Pharmacy students’ views and experiences of Turnitinw—an online tool for detecting academic dishonest
Keywords:
Academic dishonesty, attitudes, cheating, detection, plagiarism, TurnitinAbstract
Introduction: Detecting and preventing academic dishonesty (cheating and plagiarism) is an issue for scholars. The aim of this study was to explore pharmacy students’ views on the use of Turnitin, an online plagiarism detection tool. Methods: All students in Years 3 and 4 of the BPharm course at the School of Pharmacy, the University of Auckland, were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire looking at a number of issues including their views on using Turnitin and the penalties for those caught. Results: A 64% response rate was obtained. The majority indicated that the use of Turnitin had helped them to reference correctly and write assignments in their own words, but only a minority had gained a more clear understanding of thedefinition of plagiarism. Discussion:Students indicated wanting more feedback from tutors on the outcomes of submitting their work to Turnitin. Feedback from this study will be used to support the way in which Turnitin is used at the School. Further research is needed into the potential impact on learning outcomesReferences
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