On-Line Plagiarism: Fighting the Good Fight

by Evelyn Beck

AS INTERNET RESEARCH becomes the norm and as the number of on-line courses proliferates, more and more faculty and administrators worry about plagiarism.

"We have had several cases of cheating involving on-line aspects of courses, including group sharing of quiz questions and answers and students copying others' homework submitted on-line," says Jeanne Wilson, director of student judicial affairs at the University of California, Davis, adding that the overall "upward trend" of reports of suspected plagiarism continues.

Given that plagiarism exists, how do faculty deter it? Some use proctored exams to keep students honest. Robert Harris, a retired professor of English at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California, and author of The Plagiarism Handbook: Strategies for Preventing, Detecting, and Dealing with Plagiarism (Pyrczak, 2001), says, "The recommendation that proctored exams add up to at least 30 percent of the course grade is often made. That way if someone else is doing the homework or writing the papers, then at least some of the accountability will come from the 'real' student."

Others make use of Web services that can track down cribbed sources. The Plagiarism Resource Center at the University of Virginia, for example, offers free software for detecting plagiarism at its Web site: plagiarism.phys.virginia.edu/. Some commercial services are TurnItIn (www.turnitin.com) and Plagiarism.com (www.plagiarism.com).

But a more convenient approach is to design assignments that make cheating nearly impossible. These include live oral "chat" tests in which you question each student on-line about course concepts. Or send out different versions of each test. And you can increase students' confidence levels--and suppress the feeling that they must cheat to pass--by providing plenty of opportunities for self-testing to let them know if they have mastered the course concepts; for these kinds of tests, use multiple choice, true-false, or matching so that students can easily grade themselves.

For research papers, provide a list of unusual assignment topics from which students can choose. Encourage original, critical thinking by asking students to try to answer unresolved questions such as "What is the best way to solve our current energy crisis?" or "Why has the U.S. been unable to defeat Saddam Hussein?" or "Which South American country would be most suitable to host the Summer Olympics?" Or provide a specific case study for analysis. Instead of simply gathering information, students must use what they learn to provide their own insight.

Other requirements might include an annotated bibliography or a particular documentation style. And for students with poor time-management skills who feel pressured to cheat because they run out of time, structure assignments in stages. It's also helpful to set a due date early in the semester, before students are overwhelmed with assignments for other classes.

Harris says that he creates a "recipe" for each assignment. One paper, for example, must include a table, photograph, or illustration; a personally conducted survey or interview; and eight sources, all within the last fifteen years and three within the last five years. In addition, all sources must be attached to the assignment.

Once a paper is turned in, ask students specific questions about their topic and purpose and how they conducted their research. You can also ask students to write an essay about what they learned from completing an assignment. Or if you prefer a less formal approach, require an on-line group discussion about an assignment or request an individual response about the assignment from each student via phone or e-mail. Another idea is to require multiple short assignments in lieu of one longer paper or test, making it more trouble for someone to cheat.

It can also help to make clear to students how to use information gathered on-line.

"It appears that many students do not know how to document properly their use of words, ideas, and other material downloaded from the Internet," says Wilson.

Help them make use of the technology without copying it by setting up their own database, which might include the source, subject, keywords, and abstract. But perhaps the best way to deter plagiarism in on-line classes is to get to know your students.

"Students are less likely to cheat if they have a relationship with a professor, if they know you by name and feel an allegiance," says Diane Warvold, executive director of The Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. "That's difficult in an on-line environment, where relationships are often limited, and the submission of work is anonymous. Those students are more likely to be tempted to take shortcuts."

She suggests finding a way to connect to students, such as using bulletin boards regularly, calling students occasionally, and requiring a written assignment from everyone at the start of the semester in order to become familiar with each student's writing.