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Avoiding Plagiarism : A new solution to an old problem?. Mark Tynan & Ursula Byrne, UCD Library. 4 th International Plagiarism Conference Wednesday 23 rd June 2010, Newcastle. Overview. UCD Library’s plagiarism initiatives Making it memorable – using Web 2.0, videos and images
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Avoiding Plagiarism: A new solution to an old problem? Mark Tynan & Ursula Byrne, UCD Library. 4th International Plagiarism Conference Wednesday 23rd June 2010, Newcastle
Overview • UCD Library’s plagiarism initiatives • Making it memorable – using Web 2.0, videos and images • The online plagiarism quiz • Marketing the quiz to academics
UCD Library initiatives for tackling the problems of plagiarism Developing our knowledge base Keeping up to date & relevant Using examples, videos, images, etc Web pages Standalone classes Worksheets Online tutorial
President Obama plagiarism videos – making the students think? • Patrick and ObamaJust words • Patrick and Obama Just words Part II
The practical side: We always teach students how to avoid plagiarism • Use correct referencing techniques • Provide correct referencing examples • Procedures for citing different material – books, websites, blogs, video clips, etc • Links to relevant web pages • If in doubt, always cite!
UCD Library Online Plagiarism quiz • Embedded in the Virtual Learning Environment Blackboard • 10 multiple choice questions on the concepts of plagiarism and correct citation practice • Piloted with the UCD School of Sociology in 2008 • Quiz completed by first and second year Sociology students • Quiz linked to submission of first assignments of year
The quiz has ten generic questions – adaptable depending on discipline • What plagiarism is • Basic citation practice • Common knowledge • Paraphrasing • Direct quotations • Citing a secondary source • Citing the Internet • Compiling a bibliography
Some of the questions…Question on correct citation practice • You see some statistics in a magazine that are relevant to a report you are writing. Because there is no author cited, it is acceptable for you to use the statistics for your assignment and not include the source in your references. • A. True • B. False
Question on citing a secondary source You find an article summarising, for example, a theory associated with the famous economist John Maynard Keynes. As you cannot think of a better way of summarising the manifesto yourself, it is ok, in this instance, to use this summary without referring to the secondary source author in your assignment. A. True B. False
Results of the pilot • 86% of 520 registered first-year Sociology students completed the plagiarism quiz • 98% of 120 registered second-year Sociology students completed the quiz • Students averaged 3 attempts to get a 100% mark • Incidents of plagiarism fell from 10% to 1%
Marketing the quiz with academics • A virtual way of raising awareness about the ethical use of information and • assessing students’ knowledge of the issues of plagiarism • Bank of questions easily adapted to their discipline • Quiz available in English, Irish and Chinese • Conveniently located in their virtual learning environment • Ability to monitor statistics
Finally… What about all those students not doing the quiz? What about Erasmus and JYA students only here for a semester, or one academic year? When should students take the quiz ? Every module Core modules For one year only For each year of their academic career? How to deal with the different types of students
The problem is not going to go away by itself -…(from http://www.cagle.com/working/080624/fairrington.jpg accessed 20th May 2010)