Detecting and Deterring Plagiarism in Social Work Students: Implications for Learning for Practice

Abstract

This paper draws on literature and on a recent workshop run for social work educators to outline important considerations in detecting and deterring plagiarism. Plagiarism, greatly facilitated by the use of the Internet, is increasing among students in higher education and there is evidence to suggest that students on social work courses are no less likely to plagiarise than other students. This paper addresses the importance of detecting plagiarism in students who will go on to work in professional practice but, importantly, highlights the importance of deterring plagiarism in order to maximise students' learning, thus enabling their fitness for practice. Conclusions are drawn for learning, teaching and assessment strategies.

Keywords:

• Plagiarism
• Social Work Students
• Learning for Practice

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to SWAP for funding this workshop, to the facilitator for leading it and to the participants for their enthusiasm and their contributions. The comments of two anonymous reviewers have been helpful in enabling me to clarify issues in the paper. All websites given in the paper were correct at 9 April 2008.