Edith Rigby, Henley Business School
e.rigby@henley.ac.uk
Overview
A review of existing University of Reading assessment advice and two staff workshops at Henley Business School to inform a new marker’s guide on fair marking and managing Academic Misconduct. The marker’s guide will specifically cover what to look out for and when and how to use Turnitin Originality Reports. The guide can also be used at staff development workshops.
Objectives
To produce a staff guide that:
- Distinguishes plagiarism, poor academic practice and academic misconduct
- Outlines different staff roles in relation to marking and assessment feedback
- Provides a training tool for new staff
- Promotes consistent marking and feedback practice including when or how to use Turnitin Originality Reports.
Context
Turnitin Originality Reports are used widely to detect potential academic misconduct. While there is some information on how to use Turnitin to help identify academic misconduct, there are no sessions or workshops on best practice specific to Henley Business School. Discrepancies can therefore able to arise across programmes in how similarity reports are used to advise students or inform marking.
Developing a new marker’s guide to best practice within Henley Business School when marking could ensure a more consistent student experience.
Implementation
Two workshops with the School Director of Teaching and Learning, Directors of Studies and Programme Directors were held to first identify current processes and areas of concern around academic misconduct, and specific areas on which guidance was needed. Then the structure and core content for a new marker’s guide were agreed. The core content was to include: definitions of roles of admin teams, module convenors, markers and Directors of Studies; core definitions; processes; and advice on basic and best practice for new markers.
Then a basic but flexible guide with space for users to add more examples and narratives of best practice was developed. This was based on the results of the two workshops and a review of the Henley Good Academic Practice guide and test for students, and University of Reading advice and documentation around academic misconduct.
Core staff were invited to contribute to the guide as a work in progress, and this draft guide was used at staff workshops.
Impact
The basic guide achieved the project objectives.
Different disciplines across Henley Business School have different needs and collating contributions from busy academics has resulted in a guide that is currently best used for workshops only. Once more contributions are forthcoming an online version can be developed as required.
The key impact of this project has been to generate discussion and share practices around the
- purpose and processes of marking
- different types of assessment and the assessment literacies required for staff and students
- handling large group assessment and marking.
Reflections
Being able to identify what new markers need to know about roles and processes has turned out to be essential given the changes to the Academic Misconduct policy over the last two academic years. Academics and programme administrators alike have found this part of the guide more than helpful.
Henley Business School Directors of Studies also found the workshop discussions useful and pertinent to assessment aspects of their roles.
More workshops with targeted academics across an academic year as part of the project plan would have elicited more content.
Overall the work on this project has informed other work on eAssessment and eFeedback at Henley Business School, and will be revisited as part of the Henley review of assessment and feedback.
Follow up
In time more contributions will be sought so that the guide can better illustrate the differences between undergraduate and postgraduate marking requirements. It can then be made more interactive for web self-access or use in workshops.
Links
Henley Marking Guide to Academic Misconduct and using Turnitin Originality Reports
If you need to edit this, please contact Nicola Langton (nicola.langton@henley.ac.uk).