Plagiarism detection in the classroom: honesty and trust through the urkund and turnitin software

Abstract

This text is the result of a research process that has been carried out during the last five years on the realities and problems of plagiarism in contexts of higher education in different countries. We have observed eight groups of university students of different degrees in Engineering in a mandatory course of “Oral and written expression” in two universities in different countries (Ecuador and Spain). This course aims to provide tools to develop skills in oral and written presentations on academic assignments. Through practical exercises, manuals and presentations, students develop different strategies to generate tools to expose their knowledge as a “way of doing”. The development of student tasks follows specific guidelines discussed with the use of technology to detect plagiarism, Turnitin and Urkund tools. The results of our research indicate how the average percentage of plagiarism in student work is reduced with the introduction of this software.