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Course element "Turnitin"

Profile

Name Turnitin
Icon
Available since OLAT 7.2.0
Functional group Assessment
Purpose Plagiarism check
Assessable no

The Turnitin similarity assessment software has been UZH’s official program for detecting plagiarism in academic assignments. The "Turnitin" course element allows plagiarism checks to be carried out within an OLAT course. Course participants can upload documents to the course element, which are then checked for similarity. You can specify whether or not the similarity reports can be viewed by course participants.

Members of the University of Zurich – especially students – have the option to independently perform plagiarism checks outside of any specific course using the OLAT course "Plagiatsprüfung/Plagiarism Check: Self-Service". Further information can be found in the section "OLAT course 'Plagiatsprüfung/Plagiarism Check: Self-Service'".

Course editor

Role: owner

Use of the Turnitin course element is restricted to UZH members.

Tab "Configuration"

Display: Here you can configure whether Turnitin is opened in a new window or embedded in the course. We recommend using the default setting "Open in new window" because the "Embedded in course" option can lead to browser-dependent errors.

Show all information transmitted on launch (Debug): If this option is set to "On" all data sent to Turnitin will be displayed. This is particularly helpful for troubleshooting, as it allows you to see what information is being sent to Turnitin.

The actual settings for the software are configured in Turnitin as follows.

Course run

Role: owner

Set up the Plagiarism check

  1. Open the course.
  2. Select the course element “Turnitin” – the Turnitin interface will open. .
  3. Select the gear icon on the top right side to open the settings page.
  4. Make the desired settings (see Settings).
  5. Click on “Save Settings”.
  6. Click on “Go to Inbox” to return to the overview. Here you can see the documents uploaded by participants.

Setting options

General Settings Is set automatically according to the title of the course element and cannot be changed in the Turnitin settings. * Instructions: This text is visible when you click on the “View Instructions” button in the task view. * Start date: Date on which the similarity checks can be started.
* Due date: No further Similarity checks can be carried out after this date. Please note that it will still be possible to make uploads after this date.

Similarity Settings * Index Submitted Works: “On” = all submissions will be included in the university repository. * Compare submissions to the following content: Selection of source types for similarity check (see Teaching Tools – section “Selecting Source Types for the Similarity Report) * Exclude from Similarity Report: define exclusion filters (see Teaching Tools – section “Exclusion Filters in the Similarity Report“) * Exclude assignment template: uploaded template will be excluded from the authenticity report. * Generate Similarity Reports: Set the date when the similarity check should be performed.
Student Access: Enable or disable the visibility of participants' own similarity reports.
 Student Resubmission: * “On” = Course participants can resubmit their work. (previous submission will be overwritten) * “Off” = Only one piece of work may be submitted.

Participant view

Role: Participant

  • Click on the Turnitin course element. The Turnitin interface will open.
  • Upload the document to be checked.
  • In the transmission preview, you can customize the file name.
  • Click on "Submit".

OLAT course "Plagiatsprüfung/Plagiarism Check: Self-Service"

Role: Participant

Access to this course is restricted to members of the UZH.

UZH students can check their own documents for plagiarism in the OLAT course "Plagiatsprüfung/Plagiarism Check: Self-Service" regardless of whether they are enrolled in a course.

Procedure:

  1. In the "Courses" tab, search for "Plagiatsprüfung/Plagiarism Check: Self-Service".
  2. Start the course and open the self-service course element.
  3. Upload the document to be checked.
  4. Optional: Adjust the file name in the submission preview.
  5. Click on "Submit".
    After submission, you will see:
    • Similarity: Once a percentage is displayed, the similarity report has been generated. Click on "Similarity" to open the report. Generation may take some time, especially for larger documents.
    • Resubmit: You can upload a document multiple times. Only the latest version will be saved (previous versions will be overwritten). You can view your submission history by clicking on the "clock/arrow icon".