[CALIBK12] Hit:plagiarism detection

Mon May 19 20:30:18 PDT 2008

Excuse the cross-post from LM_NET:

Re: www.plagiarismdetect.com

Here are the results of my own test:

My test subject was "Global Warming."

I copied text directly from one of our most popular databases, SIRS, and
the program detected no plagiarism.
I copied from an EPA site and it found every passage I copied, and
listed other sites that had that exact text, too. I'm assuming they
plagiarized from EPA, too!

I copied the same text from the EPA site and changed a few key words in
every sentence. The site detected no plagiarism.

Which brings me to my worry about such sites:

If we focus on catching transgressions first, what we're teaching is
that to avoid plagiarism, you need to copy from a database or change
every fourth word from the original.

Rather than relying on turnitin.com or some other site, here's what I
advocate:

1) Create assignments that make it difficult to plagiarize. If students
gather information as one step and analyze, synthesize, evaluate
(remember Bloom?) in another step, that second step can ask them to
produce a product that can't be found in original content on the web (or
anywhere else). Ask a question that prompts students to gather
information, then ask them a second question when they have the
information in hand (How would you explain global warming to a 9
year-old? Rate the 5 top contributors to global warming in terms of the
seriousness of each as a threat to the earth. Justify your explanations.
How would Thomas Jefferson's approach to global warming be different
from Alexander Hamilton's?)

2) Know your students. 
	a)If you suspect them of plagiarism, this becomes a learning
opportunity. Rather than finding the original source to "catch" them,
have them show you the sources they used. Then ask how they derived the
information they used from the sources they say they relied on.
Conversation ensues about citing all sources, proper attribution of
quotes, etc.
	b)Pull out previous samples of their work and have them explain
to you how, if they didn't copy and paste from elsewhere, their syntax
and vocabulary changed so dramatically from one paper to the next.
	c) Question students on the meaning of key passages you suspect
they may not understand.  Ask them how they could write something and
not be able to explain it just a few days later.

The lesson here is that, unlike plagiarism detecting software, teachers
are actually much more sophisticated in their evaluations of text, and
it's pretty hard to fool them. 

3) In a digital age, have students COPY AND PASTE the original passages
into their notes, then have them paraphrase those passages in an
adjacent column. Anything that winds up in the paper originates from
those notes. Then their paraphrasing becomes transparent. I have found
this very useful in knowing how to intervene. Sometimes students have a
hard time just finding appropriate information, while other times they
have a hard time putting it in their own words. Looking at this kind of
note-taking really helps trouble shoot where the difficulties lie.

Doug Achterman
Library Media Teacher
San Benito High School
1220 Monterey St.
Hollister, CA  95023
(831)637-5831 ext. 181
dachterman at sbhsd.k12.ca.us
http://www.sbhsd.k12.ca.us/sbhslib/library.htm
********************************************************
School libraries raise student achievement.

-----Original Message-----
From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu
[mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Spielman, Kathy
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 7:40 AM
To: CALIB (E-mail)
Subject: [CALIBK12] Hit:plagiarism detection

I promised a hit on this link. 

http://www.plagiarismdetect.com

Here are the replies I received in relation to the plagiarism detection
link that many of you asked for.

Hit:

One of the teachers in my school loves it.  He said it was
very efficient.

Looks like a hoax to me.

3-4 read almost exactly like this:
Wow, I'd really like to know too.  We pay for
Turnitin.com, but still have students turn in
plagiarized papers.  Maybe this could help them
self-check for "accidental plagiarism."  I have
forwarded the address to our English Department chair
to see what she thinks.

Our high school subscribes to Turnitin. Most of our teachers discovered
this link a few months ago. The teachers that use it, seem to like it.
They were used to googling everything.

Beats the heck out of googling for hours and hours.

HMMMM, I will sure check it out.

Made originally for students to use prior to turning in a paper.
Teachers love this!

Kathy

Kathy Spielman 
Middle School Library/Media Technician 
Yorba Linda Middle School 
4777 Casa Loma Ave. 
Yorba Linda, CA 92886 
714-528-7090 ext. 7062 
kspielman at pylusd.org 
"...if we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of
tomorrow." - John Dewey

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