An international perspective on managing plagiarism

….. a personal view

….. what might be useful for you [for us] in the UK

Jude Carroll

Visiting Fellow, Royal Technical University, Stockholm

Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development

Images removed

These are pictures of the Royal Technical University in Stockholm where I have been working on plagiarism for one year

Earth from the moon: a metaphor for learning about the UK management of plagiarism by travelling to Sweden

So, what have I learned?

UK has taken many actions for dealing with plagiarism so far….. there is a story to tell.

Celebrate the UK focus on pedagogy rather than cheating

A paradox: others need our UK focus on pedagogy; we need [a bit] more of their focus on cheating.

Trusted, realistic, fast procedures are the key to making it work at all.

Policy and procedures: Who would have imagined ….?

Plagiarism allows students to bypass learning.

No work, no learning, no credit.No change, no understanding, no creditNo authorship, no writing skill development, no credit.

I’m interested in guiding students away from plagiarism because I am committed to learning

I spend so much time - with lawyers, policy wonks, senior managers, journalists…..

Lesson from Sweden: It’s tough when there is no…..

• History

• Community

• Fellow enthusiasts

• Shared endeavour

A brief history of plagiarism in the UK …..

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Times Higher Education Supplement (06/07)

27 stories about plagiarism

Not one headline was positive;

5/27 were ‘neutral’, descriptive

22/27 negative or alarming

10 headlines used the word ‘cheat’ as shorthand for plagiarism

Metaphors of physical injury (axed, cut and thrust, enrage, derail)

dealing with danger (rein in, clamp down) loss of control (chaos, despair, fear, confusion,

lies, lets cheats off the hook)

14/22 ‘ negative’ headlines were different from the main message of the story

What this UK history tells me- Pedagogy and learning now take

centre stage in the UK

- Policies and procedures are more and more ‘fit for purpose’ in the 2009 context

- Text-matching has moved from ‘the answer’ to ‘a useful part of ….’

- Loads of local expertise, local knowledge and local developments

- Much left to do…… as today shows

• Not true elsewhere

• Not true elsewhere

• Not true elsewhere

• Not true elsewhere

• True everywhere!

How much of the world sees it…..

Plagiarism is common. Deliberate plagiarism is less common. Repeated, deliberate serious cheating is rare

Most academic credit reflects students’ learning, even if the learning is presented in unacceptable ways.

Many new opportunities for cheating

Wide literature on effective ways to deter students

Plagiarism can be managed in the same way as other learning problems

• ‘Plagiarism’ and ‘cheating’ are synonymous. Plagiarists are cheaters.

EITHER: Plagiarism is widespread, uncontrolled and perhaps uncontrollable.

Because of widespread cheating including plagiarism, academic awards cannot be trusted as authentic and reliable.

OR: ‘Plagiarism? No problem here…..’

• Changes in information technology make plagiarism inevitable.

• Teachers cannot or will not control it

Second discovery: the word ‘plagiarism’ means absolutely nothing in most countries …. even in Swedish

Swedes prefer ‘fusk’ to ‘plagiat…..’

And others?…….

I worry about lawyers’ worries. Why?

All university rules and regulations are set by the Swedish Parliament – not by the [about] 18 universities.

No national rules mention ‘plagiarism’. They mention ‘deliberate deception in examinations’.

All ‘deception’ must be reported. [People interpret this as meaning ‘all plagiarism must be reported’ (sic).]

Reported cases are managed by a Board. [the VC, an ex judge, 2/3 lawyers, up to six others.] Paperwork and prep takes c. 40 hrs per case/ c. 1 day by a teacher.

The average time it takes to decide a case is 11.5 months

If a Swedish student is found to have cheated using plagiarism….. there are only 2 penalties:

1. A warning letter

2. A period of withdrawal from the university of up to 6 months (2/3 months is more common) ….. then the student returns and carries on

Students can (and do) appeal, up to the highest court in Sweden…. KTH has two cases going through the highest courts at the moment…..

Speculate: what do you think is the impact?

How many cases of plagiarism are reported from c.

12,000 students each year?

How comfortable are teachers to report?

How much do teachers trust the system?

How much do students understand and/or trust the

system?

Does it remind you of anything?

What we have done to make it better

‘Big push’ changes I have been aiming for…..

1. …. a policy on PLAGIARISM [‘All plagiarism is not fusk’]

2. Hard work on ways to inform students [“Your students are not ‘oven ready’”]

3. A focus on programmes: [ ‘… teach, practice, feedback’]

4. A shared consensus on cheating : [ ‘Where is this line?’]

5. Using text-matching tools correctly

All over the world, similar things…..

• More teaching in English

• More coursework• More mobility and

diversity• More opportunities

for faking and finding

• More stressed and pressed teachers……

The audit tool….. this helps people focus

Have a look. Five sections. Skim read one or two only …….

You have five minutes……

What do you notice when having a look? Be ready to tell us.

Conclusions [tentative…..]1. … no alternative to the holistic approach – but ‘pedagogy first’ has meant the

UK is downplaying cheating….. ? Too much ??

2. … need a national shared vision and momentum. ‘Community of practice’?

3. Keep lawyers out of it …. but ensure robust treatment by keep QA in!

4. Recognise the impact of English.

5. Share what we in the UK have learned – out there, they are interested. They will take what is useful.

6. Any change takes lots of time….. lots of allies,…… lots of patience