MiraCosta College has partnered with the third-party company Turnitin to help faculty with instruction about citing sources and to help maintain academic integrity. Turnitin is a suite of tools that provide instructors with information about the originality of submitted work and facilitates the process of grading for instructors. Turnitin may also be used directly by students to get feedback on their use of source material during the writing process if instructors would like students to have that feedback.

Submitted files are compared against an extensive database of journal articles, student papers, and websites. Turnitin produces a similarity report and a similarity score. A similarity score is the percentage of a document that matches content held within the database. A similarity report gives the instructor more information about any potential matches and their sources. Turnitin does not determine if an instance of plagiarism has occurred. Instead, it gives instructors the information they need to determine the originality of work as a part of the teaching and learning process.

What is Turnitin?

Turnitin is originality checker or sometimes people call it “anti-plagiarism” software that is integrated with Canvas at MiraCosta College. It compares student papers submitted through Canvas-Turnitin Assignment against vast databases to generate a similarity score, highlight the matched content and provide a link to Turnitin's databases where the match is found. Turnitin only provides a similarity report and it is up to you to decide whether a student paper is plagiarized, improperly cited, or otherwise is in need of improvement.

How can you get a similarity score?

How can you filter similarity report?

How do you decide for a plagiarism?

The two types of Turnitin software in Canvas

There are two types of Turnitin software integrated in Canvas at MiraCosta College. Both are found in the assignment area of Canvas.

Turnitin - Framework
Turnitin - LTI

Framework Tools / LTI Tool

What are the differences of Turnitin-Framework and Turnitin-LTI functions?

The Turnitin - FrameWork tool is the most commonly used option. This tool integrates more closely with the Canvas tools. The Turnitin - FrameWork uses most of Canvas functions such as Canvas rubric, peer review assignments, group work and differentiated due dates. Use this option if in doubt.

The Turnitin- LTI version an external tool which has its own online grading function in the Feedback studio. Departments such as English/writing might like some of the additional tools found in the Turnitin - LTI. One tool that might be of interest if grading for proper writing composition is the PeerMark tool. The addition of this tool might make it it more logical to use the Turnitin - LTI instead.

What are GradeMark and PeerMark?

In addition to Originality Check, Turnitin LTI provide GradeMark with Feedback studio. It allows instructors to give feedback and grade points in Canvas. Instructors are able to create custom sets of comments to give feedback quickly. Instructors can also create rubrics for scoring of student papers against a list of scaled criteria created by the instructor or educational institution.

GradeMark

The LTI version of Turnitin will come with PeerMark and with more additional flexibility in Turnitin Assignment in Canvas. PeerMark is a peer review assignment tool that instructors can create and manage PeerMark assignments that allow students to read, review, and evaluate one or many papers submitted by their classmates.

What are the general procedures to use Turnitin- Framework and Turnitin-LTI in Canvas?

The steps of creating assignments using Turnitin Framework and Turnitin LTI in Canvas are different but the general procedures are as follows.

Creating a Turnitin Assignment in Canvas
Adjusting Your Default Turnitin Assignment Settings
Evaluating Turnitin Assignment Submissions

What are the steps of creating Turnitin Assignments in Canvas?

To learn on the steps of creating Canvas assignment using Turnitin-Framework.
To learn on the steps of creating Canvas assignment using Turnitin-LTI.