1. Anti-plagiarism software in an Irish University: three years later Angelica Risquez, Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Limerick angelica.risquez@ul.ie

2. Outline Anti-plagiarism software and academic honesty Our experience since 2005 Towards good practices

3. Anti-plagiarism software and academic honesty Widespread? Internet-related awareness Increased institutional focus Anti-plagiarism software

4. Ethical debate: “deterring plagiarism before it happens” (www.turnitin.com) VS “pedagogic placebo” (Carbone, 2001) and potentially purely punitive (Sutherland-Smith and Carr, 2005).www.turnitin.com Practical debate: effectiveness assumed rather than confirmed

5. Our experience so far Turnitin.com: plagiarism prevention; online marking; peer review and e-portfolio. Adopted at UL in 2005, training and support provided by the CTL (aprox 150 faculty). Voluntary and promoting a positive, proactive attitude towards plagiarism prevention

6. Our experience so far

7. Our experience so far: Statistics 214 instructor accounts 7,966 student accounts (additional 5,561 accounts now deleted) 11,882 submissions, 9,809 originality reports 1,772 peer reviews 226 papers marked online

8. Our experience so far: Student accounts

9. Our experience so far: Representation

10. Our experience so far: Originality reports !!! Not representative of actual plagiarism levels

11. (Data early 2008, 140 instructors) Our experience so far: Differing practices

12. Our experience so far: Differing practices (2) Frequency More than 8 student accounts (full class) 22 Less than 8 student accounts 26 Total 48 … only 18% of 140 organised submissions with the whole class

13. Towards good practices Differing practices emerge: proactive, encouraging students to submit VS ah-hoc use How these relate to approaches to plagiarism prevention, academic performance, student learning, and attitudes towards academic honesty? Are submissions of “suspicious” assignments related to ad-hoc approaches which may alienate students and provoke resistance, fear, etc.?

14. Towards good practices (2) … It seems that I am the only one that requested that students submit all of their texts to Turnitin. I have found them reluctant to do so, but I’m not sure why. At this point, only a few have been exposed for documentation violation through Turnitin. … I’m finding that these first year students are, understandably, uncertain about what kind of information needs to be cited. … For the few students who did attend tutorials and submit regularly, I think the combination of essay writing tutorials, feedback and originality verification was a boon of a benefit. We’ll see. Lawrence Cleary, Writing Centre, UL

15. Case study with engineering class (Ledwith&Risquez, 2008) showed decreased level of plagiarism because the lecturer integrated it in a coherent prevention policy including: –Workshop with students and training on appropriate referencing –Feedback to the class on results from system –Tackling individual cases and allowing resubmission Towards good practices (3)

16. Survey of student perceptions (n=787) showed no link between knowing about/submitting to Turnitin and ethical views about plagiarism and reported engagement in plagiarism Towards good practices (4)

17. Indications that the system may be best used with proactive practices which emphasise writing skills and referencing E.g. students are encouraged to submit their work through the semester, allowed to see their own originality reports, available tutor/peer support Towards good practices (5)

18. References Carbone, N. (2001). Turnitin.com, a Pedagogic Placebo for Plagiarism [Electronic Version]. Technical Notes. Retrieved 10th October 2007 from http://bedfordstmartins.com/technotes/techtiparchive/tti p060501.htm. http://bedfordstmartins.com/technotes/techtiparchive/tti p060501.htm Ledwith, A., y Risquez, A. (2008). Using Anti-Plagiarism Software to Promote Academic Honesty in the Context of Peer Reviewed Assignments. Studies in Higher Education, 33(4). Sutherland-Smith, W., y Carr, D. (2005). Turnitin.com: Teachers' perspectives of anti-plagiarism software in raising issues of educational integrity. JUTLP, 3(1b).