[Air-l] turnitin issue

[burkx006 at umn.edu]

The ethical problem is not quite that simple.

Introna points out that the process by which Turnitin determines textual 
matches is unknown (the Turnitin matching algorithm is a trade secret). He 
suggests that the real problem is initiating, or not initiation, 
investigations of students based upon a methodology that is not transparent 
and unavailable for inspection.

DLB

On Mar 8 2007, Marj Kibby wrote:

>There is no assumption of guilt 
>
> Students are required to submit to Turnitin to check that their 
> referencing is accurate. In the same way that they are expected to use 
> spelling and grammar checks.
>
> Turnitin reports are not accessed by staff unless there is reasonable 
> cause to suspect that the work is plagiarised, and Turnitin reports 
> cannot be used as the sole evidence of plagiarism
>
>Marj
>
>
>
>
>Dr Marjorie Kibby, 
>Senior Lecturer in Communication & Culture
>Faculty of Education and Arts
>The University of Newcastle,  Callaghan NSW 2308 Australia
>Marj.Kibby at newcastle.edu.au
>+61 2 49216604
>>>> Rosanna Tarsiero <rosanna at gionnethics.com> 03/09/07 10:57 AM >>>
>As a student myself (and online instructor), I never plagiarized a paper,
>and I do know that there are persons that do.
>
>However, the assumption that students need to prove innocent (rather than
>innocence unless otherwise proven) bothers me a great deal.
>
>I would refuse both submitting a paper to turnitin AND doing supplemental
>work. In all honesty, I do hope that some student sooner or later ends up
>suing colleges. Assuming people to be guilty unless otherwise proven
>violates quite a number of human rights.
>
>Rosanna Tarsiero
> 
>"Circumstances do not make a man, they reveal him."
>
>--James Allen 
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
>[mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Mark Warschauer
>Sent: venerdì 9 marzo 2007 0.50
>To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
>Subject: Re: [Air-l] turnitin issue
>
>I know of no precedent or case law, but this is an issue that is 
>taken seriously here at UC Irvine. Students are usually given the 
>permission to opt out of submitting their papers through 
>Turnitin.com, but professors then require any students who opt out to 
>complete one or more alternate assignments to demonstrate their 
>papers were not plagiarized (and those alternatives can be quite 
>onerous).  See examples at 
>http://eee.uci.edu/faculty/ccopenha/39b-student/turnitin.students.htm
>
>Mark Warschauer
>
>>Dear AOIRers,
>>
>>A colleague teaching another course has come across an issue with an
>>undergrad who refuses to hand in her term paper because the faculty
>>member's course requires that all papers also be submitted to
>>Turnitin.com.
>>
>>The student claims that this violates her own intellectual property
>>because Turnitin reportedly keeps copies for future plagiarism searches.
>>
>>As a supposed ICT & society "expert," my colleague came to me for advice.
>>My first thought was horsefeathers.
>>
>>However, I am wondering if there is any precedent or case law on this in
>>Canada or the US. (EU would be too different, I think.)
>>
>>I am not interested in the ethics or the morality of Turnitin, but in how
>>other situations have been resolved.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>  Barry Wellman
>>  _____________________________________________________________________
>>
>>   Barry Wellman   S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology   NetLab Director
>>   Centre for Urban & Community Studies          University of Toronto
>>   455 Spadina Avenue    Toronto Canada M5S 2G8    fax:+1-416-978-7162
>>   wellman at chass.utoronto.ca  http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman
>>         for fun: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
>>  _____________________________________________________________________
>>
>>
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-- 
Dan L. Burk
Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly Professor
University of Minnesota Law School
229 19th Avenue South
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