Understanding plagiarism from the student perspective: a longitudinal study

1. Understanding plagiarism from the student perspective: a longitudinal study Lucy Cave l.m.cave@aston.ac.uk http://www.beedictionary.com/blog/2010/11/meaning-and-usages-of-plagiarism/

2. Outline of the presentation • Aims of the study • Research problem – why am I doing this research? • Gaps in the literature • Longitudinal research design • Initial findings from the pilot study: student questionnaire and in-depth interviews

3. Project summary • The study aims to capture student perceptions of plagiarism, from first year of undergraduate study through to final year • The study focuses on the different student perceptions of plagiarism amongst students in the social sciences compared to students of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) • Using a combination of quantitative student questionnaires and qualitative semi-structured interviews, a longitudinal research design will capture different student perceptions

4. Gaps in the literature – a context • Students’ understanding of plagiarism is a complex issue and one that requires a ‘holistic approach’ (Macdonald and Carroll, 2006, p.233) • Students need to know HOW to avoid plagiarism, but they also need to know WHY in their own learning context • Isolated conceptual models for student plagiarism already exist e.g. Park (2003), we need to draw on different models to tackle plagiarism over time • Previous studies analyse students’ perceptions of plagiarism, my study will build on this work and follow students from first year through to final year

5. The research problem – why further study? • Student plagiarism can take on a number of forms which are subject-specific, HEIs are not necessarily providing the right support • Change in assessment by final year, often too late to solve the ‘problem’ • Develop policy which acknowledges one size does not fit all, but which recognises different learning contexts • Research questions: How does students’ understanding of ‘plagiarism’ vary by discipline area? How does their understanding change as they progress in their studies? How does their interpretation of plagiarism discourse vary?

6. Issues of epistemology and ontology • The study will explore different perceptions of plagiarism and different ways of interpreting the concept ; the sample will include students from different disciplines, backgrounds, nationalities etc. • The theoretical grounding will be based on the anti-positivist frame of reference (Cohen et al, 2007) • The study is based on the interpretive paradigm, where understandings of plagiarism are considered within the context of a subjective world of human experience (Dewey, 1937)

7. Implications and validity of research • Groundwork includes interviews with teaching staff, students (inside and outside UK) and administrative staff, analysis of cases of plagiarism, policy documentation on plagiarism and collusion and literature available to students • Pilot study completed with first year students at Aston University (2010-11): School of Engineering and Applied Science and School of Languages and Social Sciences • Pilot study includes administration of student questionnaire at two points in the academic year and individual follow-up interviews (inductive-deductive approach)

8. Preliminary findings from the pilot study - teaching period 1 (2010-11)

9. Preliminary findings from the pilot study - teaching period 2 (2010-11)

10. Aims of student questionnaire • How the study was presented to the students: ‘To gather ideas from the student perspective on different aspects of studying in Higher Education’ • To create a student profile to track over time, to recruit students to the in-depth interviews • Scope: preferred assessment, preferred source of information, approach to study, hours spent on different activities, respect for others, information on plagiarism, familiarity and definition of terminology (e.g. plagiarism, collusion), confidence, cheating behaviours

11. Student definitions of ‘cheating’ – Sociology

12. Student definitions of ‘plagiarism’ – Sociology

13. Little difference in defining concepts – Computer Science

14. Preliminary findings – 7 interviews • General themes which were included in the student questionnaire formed the basis of the topic guide. These themes were extended further to include further questions: • Student background: past educational experiences • Attitudes to assessment • What constitutes good scholarly practice? • What is plagiarism? What have you been told? • What are the reasons for plagiarism? • What information is there on avoiding plagiarism? • Is plagiarism a form of cheating? • What constitutes collusion? • Technology: attitudes towards plagiarism detection software • Awareness of plagiarism penalties

15. Emerging themes from interviews • Before University students are unsure as to WHY they should not plagiarise, “They touched on it very roughly, in a brief way, [...] but they wouldn’t really justify the reasons for it or how to do better” (Sociology and European Studies) • Students have a basic understanding about what plagiarism is, “using someone else’s words or even someone else’s work and putting it up as your own without taking the course” (as above)

16. Emerging themes from interviews • However, students are receiving conflicting advice on how they should reference in their work, particularly those studying Combined Honours degree programmes, “You get a lot of information about all the different ways you can reference and it becomes rather confusing at the end of the day. There’s no strict standard for referencing. In fact, in communication skills they started going on about Harvard referencing. In business management they talk about Harvard referencing, but for electronics and engineering they use footnote referencing with numbers. So that just chucked all the Harvard straight out the window ”(Electronic Engineering and Computer Science)

17. Emerging themes from interviews • Students claim not to have plagiarised but describe examples of their own behaviour which could be considered plagiarism “whenever I’m doing my research on something I write down all the things I can find from a certain book. But then I forget to actually mention the book in my notes itself” (Sociology and European Studies)

18. Emerging themes from interviews • Some students believe plagiarism is due to poor note-keeping, poor referencing, lack of confidence, lack of time, students think that someone else’s work is better than their own, “Time factor and others they might not feel confident in their own work and might use someone else’s work just to pass off, I don’t know, as more clever or something, […] most of the cases I think it might be unintentional” (Sociology and European Studies)

19. Emerging themes from interviews • Others think plagiarism is due to the poor attitude of the student, “ Laziness, probably. Laziness, maybe a little bit of … maybe they forget, maybe they put something in but they forgot. Maybe not ” (Electromechanical Engineering)

20. Year two – early indications • Students report increased workload, increase in use of sources for assessment • Even pro-active students more likely to admit ‘minor’ plagiarism • No further support on referencing and plagiarism received other than written feedback • Reasons for plagiarism include laziness but make distinction between intentional and unintentional plagiarism • Group work problematic (change in assessment)

21. Thank you. Any questions or comments? • References • Cohen, L., Manion, L., and Morrison, K. (2007). Research Methods in Education. Oxon: Routledge. Dewey, J. (1937). Logic – The Theory of Inquiry. New York: Holt. Macdonald, R. and Carroll, J. (2006). Plagiarism—a complex issue requiring a holistic institutional approach, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31:2, 233—245 • Park, C. (2003). In Other (People’s) Words: plagiarism by university students – literature and lessons, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 28, 471-488 • Email: l.m.cave@aston.ac.uk