Turnitin
NEW: A vision for education and skills at Newcastle University: Education for Life 2030+
Turnitin
Turnitin Feedback Studio is a software program which allows electronic submission of assignments, similarity checking, and online marking and grading.
The similarity check searches a huge database of journals, past student work and much of the internet to find strings of text which match with a piece of student work. When a student submits a piece of work to Turnitin a report showing these matches is produced. This can then be assessed to see if the matches are common phrases, correctly referenced, or not correctly referenced and require follow-up with the student.
Turnitin and Plagiarism
Turnitin does not "find" plagiarism. It is necessary for someone to look at the report and make a judgement about the information provided by Turnitin. It can be an important check to ensure students are not submitting work previously submitted by another student.
The Student Progress Service publishes information on Academic Misconduct. Visit the plagiarism page for more general information on plagiarism.
Turnitin and AI
Turnitin have recently released an AI writing detection tool that claims to show how much of a submitted document has been AI generated. However, like many other institutions in the sector, Newcastle University have switched this off by default. There are numerous concerns surrounding the tool's efficacy, impact on academic integrity standards, and the lack of testing time prior to release.
Marking Assessment Online
Turnitin Feedback Studio enables you to mark assignments online. Libraries of assignment feedback can be created and added to students' work alongside free-form comments. Marking criteria can be integrated into the software providing a clear indication of how a student has done on each strand of the rubric.
'Turnitin Feedback Studio allows us to provide more consistent feedback through the use of comment libraries, which is beneficial when there are multiple markers. We can provide students with feedback that is linked to the marking criteria, allowing them to determine what they have done well and continue to do, and what they can improve on. Students value the rubric to understand why they have received a specific mark, and report an increased perception of fairness and transparency. Students like that they get more detailed and more positive feedback.' - Dr Alison Graham and Dr Sara Marsham, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences.
LTDS provide the pedagogic and administrative support for Turnitin. If you want to make use of this software as part of your strategy to improve academic practice and reduce plagiarism or if you are interested in learning more about Turnitin, please contact us at ltds@ncl.ac.uk.
The new Canvas assignment can include a Turnitin similarity check and allows for more complex marking workflows.
Students value the rubric to understand why they have received a specific mark, and report an increased perception of fairness and transparency. Students like that they get more detailed and more positive feedback.
