Turnitin - Originality Report generator, Online Grading and Peer Review

Turnitin Pages

UNSW upgraded to Turnitin Direct Version 2 plugin using the new Feedback Studio view, in November 2016 as part of the Moodle 3.1 upgrade.

Assignments created with Version 1 of the plugin are still available however no new Version 1 assignments can be created. The Feedback Studio view now applies to both version 1 and version 2 assignments.

Turnitin is an originality checking service used to identify potential plagiarism by checking submissions against a wide range of databases and the web. It also has tools for paperless grading and markup as well as a peer review tool. Turnitin is integrated with Moodle.

Turnitin products available at UNSW:

  • Feedback studio: The main interface for reviewing Turnitin Submissions. Includes:
    • Online grading and markup tools.
    • Originality report: a tool to check the originality of papers and citation practices in students' work after final submission, or it can be to make originality reports accessible to students to allow for checking before final submission of assignments, to help them learn how to paraphrase original material.
      Students can now view their initial Similarity Report, then revise and resubmit their work up to three times, without having to wait 24 hours for an updated report. After three resubmissions have been made, the 24-hour report generation wait time will be restored. To enable resubmissions for students, you must correctly configure the assignment settings of a new or existing assignment.

    • 1. Scroll to *Originality Report Options*.
      2. Under *Originality Report Generation and Submissions, select **Generate reports immediately (students can resubmit until due date): After 3 resubmissions, reports generate after 24 hours*. 

  • PeerMark: a peer evaluation tool. The UNSW Workshop tool may provide greater functionality for peer assessment.
  • Turnitin for iPad: allows staff to review, grade and markup student assignments using an iPad.
  • e-rater: Currently run as a Pilot, it is a grammar feedback technology which automatically checks submissions to an assignment for grammar, usage, mechanics, style and spelling errors. Please note, there is a 64,000 character limit for e-rater checking. Papers in excess of this limit are not eligible to receive grammar checking. For further details please contact your local TELT admin or visit dedicated Turnitin site. 
  • Translated Matching: Currently run as a pilot, translated matching will allow instructors to translate a submission from a supported language to English and have the translated version of a paper compared aginst Turnitin's English paper repository. For further details, please raise an ETS Consultation or visit Turnitin Support page.

It is important to let students know that you are using Turnitin and why you are using it. You must also be aware that submitted papers will be stored by Turnitin and used to check submissions at other institutions.

Turnitin tools are of limited use for assessments requiring mathematical responses. For maths and science subjects, Maple TA is a more suitable tool for teachers setting up assessments. Information on how to use Maple TA is available to students from UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics Maple lab consultants.
The Turnitin service is designed to receive student coursework, for formative and summative assessment. This service is not designed for research work, which is better suited for the iThenticate service. For more information on iThenticate, see below.

Support

Support for instructors

Technical support for Turnitin is available from UNSW External TELT Support on extension 53331 or by email [email protected]

Other useful links: 

Do not use the helpdesk service on the Turnitin.com website, as this will delay the response to your problem.

Support for students

Comparison: Moodle Assignments and Turnitin Submissions

Creation of assignments is similar in both tools. More control over settings is possible in the Moodle assignment tool.

 

Feature

Moodle assignment

Turnitin
 

Create and submit assignments

Yes

Yes

Instructions for the assignment can be included in the activity.
 

Generate Originality Reports

No

Yes

 

Feedback  files can be attached by instructor

Yes

No

Moodle allows the instructor to attach feedback files during marking, for students to download.

Late assignment submission possible

Yes

Yes

Turnitin does not allow a final cut-off date for late submissions.

Group assignments

Yes

No

Moodle allows the creation of one assignment that can be delivered to multiple groups. If the group selection tool is linked to the assignment, it is even possible to deliver different instructions/information to the different groups.

Turnitin is designed for the submission of individual assignments.

All file formats supported

Yes

Yes

Moodle's assignment tool allows submission of any type of file.

Turnitin allows submissions of all file types but will only be able to generate an originality report on text based files such as MS Word, WordPerfect, PostScript, PDF, HTML, RTF, and plain text files. These can contain images, but they will not be scanned by Turnitin. Spreadsheets, equations and diagrams should be saved as PDF files or embedded in MS Word files if you want Turnitin to attempt an originality report on them.

Multiple file attachments per submission

Yes

Partial

Turnitin assignments can have multiple parts, and students can attach one file per part. Instructors submitting multiple files to Turnitin can do so by bulk upload or by submitting a single zip file.

Multiple submissions per assignment

Yes

Partial

Students can submit more than one paper per Turnitin submission box; however, each submission will overwrite the previous one and only the latest originality report will be available.

Return of marked assignments

No

Yes

 

Return with comments (instructor)

Yes

Yes

Instructors can add comments (including in-text and voice comments) to Turnitin assignments using the GradeMark tool.

As of Moodle 2.7, Instructors can leave in-text comments on Moodle assignments directly. Alternatively they can save the file locally, input feedback with a program such as Word, and then return the file to the student within Moodle.

 

Submit with comments (student)

Yes

No

Students submitting using Turnitin will need to place any comments within the document, as separate comments cannot be submitted.

Return with mark up

Yes

Yes

Turnitin submissions can be marked up using the GradeMark tool.

Assignment of grades

Yes

Yes

 

Grade release controlled by Gradebook

Yes

Partial

Markers using GradeMark need to be careful that grades are not inadvertently released. Turnitin grades are visible in two locations, the Turnitin submission box (controlled by the Turnitin post date) and within the Moodle Gradebook (controlled by the Turnitin Post date and Gradebook settings).

Assignments published to class (shared)

No

No

Publishing of exemplary assignments is not directly available in Moodle or Turnitin. You can download assignments from both Moodle and Turnitin, and then upload them to a public location in the Moodle course, such as a discussion forum or similar group activity tool.

Context-sensitive Help

Yes

Yes

Help in relation to Turnitin is provided primarily by this website and the Turnitin Help Center. Field help in Moodle is available by clicking the relevant Help button Moodle Help button.

Statistics on submissions available

No

Yes

Statistics are available in Turnitin on the statistics page, accessible by clicking the class stats tab in the assignment inbox.

Teaching Assistant access configurable

Yes

Yes

Teaching Assistants have the same access as Instructors to both Moodle and Turnitin assignments.
 

Comparison: Turnitin Version 1 to Version 2

 

Feature

Version 1

Version 2
 

Originality report

Yes

Yes
 

GradeMark

Yes

Yes

The user interface has been improved for Version 2. Some features may be found in different locations than before.

PeerMark

No

Yes
 

Turnitin for iPad

Yes

Yes
 

Multiple part assignments

Yes

Yes
 

Accept any file type

No

Yes

Turnitin can be set to attempt an originality report on any file type however,  reports will only be generated for text based content and may not be successful on less common file types.

Spreadsheets, equations and diagrams should be saved as PDF files or embedded in MS Word files if you want Turnitin to attempt an originality report on them.

Email students who have not submitted yet

No

Yes
 

Notify Instructors when a submission is made

No

Yes
 

Shared marking Rubric

No

Yes
 

Submit on behalf of a student

Yes

Yes
 

40MB upload limit

Yes

Yes
 

 

Comparison: Turnitin and iThenticate

What is iThenticate?

On 14th March, Professor Les Field (S-DVC) and Professor Nicholas Fisk (DVC-R) sent an email to all academic staff announcing the availability of the iThenticate service for eligible UNSW staff researchers.

The iThenticate service allows eligible staff to upload their research papers into iThenticate, where they are scanned against an extensive database consisting of 60 billion webpages, 144 million content items, ProQuest, dissertations and other internal documents. Once this is complete, the researcher receives a detailed report.

iThenticate is not available for student use, though higher degree research candidates who seek to use iThenticate as part of their enrolment can contact their supervisor to use iThenticate on their behalf.

The UNSW Research Integrity Unit are currently drafting guidelines on appropriate use of iThenticate at UNSW. More information will be available on the Research Gateway shortly.

How is this different from Turnitin?

Unlike Turnitin, iThenticate is a service designed for researchers to upload research materials only, and is designed to meet a different set of requirements. For example, iThenticate scans against over 530 publishers, allows for files of up to 400 pages to be uploaded, and meets a different set of legal requirements.

In contrast, Turnitin is designed to allow students to upload their assessment submissions into a Turnitin submission box, for educators to review, grade and return feedback upon. Unlike iThenticate, Turnitin scans against other students papers, has a grading interface for teaching staff, allows for peer assessment, and does this by integrating with UNSW Moodle.

Important: Turnitin is to be used for student assessment only, research materials are not to be submitted to Turnitin.

Diagram showing when to use iThenticate vs Turnitin