[Air-l] turnitin issue

[Andrew Russell]

On Mar 8, 2007, at 6:37 PM, Barry Wellman wrote:

> 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.


> I am not interested in the ethics or the morality of Turnitin, but  
> in how
> other situations have been resolved.

I can't speak from experience with Turnitin - but I'll jump in the  
speculation :-)

I see 2 possibilities -

<a> your colleague has a very sophisticated student on his/her  
hands.  I have never come across an undergrad who conceives of his or  
her own work as "intellectual property" - especially if it's just a  
term paper.  Perhaps they are doing truly extraordinary work, and  
should be starting a business and making millions instead of writing  
term papers.

<b> the student in question is either irritated by the Turnitin  
requirement, or perhaps not finished with said term paper.  In the  
process of irritation/procrastination, the student decided to search  
on the web for tips on how to argue with professors about Turnitin,  
and discovered the "IP loophole."

My money is on <b>, but I'm interested to hear how the situation is  
resolved.  A real cliffhanger!

Andy