Professional Development Seminar Series
Promoting Originality - Minimizing Plagiarism in Student Work

Jude Carroll returns to HKUST from 18 - 20 November to discuss how we can promote originality and reduce plagiarism by facilitating student learning through the use of the originality detection software, Turnitin. This software is being piloted at HKUST this semester and will be fully available in the spring semester. Jude will deliver four seminars on practices using Turnitin and these will be supplemented with two hands-on sessions conducted by CELT staff.

• Seminar 1: Getting the best out of Turnitin

• Seminar 2: Using Turnitin well: a session for Postgraduate Teachers and Graduate Teaching Assistants

• Seminar 3: Interpreting Turnitin Originality Reports

• Seminar 4: Using Turnitin to teach skills as well as to detect plagiarism

• Workshop: Getting started with Turnitin

Seminar 1: Getting the best out of Turnitin

This session will evaluate the capabilities of the TurnItIn software tool designed to detect document originality. It is the most widely used software for this purpose with English language texts. However, it is not a magic bullet. The session will cover what Turnitin can do and what it cannot do with respect to plagiarism and cheating. You will need this information to make sure you use the software wisely and well.

For registration, please click here.

Seminar 2: Using Turnitin well: a session for Postgraduate Teachers and Graduate Teaching Assistants

This session is for research postgraduates, especially those who teach; and will cover

• how to inform your students about Turnitin
• how to interpret the reports the software generates and what action to take
• ways of using Turnitin to help students learn about academic writing and referencing

We will also discuss how postgraduates themselves can incorporate Turnitin feedback into their own writing skills development. There will be time for questions and discussion.

For registration, please click here.

Seminar 3: Interpreting Turnitin Originality Reports

What does it mean if the Turnitin software finds a 56% match in your student's assignment? 56% might be serious and it might not. This session looks below the headline percentage in order to explain what the figure really means. It also alerts you to problems that can happen if reports are not checked carefully. The session suggests how to check a large number of reports efficiently and fairly.

For registration, please click here.

Seminar 4: Using Turnitin to teach skills as well as to detect plagiarism

Many universities use Turnitin as a teaching tool. One researcher describes the moment when students discuss the tool as 'a eureka moment' - but it is important to control and manage how students use it. This session explains good practice guidelines for formative use and recommends ways that HKUST might make the most of their license fee for Turnitin.

For registration, please click here.

Workshop: Getting started with Turnitin

The workshop introduces instructors and TAs to the key technical features and user interface of Turnitin. Hands-on practice will be provided to ensure that by the end of the workshop, participants will be able to use Turnitin to:

• Set up courses and assignments
• Manage courses and students
• Build up assignment database
• Grade and check the originality of the assignments

For registration, please click here.

About Jude Carroll
Jude Carroll is the Principle Lecture at the Oxford Brookes University. She has worked on plagiarism around the world since 2000, helping students, teachers and whole institutions address the issue. She is the author of A Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher Education (2007). From 2008 to 2009, she spent a year in Stockholm with the Royal Technical University, leading projects related to plagiarism and institutional management strategies across Scandinavia. Recently, Jude was awarded with the National Teaching Fellowships from the Higher Education Academy of the UK.

About Turnitin
Turnitin is an originality checking and plagiarism prevention software that is globally used by millions of students and faculty. Beyond checking the originality of student’ work, Turnitin is promoting a writing cycle that makes anti-plagiarism more meaningful to students’ learning. The cycle includes originality checking, online grading and providing feedback and peer review. Turnitin will be available at HKUST soon. Click here for more information about it.

Light refreshments will be provided!

All are welcome!

Click here to register now. For enquiries, please contact Ms. Tammy Sha at x6803 or cttammy@ust.hk.

Fall 2009 Teaching Assistant Orientation and
Induction Program

The Fall 2009 TA training program organized for to all new TAs in late Aug has been completed successfully. This year, more than 300 new TAs participated in the program.

From mid-Sept to late Oct, several elective TA workshops are offered to all TAs to polish their teaching skills. For details, please refer to the TA Program brochure. All interested TAs can register at http://celt.ust.hk/ce in advance.

To view the snapshots of the TA Orientation and Departmental Briefing Session, please click here.

All teaching materials conducted during the TA training program are now available. To recap the materials, please click here.

Applications are now invited from program teaching teams or individual teaching staff seeking funding for new teaching and learning innovation projects with a focus on teaching and learning assessment for the coming academic year.

Deadlines for application are 30 June 2009 (1st batch) and 30 Nov 2009 (2nd batch). Please visit the project website or contact the Secretariat of CELT at celt@ust.hk for details.

In late March to early April 2009, TAs voted for their departmental TA Coordinator (TAC) on the online voting system. TAs who voted were eligible to participate in a lucky draw in which 10 TAs won HK$100 vouchers from Park n' Shop.

Prizes and certificates will be presented by Prof TC Pong (AVPAA) and Dr David Mole (AVPAA) at the TA Certificate of Achievement Presentation Ceremony on May 19, 2009 (Tue).