education: Controversial plagiarism software coming to UBC
Justin Cheung, The Ubyssey, UBC

A software program that allows professors to verify the originality of students' papers is facing concern over its introduction at the University of British Columbia.

Turnitin.com, a program developed in the U.S. to combat plagiarism in universities and colleges, allows professors and markers to upload essays online where they will be compared with written material available on the Internet and then given a number ranging from one to 10 based on their originality.

This year, the MBA program at UBC's commerce department is considering using the software, prompting concerns about how students may be affected.

Erfan Kazemi, president of the university's student association, questions the need for the software and said the university needs to ensure students are aware of its policies regarding plagiarism. "I don't think a lot of people realise what plagiarism is. I think that UBC should concentrate its effort on that front," he said.

At a recent council meeting, Kazemi suggested UBC offer a course for first-year students to help them better understand what plagiarism entails.

Paul Chwelos, an associate professor who teaches in the university's MBA program, is considering using Turnitin.com in his class. He used the program when he was an assistant professor at the University of California.

Chwelos called the program a "preventive measure to preserve the academic integrity of the educational process."

"I think [Turnitin.com] is a useful tool when it is used in a preventive way, simply to ensure that all students are judged by the same standards," he said.

Kazemi worries professors might rely on Turnitin.com as the final word on whether or not students have plagiarised.

But Chwelos says the software's analysis of a paper is only a guideline. The final decision on whether a student has plagiarised or not is based on the discretion and judgement of the professor, he said.

Melissa Lipscomb, vice-president of business affairs at iParadigms, the company who developed Turnitin.com, agrees, saying that final analysis should remain in the hands of the person grading a paper.

Lipscomb also states that by ensuring students who go through a course have little chance of cheating, the software can actually increase the value of a student's degree.

"Turnitin.com provides a tool for instructors to use in order to increase the value of a student's education," she writes. "The majority of students do not cheat and their efforts are undermined by those who do. This is the strongest validation that your instructor cares about academic integrity and should not be interpreted as anything other than that concern."

Chwelos says the major objective of the software is deterrence and prevention. He explains that when he used the software in the past, he informed students at the beginning of the class to prevent them from plagiarising in the first place.

But student Paul Dagenais said that some students in his class - where the software may be used - felt the program's use targeted students who may never have considered cheating.

"The general feeling in our class was it implied that we were guilty of [plagiarism] before it had actually been done, before we actually plagiarised something," he said.

"So the overall sentiment was somewhat negative towards the idea of instituting the plagiarism software."

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