Comparative study on the usage of an online plagiarism detection service when presenting distance learning courses Open Access

The Internet opens a library of wealth to the student and educator but it also makes it easy for students to copy when writing assignments. In this paper, we will look at how Wawasan Open University implemented plagiarism-detection software in its course delivery. In 2010, the university introduced the compulsory usage of an online plagiarism-detection software known as Turnitin (Turnitin TM). Students are required to scan their assignments using the service before submitting them for grading. In this study, we observed two different course clusters; one cluster is numerically-based and the other is narrative-based. We observed the Similarity Index Report on student assignments from four courses in two programmes from the 2011 cohort. The courses are Business Accounting II, Auditing and Assurance in Malaysia, Human Resource Management, and Organisational Behaviour. Our findings suggested that plagiarism detection software can be useful for courses that require a studentto demonstrate a strong sense of originality in their assignments. Essentially, the software would provide additional advantages in any narrative management course where it is the intention of the instructor to ensure that students demonstrate a high level of creativity. However, courses that require students to conform to any regimen should not be subjected to the anti-plagiarism process as this is futile, as in the case of many numerical and mathematical courses. Courses that require a high level of verbatim citation such as law, assurance, literature and divinity would not work very well with the software. The inability of current software to differentiate between patterns and strings of plagiarism and cited work makes this exercise futile.