Does Turnitin support the development of international students’ academic integrity?

ABSTRACT

Australian universities are grappling with the challenge of plagiarism among students, particularly international students, with a reliance on software such as Turnitin. Measuring plagiarism in this way has limitations, with consequences for the internalisation of academic integrity by international students. An appraisal of such software demonstrates how its purported aims may differ substantially from pragmatic applicability. While academics are reluctant to encourage student obsession with Turnitin similarity percentages to the detriment of genuine academic engagement, higher education providers increasingly view clear-cut metrics as attractive solutions to a deeply complex and widespread phenomenon. Teachers operating in a pathway program for international students raise serious questions about the effectiveness of Turnitin to achieve the desired pedagogical outcomes when they see students expending time and effort in mastering avoidance techniques while remaining immune to the essence of academic scholarly integrity. This paper addresses these concerns and presents alternative and/or complementary recommendations.

KEYWORDS:

• Plagiarism
• Turnitin
• international students
• pathway program
• academic integrity

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Dr Agnes Bosanquet and Dr Rod Lane for their helpful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. http://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/support/helps/daily-workshops/study-reading-skills Accessed 15 April 2016.

2. https://academicskills.anu.edu.au/Accessed 15 April 2016.

3. http://askuon.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/255/~/how-do-i-use-turnitin%3F Accessed 15 April 2016.