Prevention Strategies to Combat Plagiarism

Assessments

Shadia FahimProfessor of English

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.

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

Plagiarism detection/prevention…

Prevention is better than cure

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

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

Plagiarism detection/prevention…

Prevention is better than cure

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

Prevention strategies- Best Practices

1. Approach2. Assignment design

3. Process and product

4. SafeAssign requirements

5. Assessment strategy

6. Marking criteria

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).

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

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

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?"

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

No Very unlikely

Very unlikely

Very unlikely

Plagiarism vs. critical thinking

Plagiarism hampers critical thinking: : Students do not exercise their own thought process when

plagiarising. Plagiarism is the Plagiarism is the antithesis antithesis of critical thinking: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.

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 ----------

3. Process 3. Process as well as as well as Product:Product:UUsing 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 1st draft peer review Final draft due

4. SafeAssign requirementsrequirements

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

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.

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

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

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

writingi.e. more than merely a response to plagiarism

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.

Thank you!

Questions?

References:

Carroll, J. (November, 2004). Plagiarism: Is there a virtual solution? Teaching News. November. http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/plagiarism.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.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.