Teaching resources
The University aims to develop its students into upstanding members of their academic and professional disciplines. Involved in this is the development of individual academic integrity. This is an aspect of student education that needs to be specifically included and valued within degree programmes.
The resources and strategies on this page are suggested as examples that can be adapted and utilised to develop student understanding and skills and so hopefully reduce the associated problems of plagiarism.
There are a number of examples offered:
- Presentation slides
- The plagiarism game
- Using TurnitinUK as a teaching aid
- Plagiarism web quest
- Plagiarism quiz
- Plagiarism and referencing fact sheets
- Academic integrity guidelines
- Using literature guide (from a positive perspective)
Staff ideas, comments & feedback:
- If you have used any of the resources or strategies below, or any others you have developed, then you may wish to share your experiences with other staff by taking part in this plagiarism teaching resource poll.
- If you wish to view the comments of other staff then view the plagiarism teaching resource poll results.
1. Presentation slides
A presentation providing a brief overview academic integrity, plagiarism, its detection and the related penalties, and good practice (e.g. referencing) is a valuable inclusion in student induction.
NB - a single isolated presentation in student induction will not be sufficient to tackle these serious issues. Instead this presentation should form part of a wider strategy that also includes related activities, use of the detection system, tutorial/seminars that focus on developing some of the related skills etc.
- Example MS Powerpoint slides (PPT) (20 mins approximate duration)
- Example MS Powerpoint slides including PRS electronic voting activities (PPT) (60 minute duration - used with Computing Postgraduate students Sept. 2005) - a description of the use of this presentation is available on the electronic voting web site.
2. Plagiarism game
A team game which develops an understanding of what plagiarism is through active participation and discussion. Ideal as an ice-breaker in a student induction programme.
This game is based on an idea presented by Jude Carroll (Oxford Brookes) developed and applied at Leeds by Nina Bunes (LUBS) and Clare Wiggins (Law). It involves groups of students (or staff) sorting a set of predefined statements (written on separate cards) describing different sorts of academic practice into:
- Plagiarism
- Poor practice (but not plagiarism)
- Good practice
- Other
More detailed instructions and the statements used by the Law School (DOC) (opens in a new browser window).
NB - you may wish to customise this game by including different statements and/or categories.
3. Using TurnitinUK as a teaching aid
As mentioned on the detection page, the TurnitinUK detection service allows students to submit their own assignments and see their own originality reports, when and only when, the course instructor allows them to do this. This can form part of an activity to deepen understanding of what constitutues plagiarism but also to look at developing and improving writing style.
Suggested approach (you may wish to consider attending related SDDU training before attempting this approach):
- Register as an instructor on TurnitinUK (how to register).
- Set up a class and assignment on the system.
- Instruct the students to register as users on the system or register them via the student upload tool.
- Provide the students with the class ID and enrolment password and submission instructions.
- The students then log-in to TurnitinUK and enrol in the class and submit their draft digital assignments.
- After a short period the students (and the instructor) will be able to view an originality report based on their submission.
- In small group or individual tutorials, discuss with each student their originality report and its implications for plagiarism, use of referencing, writing style etc.
- Set up a revision assignment on TurnitinUK.
- Students rework their draft assignments and submit a revised version to TurnitinUK.
- The instructor and the students can now view the new originality reports and the assignment is marked.
NB - it is not recommended to allow students to repeatedly upload assignments and view originality reports in this manner. Instead the focus should be on developing the skills and practices of the students so that they are able to evaluate their own work without relying on the detection system.
4. Plagiarism web quest
An activity for a group of students to develop an understanding of plagiarism related issues with a greater emphasis on the procedures involved in identifying and penalising a student in an example case.
Web quest activity created by Elaine Stoll (Eastern Lebanon County High School)
5. Plagiarism quiz
An on-line self assessment quiz that develops an understanding of plagiarism and referencing skills. If students get a "pass" mark at the end of the quiz they are presented with a customised on-screen certificate of success which they are invited to print out. This can be used as evidence of successful participation in the activity.
Take the plagiarism quiz (opens in a new browser window). You will be asked for your name and group before beginning the quiz. This information is recorded in the assessment database with your results and is used in the final certificate.
6. Plagiarism and referencing fact sheets
The University of Alberta has created a set of concise one-page handouts for its students which cover issues related to plagiarism (University of Alberta fact sheets). This concept has been taken up by the School of Law at Leeds to create their own fact sheets to be distributed to students (links below open MS word documents):
- 10 tips to avoid plagiarism (DOC)
- Paraphrasing (DOC)
- To quote or not to quote (DOC) - common knowledge
NB minor amendments will be needed if these fact sheets are to be used in other disciplines.
7. Academic Integrity guidelines
The School of Geography has developed an on-line guide for students covering academic integrity with an associated quiz. This is hosted within Nathan Bodington, but is accessible to all staff and students.
The examples presented are specific to geography, but the issues covered are generic.
Go to the academic integrity resource (you will need to log-in to Nathan Bodington to access this resource).
8. Using literature guide
A guide produced by Gregory Marsden (Institute for Transport Studies) to give advice to postgraduate students on using literature in their dissertations. This focuses both on the positive aspects of why and how literature should be used, as well as good and bad practice and includes activities for students to consider and complete. This guide is used as part of a discussion group.
Gregory has given permission for this guide to be adapted and reused.
View the using literature guide (you will need to log-in to Nathan Bodington to access this resource).
