Imitation is Not Always Flattery

The LA Times today carries a story about the UCLA Anderson's School's use of the Turnitin.com system for catching plagiarism in essays of applicants for the MBA program.  The system is more commonly used for checking reports written for class assignments by already-enrolled students.  Excerpt:

..."The more we can nip unethical behavior in the bud, the better," said Andrew Ainslie, a senior associate dean at UCLA Anderson. "It seems to us nobody ought to be able to buy their way into a business school."  In the school's first review of essays from potential MBA candidates this year, Turnitin found significant plagiarism — beyond borrowing a phrase here and there — in a dozen of the 870 applications, Ainslie said. All 12 were rejected...


Full article at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-plagiarism-20120129,0,2954802.story

Faithful readers of this blog will note that Turnitin itself has a questionable practice of its own:
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/09/turnitin-or-turncoat.html




UPDATE: Anderson rejected 52 applicants for plagiarism.  See:
http://poetsandquants.com/2012/02/01/ucla-rejects-12-mba-applicants-for-plagiarism/

Turnitin or Turncoat?

My son sent me a web reference on the Turnitin system UCLA and many other universities use to check student papers for plagiarism. Much of the article complains about shortcomings of the system, i.e., things it does not find for various reasons. But toward the bottom, the article reveals that Turnitin has a service for students that tells them what their plagiarism rating is. That is contrary to the impression given instructors – and presumably to university officials who are paying for the service – that student paper ratings are known only to the instructor. The student gets only a receipt for the paper, not the rating. That’s true unless that student subscribes to Turnitin’s “Writecheck” service.

Full article at http://davideharrington.com/?p=594

As you can see above, the Writecheck website says it is part of Turnitin. It is not someone else’s emulation of the Turnitin system.

UCLA is paying for this service. Is it worth it given what Turnitin is now doing?

PS: Apparently, Turnitin did not see the unconscious humor in calling its student paid subscription service Writecheck. Maybe it’s because fewer people pay by check these days.

Update: Insider Higher Ed has a piece on this issue: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/09/09/turnitin_writecheck_lights_fire_in_plagiarism_debate