2nd Asia-Pacific Educational Integrity Conference
Abstract
Staff and student reactions to a trial of electronic text matching software
David Green, Iris Lindemann, Kelly Marshall, Grette Wilkinson - Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
At Flinders University, the Academic Integrity Management Strategy (AIMS) was developed to promote academic integrity within the University. The AIMS project has four components: increasing staff awareness of their responsibilities in promoting academic integrity; educating students about academic integrity; reviewing existing University policy; and trialling electronic plagiarism detection methods. Addressing this final aspect, a limited, multi-departmental trial of Turnitin, an Internet-based text-matching program, was implemented. The software was used in a number of ways across various topics, however in each, an educative approach was taken, rather than a punitive one. In order to gauge the reactions of students, academic and support staff to the use of the software, a comprehensive evaluation consisting of pre- and post-trial surveys, focus groups and interviews, was conducted. Findings indicated different groups of students responded differently to the use of the software, in terms of their anxiety levels in using Turnitin, and their willingness to have the University use the software. Most notably, Law students’ and non-English speaking background (NESB) students’ responses were different to the rest of the sample. Students also raised a number of concerns about the use of Turnitin. Staff members were generally positive about using the software, provided they could use it in a way they felt was appropriate. Like the students, academic staff also expressed a number of concerns. The implications of these findings will be discussed.Keywords: academic integrity; cross-cultural; electronic detection; evaluation; student perceptions
