The impact of practical training on student understanding of plagiarism

Abstract

In order to develop an understading of plagiarism and how best to avoid it, a workshop was conducted with masters' students. They took part in a 4 hour interactive session that covered types of plagiarism, appropriate acknowledgement of sources, paraphrasing and contract cheating. They also completed a literature review afterwards for which they received two rounds of feedback on plagiarism issues. Students completed a survey assessing their understanding of plagiarism pre and post the workshop. A paired samples t test showed a significant improvement in student understanding of plagiarism as a result of the intervention. It is planned to roll out the initiative to other student groups in the coming academic year.