TDU Talk
ISSUE 3 ▪ SEPTEMBER 2008
ASSESSMENT MATTERS
Academic integrity
Practical education strategies to encourage academic integrity
Design of assessment tasks
Reducing Plagiarism Through Assessment Design
Group Work
Benefits & Typical Difficulties
Good Principles
Some Strategies for Group Formation
Assessment Matters
Greetings
ISSUE 3: SEPTEMBER 2008
Teaching Development Unit
Office of Deputy ViceChancellor
Private Bag 3105
Hamilton 3240
New Zealand
Phone: +64 7 838 4839
Fax: +64 7 838 4573
[email protected]
www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu
Welcome to this edition of the TDU magazine in which
we continue our discussion of assessment. This month,
we focus on two of the important concerns that
academic teachers raise in their conversations about
assessment, academic integrity and the assessment of
group work. As with most aspects of teaching, there are
no straightforward solutions that will work for everyone in all contexts.
Our aim is to highlight principles that we see as important and suggest
strategies that may help to implement them. There is widespread
research-based agreement that assessment is the most influential
determinant of students‟ learning. It is therefore imperative that all
aspects of our assessment practices support good teaching and learning
principles as well as the institutional commitment to quality teaching and
learning. Assessment is one of the key strands in the Teaching and
Learning Plan that the University is currently developing and the
magazine is an important vehicle for promoting good practice.
We hope that this magazine will help you as you design your courses and
assessment for the next academic year.
Best wishes
Dorothy, Preetha and Trudy
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
2
Academic Integrity
Developing academic integrity in learning & assessment
“…students need
practical and
personally
meaningful
education about
plagiarism and
appropriate
referencing, and
teachers need to
consider
designing
assessment tasks
and processes
that minimise the
possibilities for
plagiarism...”
Internationally, researchers report a widespread increase in student
plagiarism (Emerson, Rees & Mackay, 2005). Ease of copying
from internet sources is an important element in this increase, but
there are numerous contributory factors. While acknowledging that
there are instances of deliberate plagiarism, our concern here is to
look at the ways in which teachers can help students to develop
appropriate referencing habits and promote a culture of academic
integrity. McGowan (2005) suggests that we need to revise our
own usage of the word „integrity‟ emphasizing its etymological
derivation from “integer” and argues that teachers need to think of
education around integrity as part of the essential integration of
students into academic life, and therefore as something that
requires a deliberate and purposeful induction (p.3). Emerson,
Rees and Mckay (2005) argue that a “deterrent system” will not
help those who neither understand the underlying principles for
referencing nor have developed the competencies to navigate its
practices (p.2). In both respects major educational work is needed.
Studies suggest that no single strategy will minimize plagiarism,
but that there are a number of elements that need to work together
towards achieving this goal. Dunn, Morgan and O‟Reilly (2004)
suggest that staff and students need a clear knowledge of
institutional and faculty plagiarism policy, that students need
practical and personally meaningful education about plagiarism
and appropriate referencing, and teachers need to consider
designing assessment tasks and processes that minimise the
possibilities for plagiarism. Finally, there needs to be efficient
ways of detecting plagiarism. The focus here is on the educational
strategies that teachers can employ.
(Spiller, 2008)
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
3
PRACTICAL EDUCATION STRATEGIES TO
ENCOURAGE ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
In educating students about plagiarism, written explanations do not
seem to be enough. McGowan (2005) observes that plagiarism
advice, frequently couched in punitive language, is often embedded
in the mass of information thrown at students in the first few
weeks. Students may not read written guidelines and there is the
inevitable gap between instructions and practical application.
Academics forget that tasks such as integrating or synthesizing
ideas are not straightforward for students and even the seemingly
innocent injunction “to put ideas into your own words” is fraught
with hazards for the novice learner who is still trying to manage
generic and discipline-specific academic language. Additionally,
many students are grappling with academic complexity when
English is not a first language. Equally baffling for many learners is
the importance of one‟s own work alongside paeans to the benefits
of collaboration.
Consequently, students need practical exercises and hands-on
sessions to learn appropriate referencing and citation of sources,
methods of integrating source material into a discussion, ways of
distinguishing paraphrasing from plagiarism and collusion from
collaboration. Ryan (2000), quotes the case of a lecturer from
Oxford Brookes University who works with the students on
plagiarism in the following way:
...plagiarism
advice,
frequently
couched in
punitive
language, is
often embedded
in the mass of
information
thrown at
students in the
first few weeks…
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
I begin by discussing with the students why we need a good
range of vocabulary when paraphrasing. We then discuss what
kinds of things we should always keep and not substitute, so that
plagiarism is avoided. I then get the students to write down in
their own words a definition for plagiarism, and then a
definition for syndication. Definitions are then compared, and
on an OHP, with feedback from me, we produce a satisfactory
negotiated definition of these terms.
During the session, the students have 8 questions to consider in
guiding this work:
♦ What do you understand by the term plagiarism?
♦ What do you understand by the term syndication?
♦ If you want to copy the exact words from another writer into
writing, how do you avoid plagiarism?
♦ If you change the words you have read, by paraphrasing the
ideas of another writer, how do you avoid plagiarism?
♦ How much should you use acknowledged quotes from other
writers in your writing?
♦ What else do you need to do in your writing if you are going
to introduce the ideas of another writer through
paraphrase?
4
♦
♦
Why is it very important to make an accurate bibliography
in your writing?
How can you let the reader know, directly or indirectly,
whether you agree or not with another writer’s ideas when
you quote them? (p.56)
These questions invite the students to engage in detail with some of
the basic elements of appropriate referencing.
Another strategy is to show students a range of writing samples and
get them to identify different kind of plagiarism such as cutting and
pasting from the internet or books, paraphrasing without
acknowledgement, and interweaving words from a source with the
writer‟s own words. Students can then be asked to rewrite the
relevant sections in ways that avoid plagiarism. McGowan (2005)
also argues that students need to be allowed to practise and
experiment and make mistakes with referencing and citation in a
formative way before they are faced with the possibility of
punishment. This learning period allows students both to deepen
their insight into the principles of academic integrity and develop
the required skills and competencies in a safe context.
Just as important as the practical application process is the process
of helping students to understand the principles underpinning the
insistence on academic integrity. It is not enough to tell students
once why it is important but the ideas need to be discussed
regularly and returned to often. Course booklets may do well to
include an explanation of the reasons for our (apparently
pernickety) insistence on academic conventions. McGowan (2005)
cites a section from the University of Melbourne‟s website on
assessment which very simply outlines the reasons for appropriate
academic referencing:
“...students need
to be allowed to
practice and
experiment and
make mistakes
with referencing
and citation in a
formative way
before they are
faced with the
possibility of
punishment…”
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
One of the central purposes of Australian higher education is to
produce graduates who are independent thinkers, able to
critically analyse information and ideas. This means that
during your time at university in Australia you will be asked
not just to become familiar with the ideas of scholars and
experts but to examine these ideas closely and to decide how
much or how little you agree with them. You will learn to form
opinions about ideas and to communicate these opinions
verbally and in writing. These opinions must be based on
evidence and one common source of evidence is the ideas of
others. You are likely to find yourself using the ideas of one
scholar to analyse and perhaps criticise the ideas of another.
This is considered excellent scholarly practice in Australia.
5
There are two reasons, then, why Australian university students
are expected to acknowledge the source or origin of the words
of scholars they use in their assessment tasks. The first is that
you need to let readers know where you found your ideas so
that they can check to see they are reliable and valid ideas for
the point you are making. Secondly, you need to make it clear
which ideas are yours and which are those of others.
http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessinglearning/03/
intstuds.html.
McGowan, U. (2005), p.5.
In a study that should be of relevance to our own context, Emerson
et al. describe an education programme around plagiarism that
accompanied the introduction of Turnitin in a particular paper at
Massey University in which they talk of “providing the educational
scaffold” for appropriate referencing (p.3). The details of this
programme are provided on page 6 of this magazine.
The authors conclude that a range of educational strategies are
necessary to reduce plagiarism. Their studies showed that students
need considerable practice in learning how to work appropriately
with material from secondary sources. Individual clinics run by
tutors were also very helpful in working with students on this
process.
Symposium on Tertiary Assessment and
Higher Education Student Outcomes:
Policy, Practice, and Research
17-19 November 2008
Rutherford House, Wellington, New Zealand
Contact Malcolm: [email protected]
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/education/SYMPOSIUM/index.aspx
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
6
Part 1: Providing the Educational Scaffold
Part 1 of the project took place during 2004 and involved all
142 students enrolled in the course. The educational programme
described below was integrated into the course curriculum and
pedagogy, and a single assignment for each student was
submitted through Turnitin. The assignment, a report (12001500 words) on a topical issue related to science and ethics,
conformed broadly to the pedagogical principles outlined by
Carroll and Appleton (2001) for deterring plagiarism in that it
required students to relate the issues discussed in the assignment
both to a local, New Zealand context, and to the specific
material on ethics taught within the course.
The following education programme for Part 1 of the project
was conducted two weeks before the assignment was due:
1. A 50 minute lecture in the main lecture time on using
secondary sources in general and APA referencing in particular.
Part of the lecture included a definition of plagiarism, reasons
why it was ethically unacceptable, and how to integrate sources
into a text. Ten minutes of the lecture were spent discussing
and illustrating the differences between quotation and
paraphrasing, and methods of effective paraphrase.
2. That same week, students spent a compulsory two-hour
tutorial working on APA referencing. This included interactive
exercises that were designed to illustrate the differences
between paraphrasing and quoting. During this week tutors
talked the students through the purposes of the project and
answered any queries or concerns.
3. The following week students engaged in a guided peer review
exercise on the assignment, with directed questions and
discussion focused on each student‟s use of sources.
4. Students also had available to them a 10-page chapter in the
study guide on integrating sources and using APA referencing.
The detection device employed was Turnitin, a system for
detecting electronic copying. We also used Turnitin as a data
collection tool, for the purposes of identifying and categorising
plagiarism problems.
Emerson, L. Rees, M. &, MacKay, B. (2005), p.3.
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
7
DESIGN OF ASSESSMENT TASKS
The most important theme here is the need to require evidence of
ongoing individual engagement with the assessment task.
“The most
important
theme here is
the need to
require
evidence of
ongoing
individual
engagement
with the
assessment
task…”
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK

Try to modify assessment tasks each year so that students
cannot copy the work of previous students.

Set sub-tasks that require students to show their process steps on
assessment tasks and indicate individual findings, for example,
drawing up an annotated bibliography, marshalling the evidence
for and against a position.

Be careful not to overburden students with assessment as this
may put them under pressure to plagiarise.

Break up assessment tasks into steps.

Try to include some oral components to assessment tasks.

Avoid surface tasks requiring little more than reproduction of
material.

Include a meaningful individual component to group work.
8
JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service
Reducing Plagiarism through Assessment Design
Tip Sheet 2
Opportunities for students to plagiarise can be reduced by designing
assessments that cannot be fulfilled by the incorporation of plagiarised
content or work produced by another student. Whilst the redesign of
existing assessment may initially seem an onerous task, the benefits for both
students and lecturers will be realised not only in reduced instances of
plagiarism but also in other areas of academic and student practices.
When redesigning assessments the following should be taken into account;
“...Opportunities
for students to
plagiarise can be
reduced by
designing
assessments that
cannot be
fulfilled by the
incorporation of
plagiarised
content or work
produced by
another
student…”
(Brown, S. & McDowell, L., 2003).
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
►
Assess the process—asking students to submit work-in-progress
reports, review notes, drafts or revisions are all strategies that will help
students to manage their time more effectively and avoid any last
minute panics that might lead to plagiarism
►
Personalise the assessment—Adding context to an assignment by
inviting students to draw on their own experience to select a personally
relevant research tropic within a theme, or specific framework will
encourage original work.
►
Harness the research process—requiring students to provide
written reviews or photocopied extracts of the sources used “is helpful
in showing students what plagiarism means and how to use sources
properly.” (Brown & McDowell, revd Duggan 2003)
►
Emphasis the value of analysis—Design assessments that move
beyond asking students to find the „right answer‟ to requiring them to
analyse, evaluate and synthesise the work of others
►
Use peer assessment—”There is no mileage in cheating or plagiarism
when it is your peers who are monitoring your performance and you
have little chance of pulling the wool over your peers‟ eyes! (Brown &
McDowell, revd Duggan 2003).
►
Create a supportive environment—Use formative assessment tasks
to provide regular feedback and help students understand that learning
from their mistakes is a valuable part of their academic experience
►
Discourage the use of pre-written assignments—Changing
elements of the assessment task each year or specifying particular
types of resources that must be included in the analysis reduce the
possibility of submission of a paper downloaded from an essaybank.
Brown, S. & McDowell, L. revd. Duggan, F. (2003) Assessing Students: cheating and plagiarism
MARCET Red Guide 10 Northumbria University Press
For examples of some of the approaches outlined above see papers in
Peden Smith, A. & Duggan, F. (Eds) Plagiarism: prevention, practice and policy conference 2830 June; Proceedings, Northumbria University Press
9
Group Work
Introduction
Group assessment is widely used across the University and has
many intellectual and social benefits. At the same time, group
assessment is one of the most challenging and contentious forms
of assessment. The literature provides a range of ideas and
strategies for maximizing the potential of group work and making
it an equitable and enjoyable experience for students. Some of
these ideas and strategies are outlined here, but group assessment
will always raise issues of personal dynamics, accountability and
equity. As teachers we need to be vigilant about these issues and
set up systems and processes to manage them as well as possible.
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
10
BENEFITS & TYPICAL DIFFICULTIES
Why use group assessment?
There are a number of generic benefits potentially offered by
group tasks. These include preparation for working in teams
which is the norm in most workplaces, the pooling of a range of
competencies, personalities and intellectual dispositions to
achieve a better product and the intellectual growth that can be
promoted through exposure to a range of perspectives. The
literature also argues for the potential development of social
skills through group work (Kriflik, 2007).
Group work is also the optimum assessment for some specific
learning outcomes. These include team work, project
management, the development of problem-solving abilities, the
nurturing of communication attributes such as facilitation,
feedback, negotiation and conflict management skills and the
fostering of strategic and critical thinking. Many of these skills
align well with the emphasis on graduate attributes (Boud, Cohen
& Sampson,1999).
Collective learning opportunities may be more appropriate for
some groups of students than individual competitive methods
(Boud, Cohen & Sampson, 1999).
Group learning potentially provides more opportunities for
students to converse around their learning than many other
classroom environments. Articulating their emerging
understanding of an area can deepen students‟ grasp of the
subject ( Boud, Cohen & Sampson, 1999).
Typical difficulties encountered in group assessment
Group learning
potentially
provides more
opportunities for
students to
converse around
their learning
than many other
classroom
environments…
Both students and academic teachers commonly report instances
of group dysfunction or conflict. In some instances there are
personality conflicts, but more frequently difficulties occur over
feelings about unequal contribution to the group effort. Some
students report that group members do not do their share of the
work or fail to attend meetings or keep to deadlines. Other
students complain that they are left with the task of pulling a
piece of work together or writing up an entire group report.
Another common point of discussion is the formation of group
membership, in terms of experience, culture, prior knowledge,
and range of competencies.
(Boud, Cohen & Sampson, 1999).
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
11
A related concern expressed by both domestic and overseas
students is managing cultural diversity in groups. Domestic
students sometimes complain that group productivity is held back
by those whose first language is not English, while overseas
students often report inhospitality from their domestic
counterparts and exclusion from participation in significant
aspects of the group task.
Academic teachers also comment on all of these difficulties with
group work and observe the problem that group work sometimes
becomes a collection of individual pieces and defeats the goal of
genuine collaboration and pooling of ideas.
Conversely, group learning instead of harnessing the unique
insights of the participating students, can sometimes produce
group think (Boud, Cohen & Sampson, 1999).
From a teacher‟s perspective, two other perplexing questions are
how to allocate marks to group tasks and how to manage the
groups so as to ensure productive and a positive collaborative
experience.
GOOD PRINCIPLES
Different strategies and approaches to managing group work will
suit particular contexts, situations and group tasks. However,
when introducing group work, a checklist of good general
principles can inform the way you set up and manage the
process. These principles are pertinent in most teaching and
learning situations. When using group assessment consider:

Ensuring the group task aligns well with learning outcomes
and is reinforced through other course learning approaches

Providing coaching in the skills and processes of group
work
Providing formative opportunities to
practise working in groups on smaller tasks


Encouraging students to reflect on group
leaning processes
Having ongoing
conversations with student
groups

SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
12
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK

Having well-defined process steps and systems for students
to record their progress

If the groups are culturally heterogeneous, trying to ensure
that nobody is isolated.

Inviting the groups to use a process such as a SWOT
analysis or Belbin‟s team roles to allocate responsibilities
in the group.

Requiring some preliminary individual component as a
precursor to the group task.

Providing detailed assessment criteria for the group task
(Kriflik, 2007). If possible, invite students to give peer
feedback on practice tasks using these criteria.

Inviting groups to engage in regular reflection on group
process using a checklist.

Outlining a clear set of steps for managing difficulties that
may arise.

Breaking the group task into steps. Require documentation
of and/or reflection on these steps. Provide formative
feedback or use peer feedback processes to enhance the
subsequent stages of the task.

Incorporating peer assessment components to deepen
reflection and engagement (Falchikov & Goldfinch, 2002).

Allowing some in-class time for group work and converse
with the groups as they work.

Setting up an online component for the group to report
regularly on their processes and their progress on the task.

Including an individual component such as a reflective
journal or an individual report to improve individual
accountability.

Requiring equal participation from all group members in
any oral component of group work.

Giving a percentage of the marks for completion of the
process steps.

Including tasks that require evidence of individual
contributions
13
SOME STRATEGIES FOR GROUP FORMATION
There is no conclusive evidence about the best composition of
groups, with arguments being voiced for a range of strategies
However, if managing diversity and intellectual complexity is a
goal, heterogeneity is probably best and this is better workplace
preparation. However, others argue for the potential productivity of
groups based on friendship or compatibility.
Method
Advantages
Considerations
Student self-selection
- Students choose who to work
with
- Students overlooked or rejected
- Inequity in skill distribution
- Inequity in task distribution
Selective appointment
Groups formed on the basis of
criteria i.e. mark aspirations,
meeting times, complementary
skills, specific competencies
- Students have common goals
- Less pressure on low achievers
- Student skills recognised and
rewarded as being proficient
- Appreciation of diversity
required in group work
-Low achievers not exposed to
high expectations
-Friends with shared aspirations
in accepting a newcomer
-Less opportunity to develop new
skills in unfamiliar roles
Random selection
- Opportunity for students to learn - Student concern about skills and
from new people
attitudes of other students
- Opportunity to enhance
- Students resent lack of choice
communication skills
Selection of topic choices
- Students interested in topic
- Students working with
interested others
- Inequity in skill distribution
- Student concern about skills and
attitudes of other students
Table 1: Group Selection Options
Kriflik, L. (2007), p.2.
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
14
REFERENCES
Boud, D., Cohen, R. & Sampson, J. (1999). Peer learning and assessment. Assessment and
Evaluation in Higher Education, 24 (4) p.413-425.
Dunn, L., Morgan, C. & O‟Reilly, M. (2004). The Student assessment handbook. London:
Routledge Falmer.
Emerson, L. Rees, M. &, MacKay, B. (2005). Scaffolding academic integrity: Creating a
learning context for teaching referencing skills. JUTLP, 2 (3a) p.3-12.
Falchikov & Goldfinch J. (2000). Student Peer Assessment in Higher Education: A Meta-A
Comparing Peer and Teacher Marks. Review of Educational Research 70(3): 287-322.
JSIC Plagiarism Advisory Service (2006). Reducing Plagiarism through assessment design.
Kriflik, L. (2007). Strategies to improve student reaction to group work. JULTP, 4 (1).
McGowan, U. (2005). Academic integrity: An awareness and developmental issue for
students and staff. JUTLP, 2 (3a).
Ryan, J. (2000). A Guide to teaching international students. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff
Development.
Produced by:
Teaching Development Unit
Office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Private Bag 3105 Hamilton 3240 New Zealand
Phone: +64 7 838 4839
Fax: +64 7 838 4573
[email protected]
www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu
SEPTEMBER 2008 ▪ TDU TALK
15