The new solution to tackle contract-cheating will enable colleges and universities shifting to online instruction to take a holistic approach to academic integrity.
Cees Poortman, Regional VP of Turnitin, Europe, Middle-East and Africa.
Research from Swansea University suggests that as many as one in seven students globally could be involved in contract-cheating.
Turnitin Originality uses comprehensive technology to help deter unoriginal work and support students in learning how to properly attribute ideas and concepts to others. It combines the text-similarity checking functionality, for which it is well known, with new features to address issues such as contract-cheating. In doing this, it aims to teach students the value of original thinking skills.
When reviewing submissions, Turnitin Originality examines whether the work is similar to other known text, or if it has indications that it was not authored by the student.
The aim is to support students back to honest endeavour before cheating habits become embedded, thus helping students to avoid putting themselves at risk of exposure.
The tool can even help identify code plagiarism or text manipulations used by the student in a bid to “beat” the system.
Cees Poortman, Regional VP of Turnitin, Europe, Middle-East and Africa, commented:
“The necessity for this combined solution is clear: as more schools and universities move to online instruction they must be even more thoughtful and holistic about their approach to academic integrity.
“Traditional text comparison tools – which Turnitin pioneered twenty years ago – can detect copy/paste plagiarism or student collusion, but do not equip institutions with the technologies needed to address academic integrity in the fullest sense.”
By using Turnitin Originality alongside feedback tools, particularly in online learning, instructors and administrators have the capability to identify the full range of potential misconduct and to provide feedback in one tool so that instances of plagiarism or inauthentic authorship are teachable moments, not punitive ones.
“Now, every institution is enabled to set the highest standards of academic integrity and give its students and instructors a unified solution to support those standards. Turnitin Originality gives educators more tools than ever before at their fingertips, to help them work with students to identify unoriginal content, uphold academic integrity, and support the learning journey,” Cees Poortman said.
Robin Crockett, Reader in Data Analysis, and University Lead on Contract-Cheating, University of Northampton
Robin Crockett, Reader in Data Analysis & University Lead on Contract-Cheating, University of Northampton, observed:
“The increases in numbers of essay-mills over recent years, and the increasingly cheap prices charged to students, means contract cheating is a bigger issue than ever for education institutions. Turnitin’s Originality software is the best I’ve seen for quickly and efficiently revealing common tell-tale signs of ghost-writer involvement.”
Turnitin focuses on providing a holistic suite of solutions to address the complete assessment cycle, from the submission of student work to grading.
For example, Gradescope’s auto-grading feature makes it easier for instructors to quickly grade assignments and gain additional insights about student learning in any area of study, including economics, business, and STEM subjects.
About Turnitin
Turnitin is a global company dedicated to ensuring the integrity of education and research and supporting the development of original thinking skills. For more than 20 years, Turnitin has partnered with educational institutions to promote honesty, consistency, and fairness. Turnitin products are used by educators to guide their students towards higher standards of integrity and by students and researchers to do their best, original work. Turnitin is headquartered in Oakland, California, with international offices in the U.K., Netherlands, Australia, Korea, India, and throughout Latin America. Over 15,000 academic institutions, publishers, and corporations use the products: Feedback Studio, Gradescope, iThenticate, Turnitin Originality, Turnitin Similarity.
SOURCE: Materials provided by Turnitin
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