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Turnitin aids students by cutting risks of plagiarism

September 5, 2012

It is scary to imagine being kicked out of school for not citing a source properly, but a new feature on ANGEL could alter the number of students accused of plagiarism depending on how professors choose to use the tool.

This semester is the first time software will be available campuswide to all MSU professors, but the site has been used in Lyman Briggs College for more than a year.

Turnitin is an online tool used by professors that allows students to upload their written work.
The software marks areas in the essay that match material in another published article, website or document in the Turnitin database.

Today, officials from Turnitin will hold two sessions, one starting at 10 a.m. and another starting at 1:30 p.m., in the Main Library, to train professors on the software.

Julie Lindquist, director of the first-year writing program in MSU’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures, said she has heard of professors using Turnitin differently.

“Some people see it as something to catch students doing something wrong, (and) that seems like the least useful way to use it,” Lindquist said. “Others integrate it into their teaching, and I think that’s the more useful way to use it.”

Lindquist said her department takes issues of plagiarism very seriously.

“From the department’s standpoint, students need to learn how to (cite properly), and teachers need to teach students how to do it,” she said.

Doug Estry, MSU’s associate provost for undergraduate education and dean of undergraduate studies, said since the site was introduced in Lyman Briggs, he has seen fewer students run into problems with plagiarizing.

“In Lyman Briggs, they use it mainly to help students learn how to attribute credits for written work,” Estry said. “A big problem students have is understanding citation and attribution when they write.”

Estry said professors have told students to upload their papers to Turnitin to receive the report showing areas that need to be checked for possible plagiarism.

Students then make the proper changes before turning in a final copy to the professor, including the report.

Estry said Turnitin should be used to help students learn how to cite other works, rather than catch mistakes, because most cases of plagiarism are accidents.

“Unfortunately, some people use (Turnitin) as a way to catch students who are cheating,” Estry said. “(Turnitin) is just a more sophisticated way to detect work that has come from another source.”

Journalism junior Lizzy Dagres said she does not have a class this semester that uses Turnitin, but said it would be a great tool to help students.

“I never plagiarize, but I always worry,” Dagres said. “Most students who plagiarize don’t mean to, (so it would give them) a heads up.”

Turnitin also will be available on Desire2Learn, a new online learning system expected to be available this upcoming spring semester.

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