17. Plagiarism – the statistics (GCSE and A level only) summer series total candidates penalised total candidates penalised for ‘copying from other candidates, collusion and plagiarism’ 2009 4415 1084 2008 4156 1150 2007 4258 1301 2006 4757 1527
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20. Using sources - students How to use and acknowledge sources of information Find it! Information is easy to find online, but look for quality. Check it! Question the information you find. Credit it! Referencing is important.
21. Authenticity - teachers The issue of authenticity is not confined to HE. The guide helps to provide teachers with a framework for building upon the concepts of authenticity and attribution.
22. Avoiding Plagiarism – parents and carers Explain to parents: What plagiarism is Why do students plagiarise (deliberately and accidently) The penalties for plagiarism What parents can do to help
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24. Types of control Task marking Task doing Task setting Low Medium High Control
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Notas del editor
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am pleased to join you today at this conference and to be able to bring you up to date with Ofqual’s views of and role in combating plagiarism. Plagiarism attracts the attention of schools, colleges, universities; learners, their parents and carers, and the public in general . When cases of plagiarism are reported or discovered, it can affect confidence in the results that are issued, in the quality of the examination or assessment and in the value of qualifications. All of these issues are of concern to Ofqual. As the regulator, we ‘strive to secure qualifications, examinations and assessments that are valued and trusted by learners, users and the wider public’.
There is a very small percentage of examination entries where a problem exists. Over 16 million GCSE and GCE scripts were marked in the summer of 2009, and over 7 million awards made at GCSE and A level. Penalties for reported malpractice were applied to just 0.03% of these examinations. It is important to note however that our focus is not just on GSCEs and A level qualifications. We require awarding organisations to take the same approach to plagiarism in other qualifications including the new diplomas and in vocational qualifications, where there can be additional issues such as authenticating work-based assessments.
To bring the threat of plagiarism into context, our recorded incidents of malpractice, which include detection of plagiarism, copying from other candidates and collusion, are low. Ofqual does not collect statistics on plagiarism in vocational qualifications and we have not received any complaints to investigate. Ofqual (2010) Statistical bulletin - Malpractice in GCSE and GCE: June 2009 examination series. Available at http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/public-download/category/20-?download=414%3Amalpractice-june-2009
We recognise that despite the low figures, plagiarism is a problem that can have a large impact and we will continue to work with awarding organisations and encourage their work with schools and other education providers to reduce incidents of plagiarism as well as to improve their ability to detect attempts to plagiarise. We must also concentrate on raising public confidence, ensuring that they understand the scope of and the issues with plagiarism.
Ofqual itself has taken a strong stance towards addressing plagiarism. Our GCSE, GCE, principal learning and project code of practice, lays down agreed principles, processes and practices within and between awarding organisations. It requires awarding organisations to have procedures in place for reporting, investigating and dealing with any form of malpractice and makes clear the responsibilities of awarding organisations and their personnel including examiners, scrutineers and moderators. Further to this we release statistics concerning malpractice to ensure that this issue is openly reported on. We have also produced a range of guides for teachers, parents and carers and for students and we provide additional advice to students through our well-respected exams doctor. Our plagiarism guides promote good practice amongst candidates, highlight the dangers of plagiarism and help teachers to educate their students in how to avoid plagiarising as well as equipping them with information to help them detect and deal with plagiarism.
The first strand of this approach is the education, or virtues, approach. It includes the development of codes of practice, which set out a framework for behaviour and explain how institutions will react to incidents of cheating or plagiarism. These codes must be supported by institutional policy statements which can more clearly influence students than detailed codes, and which are especially effective if seen to be well supported by teaching staff. Staff should also be encouraged to cultivate an honest environment, ensuring that their students do not feel under pressure to cheat. Staff should also ensure that they use the codes of practice to hold students to account. This approach also needs to be up-to-date in order to appeal to students. It must not be seen as a rigid institutional and bureaucratic policy. Any code of practice or statement should respond to modern pressures, such as misuse of technology, and especially the internet, where text is now readily available to cut and paste, either through online books, or through essay banks where assignments are available on demand. Codes should also be supported with clear promotion of how to avoid plagiarising – for example by clearly explaining how to acknowledge and reference the work of others.