: Students eliminate any intellectual work when they are plagiarising.   On the other hand: When students think critically, they have to do the challenging intellectual work of formulating and clarifying their own thoughts and integrating them with another point of view in a well developed and substantiated argument, as well as evaluating the credibility of sources.

17. ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION When teams are engaged in responding to questions which require this kind of thinking, there is little danger that they will be dependent on copying and pasting from the Net. Rather They will ----------,----------, ------------- ---,-------------- and ----------

18. 3. Process as well as Product: U 3. Process as well as Product: Using Portfolios to Avoid Plagiarism Break the assignment into pieces and build a scaffolding process of writing (portfolio) Do you give students a time-line with a follow up process? EXAMPLE: Class discussion: How to find and develop research questions Thesis + outline in-class workshop Annotating and evaluating sources Provide a mini-lesson or handouts on effective source integration and/or citation guidelines appropriate to the discipline 1 st draft peer review Final draft due

19. requirements 4. SafeAssign requirements  Ask for annotated sources with comments on reliability and relevance  Ask for a summary of the source and an evaluation of its usefulness  Request that all work be submitted with a cover sheet defining plagiarism and requiring the student's signature.  Process note on group activities

20. Advantages  Helps prevent plagiarism;  Provides evidence of learning;  Reduces last minute work;  Improves student responsibility for managing their learning;  Improves time management skills;  Sets the stage for student success by continuous feedback.

21. 5. Assessment Strategy - Best Practice: Design assessment strategies that enhance and ensure students performance:  Assess work produced in class … to reduce the opportunities to plagiarise (Culwin & Lancaster 2001).  Where feasible and manageable, viva (i.e. orally examine) a random selection of the students briefly in order to check what they have learned and that they are familiar with the ideas in the submission (Culwin & Lancaster 2001).  Ask students to make brief presentations to the class based on their written assignments (Gibelman, Gelman and Fast 1999).  Formative assessment rather than summative assessment (Macdonald and Carroll 2006)  Self and peer evaluation (involve students)  In group work ask for individual records and reflections on what the group members did  Assess the process as well as the product

22. 6. Marking Criteria Modify the assessment criteria to ensure that the assessment criteria rewards: higher level learning such as analysis, comparison, evaluation, argument, critical thinking, reflection on practice referencing and citation

23. Why Academic Integrity Policy?  Entails staff and students ’ personal commitment to work and learning according to shared values  Our objection to plagiarism, is not simply that it amounts to theft... Of equal importance, is the understanding that plagiarism:  devalues creativity  undermines effective learning  good reputation of the university  value of our degrees in the outside world  development of essential skills in research and writing i.e. more than merely a response to plagiarism

24. Activity TASK  Choose 1 assessment task from your own subject area  Is it at risk of plagiarism?  How can you ‘ plagiarism-proof ’ it?  Brainstorm methods for promoting learning while minimising plagiarism  Share with your neighbour any innovative/effective approaches.

25. Thank you! Questions?

26. References: Carroll, J. (November, 2004). Plagiarism: Is there a virtual solution? Teaching News. November. http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/plag iarism.html http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/plag iarism.html Culwin, F. & Lancaster, T. (2001). Plagiarism, Prevention, Deterrence & Detection. Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, South Bank University, U.K. http://www.ilt.ac.uk/resources/Culwin- Lancaster.htmhttp://www.ilt.ac.uk/resources/Culwin- Lancaster.htm Macdonald, R, Carroll, J (2006) Plagiarism — a complex issue requiring a holistic institutional approach Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31:2, 233-245 Robert A. Harris. The plagiarism handbook: Strategies for preventing, detecting, and dealing with plagiarism. (2001). Los Angeles: Pyrczak Publishing.