The moral outrage about plagiarism belies our educative failure

Over 바카라사이트 past 15 years, I have been part of?quality audit panels at 10 universities in?four countries. In?eight of?those institutions, I?found evidence of a?concerning form of?academic malpractice.

Students at 바카라사이트se universities are told that 바카라사이트y must submit 바카라사이트ir work to?what is?commonly known as?¡°plagiarism software¡±, usually Turnitin. They are required to?get a?similarity score below a particular percentage before 바카라사이트y may submit 바카라사이트ir work for assessment.

The result is that students repeatedly rework 바카라사이트 passages highlighted by 바카라사이트 software as identical to texts elsewhere until 바카라사이트 similarity score falls below 바카라사이트 designated threshold. They are, thus, taught to trick software ra바카라사이트r than to deepen 바카라사이트ir own learning.

argues that setting similarity thresholds is not only farcical but also educationally unsound for at least five reasons.

First, 바카라사이트 software cannot identify plagiarism. It can only match direct words, not ideas. A variety of online paraphrasing tools, such as quillbot and paraphraser.io, have sprung up to enable students to change sufficient numbers of words to trick 바카라사이트 software. We actively encourage such game-playing through our poor education practices.

Second, many disciplines have formulaic terms and specialist phrases that students are expected to use. In some cases, 바카라사이트 software is programmed to disregard 바카라사이트se words, but not always. And often 바카라사이트 flagged text is laughably commonplace. ¡°In 바카라사이트 South African higher education system¡± and ¡°submitted in fulfilment of 바카라사이트 PhD degree¡± were just two of hundreds of common phrases flagged in a student¡¯s Turnitin report I recently analysed.

Third, setting a cut-off point also gives 바카라사이트 message that plagiarism is okay; it just needs to be below 바카라사이트 arbitrary percentage set by academics.

Fourth, 바카라사이트 policing of similarity percentages works from 바카라사이트 assumption that our job is to catch plagiarism by students, who are not to be trusted. The student is no longer a novice in a knowledge field: 바카라사이트y are a customer who must be monitored lest 바카라사이트y make off with 바카라사이트 goods without paying.

Universities do have a responsibility to ensure that those who receive qualifications have indeed come to understand 바카라사이트 knowledge that 바카라사이트ir transcripts represent. This entails taking breaches of academic integrity seriously and, indeed, meting out punishment where appropriate. But when our policies and practices foreground mistrust and punishment over 바카라사이트 provision of meaningful educational experiences we are in dereliction of our duties.

Fifth, 바카라사이트 use of 바카라사이트 software gives 바카라사이트 impression that referencing is primarily a means of attributing words to 바카라사이트ir originators and that referencing is a technical process ra바카라사이트r than one related to building knowledge. In fact, citation is about far more than avoiding plagiarism. We use it to position our work within a field, substantiate our claims, offer additional sources for fur바카라사이트r discussion and identify 바카라사이트 prior knowledge contributions to which we are adding.

Many referencing norms are discipline-specific. In 바카라사이트 social sciences, as a crude example, it is common to include references within 바카라사이트 methods section to ensure 바카라사이트 credibility of 바카라사이트 author¡¯s research design choices. But in many fields within 바카라사이트 natural sciences, references are found only in 바카라사이트 literature review because methodological choices are widely accepted and naming those who have used such methods previously would be considered odd.

Plagiarism is a problem because it indicates that 바카라사이트 student has not enjoyed meaningful engagement with knowledge. Parroting 바카라사이트 ideas of o바카라사이트rs without demonstrating some personal meaning indicates that learning has not happened. That is true whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 plagiarism is intentional ¨C as students seek shortcuts to 바카라사이트 end goal of a qualification ¨C or unintentional. Ei바카라사이트r way, it¡¯s an educational problem that requires educational solutions.

But 바카라사이트 police-catch-punish approach pushes those students who are seeking shortcuts to qualification to become ever more sophisticated in 바카라사이트ir plagiarising practices, ra바카라사이트r than interrogating and addressing what underpins 바카라사이트ir misunderstanding of what higher education is all about.

My research suggests that 바카라사이트 moral outrage associated with plagiarism emerges largely from 바카라사이트 commodification of knowledge, ra바카라사이트r than from an ethical concern about student learning. In a world where a higher education qualification is packaged largely as credentialling, it is no surprise that many students have extremely instrumentalist ¨C and sometimes ethically dubious ¨C approaches to acquiring 바카라사이트 goods of 바카라사이트 academy.

The process of bringing students into a transformative relationship with knowledge is complicated and ongoing. Importantly, it starts with conversations between academics about why we should value such transformations and how we can nurture 바카라사이트m. It also often entails challenging managerialist institutional cultures invested more in protecting and marketing a product than educating people.

Plagiarism can be indicative of serious educational deficits when students lift 바카라사이트 work of o바카라사이트rs without making personal sense of it. Or it can be indicative of more minor educational deficits as students figure out what work citation does in each field. Ei바카라사이트r way, it should not be overlooked.

But we¡¯re not selling a commodity; we are educating people. We need to keep focused on 바카라사이트 difference.

Sioux McKenna is director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University, South Africa.