8-ASSES-Plagiarisme

Assessment > Plagiarism

Things to consider

Plagiarism can be described as use or imitation of the language and ideas of another person and the representation of these as one's own original work. Plagiarism, and cheating, occur in traditional face-to-face classes, but the risk is possibly larger when teaching and learning online. Students may feel it is easier to cheat in an online environment as they are often well acquainted with the internet and its potential. You thus need to be aware of possible ways to prevent plagiarism. Note that the guidelines and tips below are specifically for tutor-supported courses.

- Think of the different ways students might be able to cheat in your course. Try to develop and implement mechanisms (see below for examples) that make it possible for you to prevent and detect plagiarism and difficult or unappealing for your students to cheat.

- Make it clear from the start of your course that plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated, that there are procedures and mechanisms in place to detect plagiarism and that cheating will be penalised. Draw your students’ attention to a study guide that sets out your rules, or email them at the beginning of term with a warning. You can also suggest further readings or even an online course organised by your institution in which students can develop a sense of the concept of plagiarism in online courses. Often, students are not aware that they are actually plagiarising and they need an explanation of what plagiarism is and how to avoid it in an online course.

- When trying to detect plagiarism, various software and websites, for example Turnitin, exist to scan papers and essays, but these may not be very appropriate or useful for language courses. In the case of the assessed online courses Hogelands and Reading Skills Course in Business Dutch, students are made aware from the start of the course that in case plagiarism is suspected in their assessed written work, they will need to participate in a video conference with the tutor during which follow-up questions will be asked on their written work to determine its ownership.

- Another way to prevent plagiarism, which is also used in face-to-face teaching, is to become familiar with your students’ writing and speaking abilities and style, especially in the foreign language. Online language learning tends to attract small student groups and will allow you to build up a picture of each student. When a student realises this, he or she will be less likely to send in assignments or answers that are not consistent with his or her usual way of writing, or worse, to ask a friend or fellow student to participate in an online oral exam. It is for that reason also a good idea to not base your assessment methods on multiple-choice, true/false, and matching questions, etc. because they make it easier for students to copy.

- Unscheduled online tests, with or without a time limit, may be another way of preventing plagiarism, but are very difficult to organise in fully online courses when students may be in different time zones or have other commitments such as work or family. This is also the reason why fully online exams are not easy to organise. In a blended learning context, tests and exams may be taken in a classroom.

- Another method, also used in face-to-face courses, to deter your students from cheating during assessed course work is to make them sign a submission form in which they need to clearly state that the work is their own (and that it was done unaided), that all sources used in its preparation and all quotations are clearly cited. Students will think twice about signing a form in which they are openly cheating.

Examples:
Assessment procedures as described in Business Dutch, Hogelands