Date: April 25th
Time: 10:00 – 14:00
Venue: Dublin Institute of Technology (precise location TBC)
Presenter(s): Irene Glendinning, Coventry University (Confirmed) and PI on EU project “Impact of Policies for Plagiarism in Higher Education across Europe”, http://ippheae.eu/
Perry Share, Head of Department of Humanities
Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland (Confirmed)
Others TBC
Event Details: Students transitioning to third-level directly after the Leaving Cert generally face a dilemma: having been accustomed to the learn-and-regurgitate style of the state examinations, which encourages a form of plagiarism, they are now told that such practices are unethical. As a result, students and academic staff alike can end up confused about what exactly constitutes plagiarism and how to handle instances of possible plagiarism when they arise. In the digital age, plagiarism detection has become almost a fad both within third-level colleges: the prevailing emphasis tends towards detection and policing. Recent high profile cases in Germany, Hungary and even here in Ireland have added to the headlines and the popular imagination. The focus, rather, should be on promoting academic integrity and equipping students with the necessary information literacy skills, a key skills for their future academic and professional lives. The symposium will seek to discuss institutional and local policies on plagiarism in a digital age, but will also discuss the broader issues of academic ethics and intellectual integrity. It will set the scene/context of the discussion in our digital age, including contributing factors to the rise in awareness of plagiarism. Topics covered will include national and international policies on plagiarism and academic research integrity; the variety of policy across third-level institutions; the extent of plagiarism at our colleges; intentional and unintentional plagiarism and whether there is a need for a different approach to plagiarism in a digital age. It will also focus on what we should be doing to promote academic integrity, helping students and staff to seek academic rigour and originality. A workshop investigating the strengths and weaknesses of plagiarism-detection software is also planned.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this symposium, participants will have:
- an insight into the extent of the problem of plagiarism at third level
- examined and discussed ways in which students can avoid plagiarism
- gained awareness of the methods used by students to avoid plagiarism detection
- identified actions to enhance the value of originality and of attribution in research and writing at third-level
Contact: Dr Kevin C. O’Rourke
Head of eLearning Support & Development
Dublin Institute of Technology
14 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2
Tel. 353-1-402-7860
Mobile 086-7740469