The Growing Backlash Against Automated Cheating Detectors
from the but-for-a-good-reason dept
It's been nearly four years since we wrote about students and parents being upset that online services that check student homework for plagiarism were also uploading and storing a copy of every paper they checked. It got to the point, earlier this year, that at least one university banned the use of Turnitin, one of the most popular services in this field. It seems that the student rebellion against such tools is growing, as many more students are questioning the legality of such tools, and asking their schools to stop using them. They're not just upset about the uploads, but about the assumption of guilt. While there clearly is plenty of plagiarism to go around, that doesn't mean this is the right solution to it. It's often easy to just throw technology at a problem, but it's worth recognizing that doing so always raises unexpected issues -- and those issues may not be technological on their own, but legal and cultural issues. It seems like many of the schools who jumped on the Turnitin bandwagon didn't spend much time thinking about those additional consequences, and are now facing student anger because of it.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Also, it's good to see the often exuberant pro-technology attitude often exhibited here tempered by a story like this. If society doesn't carefully evaluate when technology is appropriate and when it isn't we are liable to enter another anti-technology backlash similar to the one seen a few decades ago in the US. Environmentalism and other movements placed all blame for any problem they percieved squarely on the shoulders of technology, and were believed by the masses.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Broken Link?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Solution
And so the right solution is...
To me it's pretty obvious that this is along the lines of "it's not the money, it's the principle of the thing!" When in fact it's usually about the money.
Why is it okay for a web company like Google to cache content, but wrong for another service to do so?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
secrecy breeds corruption
But regardless, this has nothing to do with the ethics or legality of the service and everything to do with spoiled students complaining about not being able to game the system. Many people I knew in college basically cheated their way through school and are working in well paying jobs today on the basis of their results. I've had discussions with college tutors that freely admit to writing student papers, as if it is a perfectly acceptable practice. Colleges are under pressure to pass high fee paying students regardless of their academic performance. The higher education system is wholly corrupt and needs greater transparency.
Seriously, if colleges could prevent cheating most students would never graduate. It's sad that hard work and honesty seem like anachronistic concepts today.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: secrecy breeds corruption
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: secrecy breeds corruption
I wish they would prevent cheating. I'm sick of morons getting the same degree as me without having learned anything or been able to pass the tests themselves. They should have failed. If they got a job based on their results, they should be fired. Period.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
hard work and honesty seem like anachronistic conc
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: hard work and honesty seem like anachronistic
You don't know what you're talking about. The teachers don't use the tool to GRADE or evaluate the quality of the paper, simply to check if it is actually the work of the student handing it in, or instead, based on someone else's work. I agree, however, that a much better level of transparency, would be to simply allow students to CHECK their paper the same way the teacher would, except perhaps without access to any detailed reporting. This, in my opinion is important for false-positives if nothing else.
Why teachers, who only should be checking papers on merit, should somehow be expected to be omnitient, and cheating students be rewarded for the obscurity of their theft, is beyond me. The Google comparison is VERY approriate. WHY this is an issue is simply because students don't want to get caught. Oh, heavens... what a SHOCKER!
Assertions that without "cheating" many students wouldn't graduate has GOT to be the most ridiculous excuse I've ever heard. Sorry.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: hard work and honesty seem like anachronis
"
Oh My!! With Google, you get something in return for your "allowing" your content to be cached, searched, and ("retrieved"??). Your argument is totally baseless.... With Google, the content author receives a return - their website is indexed and a person searches for a subject and Voila!! You now have a new website visitor to your site because someone could FIND YOU!! Additionally Google does not sell the search services of the content, only advertising to be displayed with the content. Of course if Turnitin is allowed to continue in this fallopy, then Google should be able to start charging you to use their search engine to access the cached subject material - how would that work for you?
As far as libraries cataloging books... Well Google and many other enterprises do the same thing as well, in an effort to SELL THE BOOK so that the AUTHOR GETS MONEY - AS IN ROYALTIES!! As for the library specifically, well it is research and though you can "check out" material for FREE, you are still NOT BEING CHARGED for that material - only if you fail to return it. There is also a digital license agreement that most libraries enter into with the authors or publishers (who usually hold the copyright - sometimes in conjunction with the author) in order to legally distribute this material electronically. And that intent is to encourage someone to actually purchase the book if they find it useful, if not, the author and publisher get the recognition afforded by the temporary electronic distribution in hopes that other works by said author or publisher might be purchased by that consumer or their friends, co-workers or family!!
So you see, there really is no comparison at all in your comment equating turnitin to a library, google or other authorized use - cleverboy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
how is it different
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: how is it different
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: how is it different
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: how is it different
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
And complaining students isn't really news. Doesn't matter what it is, students will complain. Color of the light builb used in a fixture, how a professor does his/her hair, the way the night jantor puts trash in the trash can - these are all just a few things that studens like to complain about. This is just one more thing to direct their attention from learning.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Sure, learning can come from complaints, but most students don't know the difference between something that is really important, and something that is really silly - such as the color of the light bulb in the fixture. If you think that is a joke, then you haven't been in education for very long. IF you are in education at all.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
In actuality, a suit could be made, and would have a decent chance of winning if done properly.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Let the whining begin about this, but if you can't be bothered to read the doc's, don't sign up.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Uhh... "in actuality", such a suit would NOT have a decent chance of winning. You see, the suit would be brought up under copyright law, not IP.
We have this little thing called "fair use". As an exercise to the reader, you are to read up on fair use and apply the four litmus tests to this case. See which one of the four tests fails.
Aight?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
interesting
If the teacher assigns homework and requires it turned in, isn' t the teacher free to do what she wants with it as long as she's not profiting or re distributing?
How does copyright law cover schoolwork? Assumption of guilt is one thing, but being mad about it storing a copy is another. Nobody complains that the results of one's ACT tests are stored... what's the difference between that and storing a paper?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: interesting
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
bashing the students
Duh.. not everything is open to the public. There is such a thing as privacy.
When the system cranks out a false positive and the student has no recourse, to whom does the student complain? The Internet? Or are you all using the computers in Maryland that don't fail?
Last time I checked, in the country there is a presumption of innocense. If you prefer the presumption of guilt then move to Mexico and see how you like their system.
Not everything in this world is about someone's convenience. Sometimes it's about rights, or privacy or simply not being subject to a potentially falutly and unmonitored technology system.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: bashing the students
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
not a huge deal
Basically, if it isn't something you want shared, why did you put it in a paper in the first place? Professors will read it, perhaps share it with colleagues, someone might randomly pick it up...technology may make connections that much faster, but they didn't create the situation of papers not being confidential.
Also, quite frankly, I want my profs to concentrate on grading my paper not on trying to find plagarism by googling every student's paper. It's fast; it's easy for students to use.
Plus, the cache isn't public (though AOL famously showed that caches can become so accidentally), and I don't see turnitin making it so--it doesn't make business sense. Basically, what's the big deal?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
If it is written it is copyrightable
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Amazing
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
If illegal, change the law
When Google caches library books so that people can find books easier, this is actally a service to the community and should not be illegal. Turnitin provides a service also and shouldn't be discounted because some want to exploit a loophole in copyright law for their own benefit. As a society we should think about changing the law to allow for finding and comparing publications. Think outside the box instead of viewing current law as inherently just.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
tempest in a teacup
my nephew tells me to relax..if i have nothing to hide then why should i object to the erosion of my civil liberties in the name of homeland security? (zeig heil, i am a loyal american)
but when it comes to his little shell game with appropriated bits of knowledge, it's a whole new ball game.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: tempest in a teacup
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Maybe they wouldn't have to worry about it if they stopped cheating! Organizations have the right to try and stop it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Facts are Facts
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Facts are Facts
In high school I was once asked in front of the whole class by an English teacher if part of a paper which I wrote was my own work. It was indeed mine and I took a little offense to the question which she attempted to ameliorate by stating that it was very good work. If Turnitin is good enough to be of any value (if it can find plagiarism where some of the words have been changed) it will necessarily have false positives as well.
And what of people who access my paper without any permission (see AOL story)?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Facts are Facts
The company is making money by selling the comparison capability to papers that I write and not compensating me justly for such papers/works. Besides, this service will end up in commercial and government hands at some point in the future for job screening, etc., and if the professor does not release the copy to the inquiring party at that time so that you may prove it is your paper that was flagged as "stolen" how are you going to prove to the potential employer that it really was your paper in the database and not somebody else's? Given the level of professional plagiarism going on (ie. news reporters, etc.) where would YOU stand then? I'll tell you, you'll be moving on to the next application/employer, never knowing why you got ditched!
This is such a complex issue, it cannot be answered in one post. Look through this thread to see other Pro-Freedom, Anti-Turnitin comments - maybe then you'll get the bigger picture.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against trying to keep students from cheating. I just think that it should be better known that the system still has some flaws that could mean the difference between passing and failing.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
For profit
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: For profit
There's this little wirey thing called "Fair Use". You might want to read up on it. So, this "it does not matter how you use it" is pretty incorrect. It certainly DOES matter, in fact many papers and articles have been written about what does and does not consitute fair use, and I think this case is nebulous. No one is reselling the works as such, the only service being performed is a service already performeable by a teacher, but for which there is simply no time to realistically do without tools like this.
The simple fact that this SEARCH is a "report" and not an unqualified verbatim copy of the source material means that you're immediately running into measures of what % of the report is made up of the original work, and whether that original work and its author is directly impacted by the existence of this report.
My answer: "Not at all." I smell a lot of excuses, but certainly room for improvement.
http://www.turnitin.com/static/images/props/sample_report.gif
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: For profit
The report in excerpt form is viewable - this in and of itself is not as much of an issue, but it does not stop there. You can receive the entire paper, verbatim, by simply clicking the link in the "found" document and making the request. This is also part of their service - you can "view" the "original" paper in it's entirety by merely requesting it - not from the original AUTHOR but the professor! The work does not belong to the professor, nor does it really belong to the school - even with a paper signing away your rights - providing the school has required the signature to get the education - sort of like coercion in the good ole' days of law enforcement. (Sign this confession or you will go to prison for LIFE!) Though that comparison is a bit extreme - I hope it shocks you enough to cause you to open your eyes and look at the bigger picture ...
You tell students that it's not ok to steal someone else's work and profit from it in some way (getting a grade to pass a class or getting paid money to put bread on your dinner table), but it's ok for the institution or its affilliates to do just that to ensure that you are being honest. Kind of like - the ends justify the means - don't you think??
Also, change the setting slightly, since the institutions want to be the "academic police", can a police officer break the law to solve the crime? NOT! So if you hold other public figures in a higher moral standing, what makes the schools think they are any different? You wouldn't acquiesce to the government putting a speed tracker on your car because the majority of people who drive violate speeding laws - now would you??
Get a grip on reality and use a bit of good common sense. Give an inch and expect to lose a mile - or more!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Crybabies
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Crybabies
Students shouldn't need to prove their innocence any more than murderers do. In the latter case, the suspected party has the burden of proof placed on the accuser, but when the burden of proof is placed on the suspected party, the justice system is compromised.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Crybabies
The subject is presumed guilty just by the fact of being monitored. All at the same time the subject is accused and presumed guilty. Why else would they be monitored. This doen't even touch the idea of being confronted by your accuser because the act of continuous monitoring is a constant accusation.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
inocent until proven guilty
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Online Plagiarism
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Backlash?
This is a serious problem for academics: these student's use of the Internet constitutes a mental crutch, and there's no substance to the student's learning or the value of their program if there are no checks and balances on the use of citation. I teach over 150 students every eight weeks, and with an average of two assignments a week, you can see where this can be a bit time consuming.
Although I'm pretty good at catching this kind of problem, man, it would be great if the upload process automatically checked for plagiarism, method, mechanics, style... and let me deal with _content_ and _ideas_ and _application_. Any student who'd argue backlash is just looking for the continued benefit of their crutch, and not the obvious benefit of my attention paid to what really matters: their application of concepts.
R
Blog: http://techreflect.blogspot.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
http://www.term-papers.us/
http://www.cheathouse.com/
http://www.freeessays.com/
You must not also realize how "this technology" has been made all the more necessary due to "cheating" websites out there that give students an even wider selection of old papers to choose from that teachers, without using Google and other tools, would have no hope of detecting. Everything seems to be an arms battle these days, although Turnitin gives tools not only to teachers but to the legitimate needs of students too.
"if there is no checks on who submitted each assignment (and therefore a copyright for each of those submissions to those authors) then the system is invalid and should be scrapped." - Anonymous Coward
Invalid and should be scrapped is a remarkeable leap from "needs improvement". Having a sister that works in education, I know that she works her ass off putting together lesson plans and grading. Tools that help our often beleaguered and underpaid educators should be welcomed. The case you mentioned sounds like a workeable exception that should be discussed. Some of my previous suggestions in this thread (like allowing students to check for false posititives) would be welcome. Also, I'd be surprised if these services did not actually contain some original attribution and date for the work that is matched.
In the end, I'd have to say that a student that tries to hand the same assignment in today, that they handed in last year, is still just being lazy. By the same count, teachers should be able to find the previous assignment and give it the same grade, sight-unseen. --Instead, they have to waste their valuable time grading something the student probablt hasn't even attempted to improve. If the student included a note that it is an "improved" version of a previous paper they wrote, I think that is a positive note on honesty. It's up to the teacher in any case whether that is acceptable.
http://www.plagiarism.org/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
So Caching stuff is legal?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
So the next semester the same class is attempted. The same assignment is set. Is it then wrong that the student hands in the exact same assignment? Does that break plagiarism rules? Hell no... so why is this student immediately given a Fail and have to prove their innocence?
These tools are all well and good, but if there is no checks on who submitted each assignment (and therefore a copyright for each of those submissions to those authors) then the system is invalid and should be scrapped.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Feeble excuse for cheating
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Feeble excuse for cheating
Airport security is a necessity for safety. But it is most certainly an intrusion upon my civil liberties. That intrusion is a cost we pay in order to fly and is weighed against the risk to our lives.
Are you suggesting that plagiarism is a risk to our lives!?!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Feeble excuse for cheating
Airport security is a necessity for safety. But it is most certainly an intrusion upon my civil liberties. That intrusion is a cost we pay in order to fly and is weighed against the risk to our lives.
Are you suggesting that plagiarism is a risk to our lives!?!"
Plagiarism is destructive to the entire education process. It is a huge problem and is much more prevalent than you'd probably believe. Given all of the resources that students have now, it is much easier to cheat and much harder to detect. As such, I would think that students should feel better that they're not competing for grades against students who cheat.
Also, for what it's worth, the whole "innocent until proven guilty" only applies to criminal justice. Other people can assume whatever they want. And here, there is no presumption of any kind - students aren't failed until they prove they don't cheat. All papers are scanned, and guilty parties punished appropriately.
That said, no system is perfect. If I were using this tool, I would take all positives extremely seriously and would thoroughly research the offending paper against the papers it was supposed to have plagiarized. Mistakes happen. As a former TA, I never accused anyone of cheating - although I was rather sure of it once, I didn't have quite enough evidence, so I didn't pursue it.
I've also been accused of cheating, of which I was innocent, and no, it doesn't feel good.
So in the end, there has to be a system for separating cheaters from innocent students, and no, it's not lazy for the teacher to use this system because it's hard to tell these days. But using this tool has to come with significant responsibility for the teacher.
If I were running a school, I would allow this tool but highly regulate its use. I would also require a teacher to present evidence to a peer to ensure that proper investigation has been performed regarding any positives.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What a bunch of whiners and crybabies this generation has become. If you don't plagiarize, you don't have anything to worry about.
This is one of the most moronic arguments I've ever heard. Maybe the government oughta put a camera in your bedroom just to make sure you are having sex with underage girls. Hey, if you aren't doing anything wrong, then you shouldn't object to being watched, right?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
From a Student
It's "Sieg Heil", don't try to be a dick.
I'm a 3rd year college student, and both my University and High School use Turnitin. In the 5 years that my work has been subject to this service, not once has my work been accused of plagiarism. And I'm sure, through improper citation, that some of them very well may have contained some...albeit unintentional. False positives are not that large of a problem, percentage wise. In a legitimate paper most of the "likeness" found should be contained within quotes or other citation. Teachers/Professors who see that the highlighted sections are cited properly will overlook small sections that may be highlighted, assuming a small "slip" or a false positive. It's just Not a problem.
And I don't think most of you realize exactly how much cheating actually goes on in high school and college, especially the latter. Many of you may be shocked to discover the percentage of students that will spend the Entire class texting their friends without paying any attention to lecture. You may think twice before paying your son or daughter's phone bill while they're in college. Few of you can understand how annoying it is to see stereotypical frat boys show up to class 20% of the time, and sleep when they do arrive, just to get an A in the class because their brothers have copies of the tests from last semesters and have acquired the ability to read the size 4 font on their cheat-sheet they conveniently keep on their leg during a test.
I've been offered more than $50 to write someone else's research paper before. On more than one occasion. $50 to spend maybe a day on a paper (I'm a decent writer), do you think there aren't people out there who'd do that? $50 may not seem like much, but high school and college students need money bad, it happens more than you'd like to think.
To go along with the airport security analogy: No, it may not be a life or death threat. But, it completely defeats the goals of college. To know that some high percentage of those acquiring degrees from your school are cheating their way through with better grades than you obtain legitimately. They'll take your job, even though you had an honest collegiate experience and they were out drinking 5 nights of the week and going to classes with hangovers, when they decided to attend at all.
Cheating is a huge problem, and it greatly affects the meaning of the degrees I'm pursuing. It's my estimate, through observation alone, than about 40% of the people graduating a university cheated their way to that degree. You'd truly have to attend current college classes to really understand exactly how prominent cheating really is. It's nice to know that papers are becoming less and less cheated....It's a good step, but we're still miles away.
This seems no more legitimate a case or complaint than those suing McDonald's because they're overweight. How many honest students do you think are really complaining? None. It's a shame that the cheaters outnumber honest students nowadays. You don't have to believe me, just consider it.
Ask your parents and they'll identify the same trends in people: We're becoming lazy, overweight, lacking work ethic, sue-happy, dishonest people who think more and more about money, and less about our personal integrity. That may be a cynical statement but empirically speaking, it's becoming truer every year.
I doubt in any case that students are not confronted with the case of plagiarism and given the chance to prove their innocence. They should be happy for such a system to validate the honest effort they get to put into their studies.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: From a Student
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: From a Student
I'm also a student, who happens to have many years of "real world" work experience. I can tell you that a large number of the students in the several universities I have attended in the past decade are graduating with less competency than individuals who graduate from a 12-16 week certification course required in my profession. Why is it that these "college" students who spend tens of thousands of dollars (or more) on education are less than half as qualified after 4 years of "higher education" than those that spend roughly a "semester" in a certification course costing only several thousand dollars???
I do agree with your analysis of the trending issue regarding personal integrity, but this is NOT how you solve that problem - of course this solution did come from one of the "academics" (term used loosely) who was looking for a way to achieve greater wealth than his education or occupation would allow. (I personally have no problem with this - providing that it is done ethically and legally - without question!)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: From a Student
Got nothing but "Amens" over hear. Looking at the Slashdot story, I'm happy CmdrTaco's posting seems to have the same opinion too. I saw the headline topic first at Techdirt, and I've been scratching my head wondering if I was missing something.
I'm generally the guy not being fussed over DRM either, so I'm used to disagreeing with the masses, but unlike DRM, there are teachers and honest students with a stake on what's happening, so they're much more vocal. VH1 just tried to get me to download a DRM "license" in order to watch a playlist, and I bailed. I'll never use the site again. Seems simple to me. I just used Audacity to record an audio stream into an Mp3 from my soundcard. Seems DRM-able to me.
Half the time, I think people complain way too much. I was listening to Buzz Out Loud yesterday, and I sware that show is starting to grate on my nerves with all the "snarky".
The world's gone mad. Let's sue all the people trying to vie for some measure of integrity, so we can have a decidedly "Atlas Shrugged" global event. I'm with Francisco and John.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Heard it all before
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
heh...
i'm an honest person. i do not like my own papers being cached somewhere. the college i attend does not own the rights to my papers either (i feel sorry for the people whose colleges do, as you write your masters thesis on a thought experiment that correlates to a real experiment that shows the existence of the graviton only to have a greedy professor steal it and win the nobel prize). i've been accused of plagiarism before, it's not a pleasant experience. to be blunt about it, i simply do not like it due to the cache. someone brought up the argument about google, well google's not manditory. you can add a tag to your page so that google doesn't list it. you can't do such a thing with your papers.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Agreed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
cache
Is there a way to do that for these services that are being compared?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Why use teachers at all?
Seems to me teachers need to do less and less. I've gone to many classes where the teacher simply uses a text as a reference; the text is not only the reference but the backbone to the entire class.
It contains readings, quizes, exercises... other than asking the professor specific questions regarding the text which can be done through email, the classroom and the requirement of the teacher needing to be there seems stupid and a waste of money, resources and time.
All that is needed nowadays to learn is a good text, internet, and someone to answer pertinent questions. All else is done by the student.
So why do we need these teachers who do nothing?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why use teachers at all?
Only problem is the tuition keeps getting more expensive and the teacher-student ratio keeps getting higher and the quality of the work (or grading) is getting less and less. This is just another way for the "educator" (term used loosely in some cases) to shave more time off of their schedule and place more burden on the student.
"All that is needed nowadays to learn is a good text, internet, and someone to answer pertinent questions. All else is done by the student."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
My experience
However, Turnitin is building their company on top of the work of people who are not being compensated for their production. Without the papers of the students, Turnitin would have no service to offer. Why are the students not compensated for their efforts? Their papers are the key to Turnitin's company. Without them, Turnitin goes out of business.
I'm sure that the schools signed away the IP rights of the students for them, but ethically it seems like students are given the short end of the stick. It doesn't help that everyone is held to the guilty until proven innocent standard now.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Enforced PD isn't an issue. The issue is system accuracy - you'd need something just short of a supercomputer to know the nuances of the English language in full. As it is, Turnitin is an overglorified OCR - it works by character matching, using a software similar to Copyscape.
http://www.copyscape.com/
Ignoring the image and page name detection - Copyscape will catch strings of text X words or characters long, where X can be any arbitary number set by the Copyscape crew.
You can't really win using this method:
If X is short, you get "false positive".
If X is long, you'll get misses.
And, if your database is empty - nothing to match X with - automatic success.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
REVEALING anti-Turnitin article
The Well-Known Secret about Turnitin.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
TurnItIn
I have talked to the legal people at TurnItIn and asked that my children's papers be removed and was told to get the school administrator to have them removed. And for the college students, the professors won't even talk to me.
One of my children has to justify all "hits" prior to turning in the final paper. This presumes guilt and wastes this child's time.
The use of red yellow green coding presumes guilt. It is particularly alarming when properly cited references turn up as "hits." After talking with TurnItIn, they remove all "white text" which means formatting so that even underlined things will get a "hit" including titles of books, etc.
Every student should be told that they do not have to accept TurnItIn. Even if forced to TurnItIn, they should be offered the opportunity to have their paper removed. It should be an option at turn in. The teacher should not have the final say. The author/legal guardian should.
Every underage student should have to have parent's approval and consent.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
TurnitIn
But, is TurnItIn PLAGARIZING papers to put in its database itself? Well, for one it is running a massive data mining operation, making entire copies of students works and more importantly, making PROFIT off of searching them. This kind of massive copying for commercial use may NOT fall under the fair use doctorine, and I beleive it even goes farther than Google as it is actually caching and storing data, rather than just making databases of links.
Next of all, there is another issue. They are flagging peoples papers againt further reuse without permission. This actually infringes a kids ownerships of their work. They may want to share or reuse portions of their own work for later use, and why should TurnItIn have a right to take away what they legally have the right to do, because after all the STUDENT OWNS HIS/HER WORK!
I beleive TurnItIn should at least provide an opt-out, or maybe make storing a full paper opt-in.
Stephen
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sermon copying
It is The Holy Spirit that enables preachers to write a sermon, therefore if anyone uses my online sermons without selling it, but for the benefit of a congregation, then I thank the LORD for it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wrongfully Accused
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Turnitin
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Student point of view
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Karnoenergy
Different levels of BIM can be achieved for various types of projects. Each level represents a different set of criteria that demonstrates a particular level of ‘maturity.’ BIM levels start with 0 and go to 4D, 5D, and even 6D BIM. The purpose of these levels is to gauge how effectively, or how much information is being shared and managed throughout the entire process.
https://karnoenergy.com/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]