Colleagues,
We view online plagiarism detection as important, but only one component of a much more comprehensive programme of academic integrity practices that must be focused on education and development, rather than detection and punishment. The University has central policies for academic standards, and individual Schools aim to ensure that their students are appropriately educated in correct practices for research, discovery and individual creativity. Discipline-specific standards and methods of attribution are provided by the individual Schools. To ensure standards are being achieved, the Schools can utilise a system for online plagiarism detection, that the centre supports within the University's Blackboard Learning Environment.
At Dundee we have used Turnitin, Safe Assignment and Safe Assign for substantial periods of time.
From 2003 until 2005 we used Turnitin (also including the Blackboard building block link), which we found satisfactory. In 2005 we ran an options appraisal exercise for online plagiarism detection systems, and selected Safe Assignment, with perceived advantages in matching algorithms and costs. This service also proved satisfactory. In September 2007, we moved from Safe Assignment to Blackboard's newly offered Safe Assign, and after some initial challenges while we made the change-over, this service is also proving satisfactory. The Blackboard integration is strong, the approach appears to have a sustainable future and the costs are favourable for us.
We view online plagiarism detection as an important element of a much more comprehensive programme of academic integrity practices, with very important roles for academic staff in educating students, designing challenging assessments and acting as role models.
Richard
Dr Richard Parsons
Director of the Learning Centre, UoD
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The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish charity, No: SC015096
>>> Richard Hall <[log in to unmask]> 04/06/2008 12:54 >>>
Hi,
We are considering our options for Plagiarism Detection.
Is anyone using SafeAssign in anger? If so I would be grateful for an
off-list update on:
1. Its ease-of-use
2. Any pedagogical or technical limitations/bugs
3. Scaleability across an institution and any hardware/network
issues
4. If you have used both TII and SafeAssign, do you have any
preferences or comparison views
Best wishes,
Richard.
Dr Richard Hall,
e-Learning Co-ordinator, Quality Improvement Team, Department of
Academic Quality,
De Montfort University, Leicester. LE1 9BH.
e: [log in to unmask] w: 0116 207 8254 m: 07799-056545
http://dmupathfinder.blogspot.com
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The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish charity, No: SC015096
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