Tech Tips Newsletter - Plagiarism-Proofing Assignments and Assessments

Editor: Karen Franker
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Developing Plagiarism-Proof Assignments and Assessments

Explore how to deter plagiarism through the careful design of learning activities and assessments. Successful educators share their strategies for creating projects, research papers, and exams that emphasize higher-order thinking.

"…Rather than making assignments that can be easily plagiarized and then contriving methods for detecting or reducing copying, why not do a little work upfront to design projects that require original, thoughtful research?" ~ Doug Johnson
 

Don’t Police Plagiarism! Instead Design Assignments That Cannot Be Plagiarized 
Instructional designer Eric Tremblay describes six key “disincentives” for plagiarism such as: group work, peer review, a public wiki, and creative final projects.

A Positive Solution for Plagiarism 
Jeff Karon describes the strengths and weaknesses of common approaches to combating plagiarism, and shares a successful writing assignment that enlists students’ help in constructing a greater comprehension of plagiarism and academic honesty.

Addressing Academic Dishonesty in the Age of Ubiquitous Technology 
Berlin Fang describes six strategies to fight dishonesty including: preventive technology, design of assignments, training, and honor codes.

Deterring Plagiarism: Some Strategies 
Margaret Procter at the University of Toronto lists practical strategies to deter plagiarism in writing classes, including: making assignments an integral part of learning, demonstrating expectations, and examining the process as well as the product.

Designing Assessments That Prevent Plagiarism 
The University of Leeds resource page provides a list of strategies to reduce plagiarism, ranging from design of courses and assessments to informing students about what is acceptable.

Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers 
Robert Harris offers eight strategies for reducing plagiarism in research papers, including clear expectations, process checkpoints, and a meta-learning essay.

Tech Tip: Pastelink: Free Drag-and-Drop File-Sharing

Richard Byrne describes the advantage of using the free Pastelink service for drag-and-drop sharing of files—no account or email address needed.