Coventry University has caught 237 of its students cheating in coursework assignments through plagiarising the work of other people. It was revealed recently that in many cases this constituted the simple act of ‘cutting and pasting’ from the internet. Seven students have been expelled, and 12 are anxiously awaiting a decision on their futures.
Coventry, one of Britain’s newest universities, discovered the cheats by using a computer program called Turnitin. The software works by comparing submitted work with a database made up of academic texts and the work of other students. Although the program is used by the majority of Higher Education establishments in this country, only Coventry has found such high levels of plagiarism.
Coventry employs a hard-line policy when it comes to such issues. Their Vice-Chancellor, Professor Donald Pennington, said: "We decided we had to tackle the issue head-on to prevent students from assuming they would get away with it. We’re not happy to have caught nearly 240 people cheating, but we’re pleased to be so active in trying to stamp this problem out. It was a conscious decision to make it a high-profile issue."
The discovery is certain to serve as a stark warning to anyone committing a similar offence at institutions throughout the UK, as universities start to wise-up to cheats.
Southampton is adopting a contrasting, although no less credible, stance with regard to plagiarism.
Dr JR Calvert, Chair of the University Academic Integrity Working Group, told the Wessex Scene: "Southampton has adopted a policy of educating students in good academic practice, to avoid plagiarism and other academic offences being committed through ignorance, inexperience or misunderstanding. Deliberate misconduct will be dealt with through standardised procedures". It is not known how many Southampton students have faced disciplinary action over a breach of the plagiarism rules.
Plagiarism remains one of the biggest problems universities face though, with a recent survey suggesting as many as one in 10 students had searched the internet for model essays.
Christopher Dean