Measuring plagiarism: researching what students do, not what they say they do - Essay Example

Earlier, methods such as student self-reporting and lecturer estimates were used, but these were not reliable and needed hours of research. Groups that involved in plagiarism were international students as well as first year undergraduates. Turnitin software was used for this study and a number of questions were formulated to find out ‘what students do, rather than what they say they do.’ The sample included internal and distance students from New Zealand as well as other countries. These students were made aware of the repercussions of plagiarism but still over a quarter assignments submitted were plagiarized.

There were a number of limitations but in the end, the study was able to fulfill the purpose it was conducted for. Some of the general claims regarding plagiarism were supported by this study but further research should be done to provide answers to other questions that remain unanswered. One of the major strengths of this research is that it addresses an existing problem by providing reliable data for researchers on the extent and nature of plagiarism. Researchers previously relied on other methods of detecting plagiarism but were not able to measure the extent of student plagiarism.

The groups who performed plagiarism included the first year students who were highly unaware of the ‘seriousness of their actions.’ This study confirmed that international students were more likely to plagiarize as for most of them English was not the first language. Another strength of this study is that students were actually made aware of the consequences of plagiarism to make it more practical. Students all over the world know that plagiarism is not acceptable but still they continue to plagiarize with the purpose of reducing the pressure of studies.

The Turnitin software permitted the markers to compare the assignments with sources used to plagiarize. These tools of detecting plagiarism