Guide for Teaching Assistants
The following information is also available as a PDF
Turnitin.com is an electronic resource that assists in the deterrence and detection of plagiarism. Instructors set up “virtual classes” to which students submit their assignments electronically. Each submitted paper is checked for textual similarity against resources stored in the Turnitin.com database and against billions of web pages (including on-line texts and journals). Instructors receive originality reports for all papers submitted through Turnitin which indicate the degree of textual similarity found in each assignment.
Turnitin allows instructors to add sections to their class account for Teaching Assistants or co-instructors. Each TA section is given its own Section ID # and password and students will join this section and submit their assignments directly to their TA.
TO JOIN A CLASS AS A TA:
Instructors may choose to create TA sections themselves or may ask their TAs to do so. If the instructor has asked you to create your own section for his/her course, follow these steps:
VIEWING ORIGINALITY REPORTS
Student assignments will appear in your TA section once they have been submitted. You will see the student’s name, the title of their assignment, and the date they submitted it. In addition, a colour-coded icon for the Originality Report will also appear. To view the Originality Report simply click on the icon.
The Originality Report highlights textual similarities found within the assignment and provides links to sources (eg. web pages) with similar text. You may choose to view this report side-by-side with the original paper – allowing for a quick and easy comparison.
You may choose to view your class inbox before you read and mark an assignment. Since Turnitin provides colour-coded Originality Reports it is easy to identify those papers that have suspicious content. You may wish to view those reports with the highest rating (reds, oranges) before you look at the original paper.
Remember that the Originality Reports highlight suspicious passages and do not make judgments as to whether or not a paper is plagiarized. The Turnitin system may highlight passages or quotations that have been properly cited. Keep this in mind when you are viewing these reports.
Please note: If you uncover what you think is a case of plagiarism please bring this to the attention of the course instructor. Provide the instructor with a copy of the original paper and the Originality Report. It is not the responsibility of the Teaching Assistant to discuss this matter directly with the student.
Turnitin allows instructors to add sections to their class account for Teaching Assistants or co-instructors. Each TA section is given its own Section ID # and password and students will join this section and submit their assignments directly to their TA.
TO JOIN A CLASS AS A TA:
Instructors may choose to create TA sections themselves or may ask their TAs to do so. If the instructor has asked you to create your own section for his/her course, follow these steps:
- Visit www.turnitin.com and follow the link to New User.
- Enter your name, email address, etc.
- Select your user type – select Teaching Assistant.
- When prompted enter the Master Class ID # and the TA join password (available from the course instructor).
- You will then be asked to select a password for your section (you might choose something relevant to the course that will be easy for your students to remember).
- Your TA section will now appear as a subsection of the course and will be assigned its own unique ID #.
- Distribute the Section ID # and section password to the students in your tutorial section. They will now enroll in your section and submit assignments directly to you.
VIEWING ORIGINALITY REPORTS
Student assignments will appear in your TA section once they have been submitted. You will see the student’s name, the title of their assignment, and the date they submitted it. In addition, a colour-coded icon for the Originality Report will also appear. To view the Originality Report simply click on the icon.
The Originality Report highlights textual similarities found within the assignment and provides links to sources (eg. web pages) with similar text. You may choose to view this report side-by-side with the original paper – allowing for a quick and easy comparison.
You may choose to view your class inbox before you read and mark an assignment. Since Turnitin provides colour-coded Originality Reports it is easy to identify those papers that have suspicious content. You may wish to view those reports with the highest rating (reds, oranges) before you look at the original paper.
Remember that the Originality Reports highlight suspicious passages and do not make judgments as to whether or not a paper is plagiarized. The Turnitin system may highlight passages or quotations that have been properly cited. Keep this in mind when you are viewing these reports.
Please note: If you uncover what you think is a case of plagiarism please bring this to the attention of the course instructor. Provide the instructor with a copy of the original paper and the Originality Report. It is not the responsibility of the Teaching Assistant to discuss this matter directly with the student.