Friday, April 6, 2012

Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

What plagiarism detection software is available to online instructors?

According to Palloff and Pratt many of the online learning institutions come equipped with internal plagiarism detection software; they also employ several other methods to capture this form of cheating. The following website offers a review of the top ten online plagiarism detection software’s for 2012.

Top Ten Plagiarism Checker Review for 2012

The one software that stood out to me was PlagiarismDetection.org for pricing, length of subscription and number of submissions available within the lifetime of each subscription. At the same time, it is important to highlight the point I made earlier that most accredited institutions offer both internal and external detection software to their instructors.

How can the design of assessments help prevent academic dishonesty?

Dr. Keith Pratt offers a suggestion when it comes to examinations, he makes them so intricate that one has to accomplish and / or demonstrate a specified degree of learning to pass. He ecplains his lack of concern for cheating by drawing a parallel to "the real world" which he defines as being a place where you do not have to have all of the answers but you really should know where to find them even if those resources include people and resources that others may consider cheating. These same applications we know as cheating will rarely apply in the “real world”. Dr. Palloff, on the other hand,  he remains concerned with academic dishonesty and feels that it is the responsibility to teach learners the meaning of academic dishonesty and provide the tools available that will help learners avoid having to resort to such practices. She goes on to explain the importance of instructors to provide feedback and assessments often and without necessarily referring to them as tests. This increased request for the demonstration and evidence of skill acquisition would minimize the need for the learner to compromise their academic integrity. They would become use to demonstrating thier understanding and ultimately become less fearful because it is no longer "high stakes" but a normal occurrence.  Some online learning institutions have other methods for preventing academic dishonesty and among them are timed examinations, retinal scan, TurnitIn, and clearly identified expectations via the highly visible and ever present rubric.

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

The following suggestions were located at the following website: Berkley Website

Not all these factors are under an instructor's control, but there are specific steps you can take to prevent academic dishonesty:

1. Inform students of academic standards for scholarship and conduct.

2. Explain how cheating harms students and describe campus sanctions.

3. Minimize the opportunities for cheating and plagiarism.

4. Take visible actions to detect dishonesty so that students know you will not tolerate cheating. (Even if you don't actually carry out all the actions you say you will take, honest students will appreciate knowing that you care enough about academic integrity to take precautions.)

5. If cheating occurs, respond swiftly with disciplinary measures and formal action.

In addition to these options I plan on applying the untraditional testing described by Dr. Keith Pratt with frequent and varied forms of assessment that have clear, concise rubrics as they “lay out the criteria for grading and become a useful checklist” (Boettcher and Conrad, 2010 p.177). I will also make sure that feedback is frequent, useful, formative and timely helping to keep learners engaged and focused.

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

Dr. Rena Palloff and majority of educators generally believes in the good nature of the student and that often experiences incidences’ of plagiarism to be accidental and that educators should immediately and privately confront anyone he/she finds to be an intentional cheat. Boettcher and Conrad recommend instructors communicate with learners often as a way of becoming familiar with each learners level of understanding and personality. This will help you to recognize authenticity and changes. It is important for instructors to keep in mind the type of participation each learner within the community demonstrates realizing that it can transition as the course progresses. (Ziden, Fook, Idrus and Ismail, 2009).

References:

Boettcher, J., Conrad, T., (2010) The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips. San Francisco; Jossey-Bass

Palloff, R., and Pratt, K. (n.d.) “Plagiarism and Cheating” Video. Laureate, Inc. Retrieved from Course Video Link

Ziden, A. A., Fook F. S., Idrus, R. M., & Ismail, I. (2009). The types of online interaction model: Individual approaches in online discussions. Paper presented at the 5th WSEAS/IASME International Conference on Educational Technology, La Lagune, Spain. Retrieved from Types of learner approaches to online discussions