This week’s learning resources discusses that plagiarism is evident in adult learners taking online course (Jocoy & DiBiase, ). The reason for this plagiarism is that most students don’t know and aren’t familiar with the types of plagiarism, the most common today being copy and paste. Just a as it is easy for students to do this, it is also easy for instructors to discover plagiarism. Plagiarism software that are available to instructors and institutions are Turnitin, EVE (Essay Verification Engine), Duplichecker, and Plagiarism- Dector.
In the video Plagiarism and Cheating, Pallof and Pratt state that testing is ineffective in an online learning environment. Instructors should instead design assessments to test the knowledge and skills learned in the course. They also endorse “collaboration” during exams. At first when I heard this I was shocked. It was and still is pretty much unheard of to talk to your classmates during a test let alone to ask about question that is on the exam. But after Dr. Pratt explained his logic, it made a little more sense. People collaborate and share information in the real world and work place all the time. If this is the case the no business idea or strategy that is used is original. Pallof and Pratt rational is that this prepares their students for jobs/careers in the real world.
As a future online instructor, I like the idea of educating and quizzing students on plagiarism and the academic integrity policy of the institution. I agree with the learning resources this week that although this method will not wipe out plagiarism totally, it will at least help to cut down on it and help students to recognize plagiarism in their own work before they turn it in.
Resources
Jocoy, C., & DiBiase, D. (2006). Plagiarism by adult learners online: A case study in detection and remediation. International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 7(1), 1-15. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.
Palloff, R. and Pratt, K.(2011). Plagiarism and Cheating [Video]. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn? .
It is interesting to suggest collaboration during a test. The point of not being able to use outside resources is to test your knowledge, however, it also makes sense in the real world these resources are available to you, so why not use them now?
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Yolanda,
ReplyDeleteI agree that making sure that students know how to properly cite their sources is a one measure of plagiarism prevention. However, course design is a much more effective mechanism.
It really starts with course objectives and intended outcomes of the course. Students should not be able to Google the answers to an assessment.
Stephen