Reducing plagiarism through effective teaching and learning strategies

1
Supporting academic integrity

• Reducing plagiarism through effective teaching
  and learning strategies
• A workshop developed for
• Bilkent University by
• Gordon Suddaby

2
Overview

• In recent years, plagiarism has become an
  increasingly prominent issue in higher education
  and the three contributing factors are probably
• growth in student numbers (and the related rise
  in the student/staff ratio)
• pressure on students time and balancing study
  with work to support their study
• availability of copyable material on the web.

3
So what is Plagiarism?

• Plagiarism is a broad term that applies to many
  different types of copying. This ranges from
  claiming authorship of an entire piece of work to
  misattribution or insufficient attribution of
  source papers. The latter is far more common
  content being made available to scholars and
  academics through the internet and the ease with
  which it can be cut and pasted without rewording
  has, at least in part, contributed to this
  specific problem. Coupled with this, the
  discipline of recording all web sources and
  correctly referencing them is not easily
  undertaken. Finally, the pressures on academics
  to publish research to secure funding for future
  work and career advancement, in other words the
  publish or perish principle, has lead to a very
  small number of researchers taking short cuts in
  the past.
• Academic Plagiarism, by Rebecca Marsh, Head of
  Editorial, and Jenny Pickles, New Business
  Development Manager, at Emerald Group Publishing
  Limited

4
The following material draws on the following
reference Carroll, J. (2007), 2nd edition, A
Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher
Education. Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning
Development, Oxford Brookes University
5
Why do students plagiarise?

• As a group identify the sort of reasons that you
  believe motivate students to plagiarise

6
Why do students plagiarise?

• They have learnt to plagiarise in school
• They dont know that its not allowed
• They dont understand the rules
• They find the work too hard
• They are frightened of failure
• They deliberately cheat

7
What contributes to plagiarism?

• Academics make plagiarism more likely by
• over assessment / bunched assessments
• not making requirements clear
• not distinguishing between collaboration and
  collusion
• not stressing (and rewarding with marks and high
  grades) what is valued
• not changing the task or requirements of
  assessments
• setting tasks beyond the capabilities of the
  students
• setting show you know rather than show you know
  why or show you know how assignments
• setting an assignments to a group that has one
  solution so making copying easier
• Accessed from
• http//www.leeds.ac.uk/sddu/teachtalk/j_carroll.ht
  m
• on 23rd December, 2009.

8
How can we deter plagiarism

• Two options
• Using technology - plagiarism detection software
  such as Turnitin
• Course redesign and assessment through a
  changed approach to teaching and assessment

9
Eliminate plagiarism by design

• By changing assessments
• Good practice recommendation
• rewrite/modify the assessment task each time the
  course is taught

10
Create individualised tasks

• Good practice recommendation
• Design in assessment tasks with multiple
  solutions or set one that creates artefacts to
  capture individual effort.

11
Integrate assessment tasks

• Good practice recommendation
• Integrate tasks so each builds on the other
  design in checks that do not require teacher time
  but do require student effort. Be careful to only
  check, not assess the intermediate tasks. Set a
  variety of assessment tasks, choosing those less
  likely to already exist.

12
Inform students about

• institutional policies and programme expectations
• Definitions of plagiarism, collusion and
  misconduct
• Reinforcing understanding of definitions for
  particular groups
• Defining collusion and informing students
• Good practice recommendations
• Institutions should invest time and energy into
  reaching consensus on defining breaches of
  academic regulations then disseminate them widely
  to academics and students.

13
Induction and/or apprenticeship

• Good practice recommendation
• treat all instances of plagiarism formally with
  penalties and tariffs adjusted to fit student
  circumstances inform students clearly of the
  policy, how they must comply and how they will be
  helped to do so (see section 10).

14
Teaching academic conventions

• Good practice recommendation
• design in compulsory teaching sessions on
  academic writing and citation skills where
  students can apply the skills to
  discipline-specific content as part of their core
  assessment tasks.

15
Active learning methods to teach students

• Good practice recommendation
• ensure that students are taught how to avoid
  plagiarism with active learning techniques,
  providing opportunities for discussion, practice
  and feedback this instruction works best
  integrated into discipline-specific contexts.

16
Creating a climate of student involvement and
interest

• Explanations and justifications for cheating
• Academic conduct as a model of good practice
• Good practice recommendation
• Academic staff need to be seen to be adhering to
  the behaviours they ask of their students and
  taking steps to defend them from abuse.

17
Secure systems for recording and returning
coursework

• Good practice recommendations
• create administrative and institutional systems
  to collect, record and return coursework securely.

18
Using assessment to check authenticity

• To check the students work is authentic, you
  might organise
• a random viva of a percentage of the cohort
• an open-book test
• an in-class or supervised task
• Use electronic detection tools - Turnitin

19
Other issues

• Staff development and training
• The effect of electronic detection on academic
  decisions

20
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

• Using a separate procedure for disciplinary
  issues
• Good Practice Recommendation-
• clearly define the respective roles of the
  Examination Board and the Disciplinary Procedure
  in cases of plagiarism, and any interrelation
  between them ensure that all parties are aware
  of and adhere to their respective limits.

21
Consistent and effective application of the
procedures

• Good Practice Recommendation-
• give the responsibility for dealing with all
  cases of plagiarism to a small number of staff in
  each subject area, who are properly trained and
  who will work as a team across the institution.
• establish fast-track disciplinary procedures
  for dealing with minor and uncontested cases of
  plagiarism and clearly define the limits of their
  use.
• a simple disciplinary record keeping system that
  will enable you to monitor which plagiarism
  problems are occurring where, and how effective
  different strategies and initiatives are in
  addressing these problems.

22
Implementing a co-ordinated strategy against
plagiarism

• a clear commitment from the highest levels of the
  University.
• a clear and appropriate regulatory framework for
  defining and dealing with academic misconduct
• clearly defined roles and responsibilities
• access to support and specialist advice
• measures for embedding practice.
• targets and timetables
• a procedure for reviewing progress

23
Reconsider learning outcomes

• Good practice recommendation
• reconsider the learning outcomes for the course
  and decrease those that ask for knowledge and
  understanding, substituting instead those that
  require analysis, evaluation and synthesis
  consider adding information gathering to learning
  outcomes

24
Avoiding Plagiarism

• Ten Top Tips from the University of Leeds website
  that you as academics can give to students
• Accessed from
• http//www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/plagiarism/teaching.php
  usinglit
• On 23 December, 2009

25

• SEARCHING vs. RESEARCHING
• Within your essays you are being asked to analyse
  and interpret. Use references to support your
  argument and dont just report or copy what you
  have found.

26

• DEVELOP YOUR OWN STYLE VOICE
• This is an important part of what examiners are
  looking for. You have to use your own words, not
  those of another author.

27

• PRESSURE TO GET THE GRADES
• Attending University is not just about gaining
  the end result of a grade, but about gaining
  research and writing skills in the process. If
  you have any problems developing these skills,
  contact tutors (personal, programme director or
  module co-ordinator) and make use of other
  support systems available (handbooks, the Skills
  Centre, the International Centre).

28

• PARAPHRASE, DONT PLAGIARISE
• A footnote is not sufficient to indicate that any
  direct text you have used is not your own. Either
  put the sentences in quotation marks, or write
  them in your own words and include a footnote to
  the source.

29

• NOTE-TAKING
• When making notes from sources put direct
  quotations in quotation marks and always keep
  track of sources. This will ensure you do not
  accidentally plagiarise and also make collating
  your references easier when you are writing your
  essays.

30

• FACTS
• Common knowledge does not need to be cited but
  when in doubt reference your source.

31

• CUT PASTE
• Either dont get into the habit of cutting and
  pasting from e-resources (the internet,
  electronic journals etc.) or put them directly
  into quotation marks and note the source.

32

• DEADLINES
• If you are having personal problems that mean you
  will have difficulty meeting essay deadlines, go
  and speak to the relevant person who can help
  (your personal tutor and the programme director).

33

• WEB REOURCES
• Make use of the examples, glossary, quiz and
  regulations on the LDU web pages.

34

• HANDBOOKS
• Look at the examples of paraphrasing, citing
  cases etc. The information is there for you to
  access USE IT!