A Learning Process: October 2012

Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

“Plagiarism may be defined as the use of another person’s words and/or ideas without

acknowledging that the ideas and/or words belong to someone else. It is not a new phenomenon,

nor is it something exclusive to the discipline of economics, but there is little doubt that it is a

growing problem that lecturers need to address systematically if the underlying causes, rather

than the symptoms, are to be addressed. At the heart of the problem is the increasing availability

of easily accessible electronic resources in recent times, whereupon it has become so much easier

for students to ‘cut and paste’ slabs of unedited text” (http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/handbook/printable/plagiarism.pdf).

What plagiarism detection software is available to online instructors?

According to Boettcher and Conrad (2010, p. 73) “http:// plagiarism.com / self.detect. htm and http:// Turnitin.com/static/indes.html. Many institutions have a site license for the Turnitin application”.

How can the design of assessments help prevent academic dishonesty?

“Allows questions that require critical thinking, analysis, evaluation, or synthesis
If questions require higher order thinking than fact recall, timing is not a serious concern.
Be prepared to reset a test should students lose connectivity or be kicked off the server
Use Authentic Assessment (students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills)
The true author of work will discuss it fluently” http://www.foothill.edu/fga/prevent_cheating.php

What facilitation strategies do you propose to use as a current or future online instructor?

I propose to uses three facilitation strategies: “inspirational; practice-oriented; and highly structured. The study shows that these facilitation strategies generated innovative ideas, motivated students to participate, and provided a risk-free and relaxed atmosphere for participation” ( http://www.public.iastate.edu/~acorreia/Student-led%20facilitation%20strategies.pdf).

What additional considerations for online teaching should be made to help detect or prevent cheating and plagiarism?

I would use resources to preventing academic dishonesty such as: