The Challenges of Using Turnitin: A Personal Experience
As a student navigating the complexities of academic integrity, I recently encountered some significant frustrations with Turnitin. My instructor requires us to submit assignments through both Canvas and Turnitin, instituting a strict policy: any submission with a Turnitin similarity score above 15% automatically receives a zero. Unfortunately, my paper came back with a score of 24%.
What bewildered me most was what Turnitin highlighted. It flagged not only my own headings and original content but also phrases from reputable sources that I consistently cited with proper links. It’s disheartening to see your hard work identified as potential plagiarism when you’ve taken care to follow academic protocols.
Although my paper hasn’t been graded yet, I’m left wondering how my instructor will approach this situation. Will she take into account the flaws in the system before making her assessment? The threshold of 15% seems overly stringent, particularly when using Turnitin, a tool that can sometimes misinterpret the context of your writing.
I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. Many students share similar experiences with Turnitin, pointing out its shortcomings in effectively distinguishing between properly cited work and actual plagiarism. It raises a crucial conversation about the balance between maintaining academic integrity and allowing students the leeway to learn and express their ideas without fear of arbitrary penalties.
Have you experienced something similar with Turnitin? How did you handle it? Your insights could help others who might find themselves in a similar predicament.
It sounds like you’re navigating a frustrating situation with Turnitin, and you’re not alone in experiencing these challenges. Many students encounter high similarity scores on Turnitin, often due to factors that should not be penalized, such as properly cited material or common phrases and headings. Here’s some insight into how to handle this situation, along with some practical advice.
Understanding Turnitin’s Functionality
Turnitin is designed to identify potential plagiarism by comparing submitted work to a vast database of sources, including published works, student papers, and websites. However, it can sometimes flag text that is not actually problematic. Here are a couple of reasons why your score might be high:
Common Phrasing: As you mentioned, headings or phrases that are commonly used in academic writing can trigger Turnitin’s algorithms. This is particularly prevalent in instructional or process-based documents.
Cited Material: If you’ve directly included sentences from cited sources, those segments will also contribute to your overall similarity score, even if proper citations are in place.
Steps to Take Now
Understand Your Report: Review the Turnitin report carefully. Look at the highlighted sections to see which parts are contributing to your score. Focus on distinguishing between flagged content that you’ve cited correctly and genuinely problematic material.
Communicate with Your Instructor: Since you are unsure how your teacher will interpret the Turnitin score, proactively reach out to them. Explain your situation, including the reasoning behind the flagged sections. Many educators are aware of Turnitin’s quirks and could be sympathetic to your case.
Provide Context: When discussing the report with your teacher, be ready to show how all cited material is properly referenced. If applicable, you could offer to discuss specific sections of your paper that were flagged. This demonstrates responsibility and engagement with the assignment.
Consider Editing: If your instructor allows for resubmissions or suggests a revision, consider rephrasing certain sections to reduce similarity scores. Changing sentence structures and word choices can help decrease the percentage without sacrificing the clarity of your arguments.
Educational Resources: Familiarize yourself with best practices in academic writing and citing sources. Many universities provide resources for students about avoiding plagiarism and effectively paraphrasing. Utilizing these tools can enhance your writing skills and reduce future issues.
Moving Forward
If your concern is not resolved after discussing it with your teacher or if they maintain a strict threshold without considering context, you might want to raise the issue with your institution’s academic support center or a writing center. They can offer additional guidance and may even provide opportunities to discuss general policies regarding Turnitin scores.
Finally, it’s important to remember that educational experiences often come with hurdles. Each instance of feedback from tools like Turnitin can serve as a valuable lesson in developing your academic writing skills. Don’t let this dissuade you from engaging with your studies; instead, use it as a stepping stone to improve. Good luck, and I hope your instructor considers the nuances of your submission!