This is part of a regular series of articles exploring some of the terms used in e-learning (view other articles in the series). We’ll do our best to break down the jargon and explain what things are from a basic perspective.
Turnitin is an online text-matching service available via Blackboard at SHU. Users of the service can submit work in an electronic format (such as a Word document) to Turnitin on a Blackboard site. Turnitin then checks the content of the submitted work against a large database of digital sources, generating feedback on the work in the form of an originality report that can be viewed online via the Blackboard site.
In the originality report any content matching digital sources in the database is highlighted and its source(s) identified. Sources Turnitin includes in its database:
- many current and archived websites
- some online journals, periodicals and books
- most past student submissions to Turnitin
Helvetica matches by oknovokght
It is important to note that Turnitin can only detect textmatching its database contents. The service does not differentiate between materials handled appropriately and in a way consistent with the expectations of academic standards (e.g. directly quoted, referenced, paraphrased and cited, etc.) and materials reproduced but not acknowledged as the work of others (plagiarism). The term ‘plagiarism detection tool’ that is sometimes used to describe Turnitin is somewhat misleading because of this. The software cannot make the judgement necessary to distinguish between plagiarism and proper referencing/citation, though it can assist students and staff in identifying places where this judgement should be made.
Turnitin’s flexibility provides users with a number of options as to how it can be incorporated into assessment and feedback practice. For example, there may be a formal expectation that students submit their work to Turnitin or the service may be provided as an optional extra; the originality report may be available to staff only or to both students and staff; it may be used to check drafts and/or final submissions.
Turning in the light by malloreigh
Whilst acknowledging Turnitin’s use as an ‘end-point’ means of detecting and perhaps deterring plagiarism, SHU has long encouraged staff to also consider the formative uses of Turnitin (i.e. those which develop learning). Such uses focus not on exposing plagiarism, but the wider potential for the service to be used as a learning tool by students to improve their referencing. With appropriate support, students can engage with automatically-generated originality report to develop their understanding of the features, conventions and expectations of aspects of academic writing, including what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it in the first place. Benefits of providing students with access to their Turnitin originality reports include:
- increasing student autonomy
- providing students with an additional feedback that is automatically-generated and objective
- helping address the causes of plagiarism rather than just identifying the effects
- providing an opportunity to discuss and explore academic integrity to prevent any problems
SHU has recently developed some screencast video resources on Turnitin. These can be incorporated into Blackboard sites to support students in understanding what Turnitin is and how to use it effectively:
