In this case, we consider how a similarity detector can help prevent plagiarism and motivate students to learn proper paraphrasing and citing. The T.A. Marryshow Community College expects students to do research work incorporating various resources, and the plagiarism checker is a tool to teach them to process information without direct copying.
T. A. Marryshow Community College, Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique
The T.A. Marryshow Community College is a publicly funded institution aiming to provide tertiary-level training in the tri-island state of Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique. The institution was established by the Government of Grenada in 1988. It includes three Schools: The School of Arts, Sciences and Professional Studies, The School of Applied Arts and Technology, and The School of Continuing Education. “Taking you from where you are to where you want to go” is the college’s motto and mission.
Challenge
The T.A. Marryshow Community College encourages students to craft papers and essays where they use their own language and writing styles to put their research together. “Students are asked to cite the sources of information whenever they write essays. They may use quotations directly for a source or paraphrase, but they must cite their sources. The college disapproves strongly of plagiarism,” shares Dr. Philomena Cato, Associate Dean of the School for Continuing Education.
“The use of AI websites to develop papers has been an issue for college students and faculty. Students would rather have AI write their paper. Our college is challenged with keeping the students on track in their learning by deterring plagiarism. This software is an excellent tool in the battle against plagiarism.”
Part of the college’s curriculum includes studies on how to incorporate ideas from other authors into their papers and avoid plagiarism. So, the teachers required a reliable tool to detect copying in the students’ works and to empower the learners with a way to check their writing before submission.
“I teach English courses. The students are required to write various essays. They are also required to do research and develop documents based on that research. Although plagiarism is taught in the classroom, students will still plagiarize content. This can make it difficult for proper assessment. The plagiarism detection software allows faculty to be better informed of plagiarized content and see exactly where this information is retrieved,” says Dr. Philomena Cato.
Solution
T.A. Marryshow Community College opted for PlagiarismCheck.org due to its “seamless” integration with Moodle, the school’s Learning Management System. Another bonus that impacted the decision was free training for the faculty provided by the PlagiarismCheck.org team.
“It was able to be applied to the [learning management] system within minutes of final purchase, and their availability and willingness to provide training was an added bonus to us. Allowing our lecturers to request and receive training whenever needed [was the reason to choose PlagiarismCheck.org].”
As a result, Dr. Cato sees a reduced number of plagiarised assignments in English classes. The teacher admits that the detector motivates students to strive for originality, learn to cite the sources, and reflect on the information they get from the sources.
“The software acts as a deterrent. My students are less likely to plagiarize their English assignments. The content they submit is better cited, and they are learning how to summarize in their own words.”
Moreover, the tool assists the teachers with the assessment of the assignment. “PlagiarismCheck helps me meet my goals of figuring out how much of an essay is plagiarised. It makes it easier for me to figure out if a student has written an original piece of work or if AI was used to generate that work.“
Dr. Philomena Cato names the similarity report with links to the sources among the product’s most valuable features. College teachers also note that the AI detector helps them make final decisions when grading assignments.
“I like the ability to see the score provided on the document. It lets me and the student know the similarity score for the document. This gives the student the knowledge and allows them to not submit plagiarized content. The AI score and the links to the documents associated with the plagiarized content has been really helpful with grading.”
The educator believes that using a plagiarism-checking tool helps teach proper citing. “As a lecturer, I can take the necessary steps if the piece has not been cited. Finding that source of the alleged plagiarised piece is most valuable to me.”
Altogether, PlagiarismCheck.org helps the college pursue all of its goals: students are encouraged to work with the sources and cite them correctly, and teachers can catch plagiarism and discuss the originality issues with the students based on the similarity report.
