Validate Student Created Work: Difference between revisions

As teachers, we want to ensure that all student work is authentic and reflects the students' own efforts. With the rise of digital tools and resources, maintaining academic integrity can be challenging. Here are several ways to validate that student work is genuinely student-created. The following suggestions are applicable to most departments, and if you have questions you can reach out a member of the Tech Team.

While it may seem tempting to use AI text detectors to identify potential instances of plagiarism, there are several reasons why these tools may not be suitable for a school setting:

* '''Accuracy Concerns:''' AI text detectors often struggle to accurately identify whether a piece of text was written by a human or generated by AI. False positives can occur, unfairly penalizing students for work they genuinely created. These inaccuracies can damage trust between teachers and students and undermine the educational process.

* '''Privacy and Ethical Issues:''' AI text detectors often require access to students' work, which can raise concerns about data privacy and security. The use of such tools might conflict with privacy policies or student rights, especially if sensitive data is shared with third-party services without proper consent.

* '''Pedagogical Limitations:''' Relying on AI text detectors can shift the focus away from fostering critical thinking, research, and writing skills. Instead of teaching students how to write effectively and ethically, it may encourage a culture of fear and mistrust. Educators should prioritize methods that promote learning and growth rather than over-relying on automated tools.

Given these concerns, it is generally advisable to avoid using AI text detectors in favor of more reliable methods, such as using revision history in Google Workspace or Turnitin's plagiarism detection capabilities. These tools offer a more transparent, effective, and ethical approach to maintaining academic integrity.

 

Encourage students to use Google Workspace products—such as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides—for all assignments and projects. By keeping everything within our Google domain, teachers can easily monitor the revision history of documents to see when and how changes were made. This transparency allows teachers to ensure that students are completing assignments as intended and provides an additional layer of accountability.

* Remind students to always create and edit their work within their Google accounts.

* Regularly check the revision history to track changes and see the development process of student work.

* Use the "Version history" feature in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides to identify any unusual editing patterns that may suggest copying and pasting from external sources.

== Leverage Turnitin for Plagiarism Detection ==

To start using Turnitin in Schoology, please refer to this [https://www.iorad.com/player/2416743/Schoology---Create-Turnitin-Assignment Turnitin Assignment Tutorial] or one of these articles:

== Explore Digiexam for Secure Assessments ==

 

If you are interested in using Digiexam for your classes, reach out to Matthijs or Matt to get started. For more information, check out this article: [[Access DigiExam]].

Brisk for Teachers is a free tool that offers a unique "Inspect Writing" feature, which provides a detailed account of how students complete and edit a Google Doc. This feature is particularly useful for detecting instances where content may have been copied and pasted from other sources, whether generated by AI or otherwise. It provides insights into the student's writing process, including time spent on each section, edits made, and more, helping to identify potential academic dishonesty.