Here you are Dr EV, getting towards a solution. Your approach of varied
styles of assessment is a winner and it's something technology can use in
its favour. Isn't this the perfect solution to the often espoused problem in
this forum?
If students are able to use technology (internet, high powered software
packages etc) to plagiarise then why not use related technologies to stop
them?
In my own area of accounting I use spreadsheet programming to generate
questions and answers so that I can set every single individual student in
any class of any size their own individual question(s). By taking time and
care over the programming I can not only generate a set of numbers unique to
each student but I can vary the combinations of variables in each question.
Hence, if I want to test the preparation of final accounts from ledger
accounts and including accruals and prepayments, I simply set the
spreadsheet going and print out what I need. Moreover, I can do this for a
GCSE level question all the way through to a post graduate level question.
The methods I use can be used in all numerical subjects and others. I could
generate a question bank to draw from at random. I can generate multiple
choice questions if you like!
What I do is not earth shattering but it is very effective and can be
adapted.
The idea of using class based assessments in order to provide a benchmark
against which to check your students is also a good one even though we all
know that the average student will prepare better quality written work given
time as opposed to work that is prepared in a time constrained environment.
Moreover I think this final point is, perhaps, the most vital one: how well
do you know your students? If you know your students well enough then their
plagiarism will catch them out in a trice. It's only the relatively
anonymous student who can get away with plagiarism and with modern trends
towards mass higher education ... we're back where we started from!
Duncan
Contract
-----Original Message-----
From: E.V.Brack [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 25 June 2004 10:46
Subject: Re: Press coverage
>"I am often told that essaybanks are not seen as the threat that
>articles such as this one would have us believe that they pose, as
>the majority of plagiarism from internet sources is usually due to
>students "cutting and pasting" from various websites, rather than
>purchasing entire essays."
>And just how would people who purchased essays be identified?
>Are they likely to identify themselves? What if they have essays
>written for them i.e. with bespoke services? NO So just how
>does anyone KNOW how many essays are purchased?
Obviously we don't know, but - how many students have enough
money to buy their way through a whole degree? How many
degrees are based on essay assessments alone?
I *know* the writing style of my students as I set them not just
essays but other types of written work, some of which is written in
class. I'd certainly be able to spot something that wasn't written by
them [but I do have to say that I'm not dealing with huge numbers
here]. If I felt that bought-in esays were a problem then I would
change the assessments.
Verity
*************************
Dr E V Brack
Access & Flexible Learning Development Officer
Institute for Lifelong Learning
University of Sheffield
196-8 West Street
SHEFFIELD S1 4ET
tel: +44 (0)114 222 7085
fax: +44 (0)114 222 7001
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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