Does anyone use "Turn It In" at their school?

Question

Does it work? Is it worth the $3,000 it costs for a school license? Our English Depatment is considering buying a site license.

Answer 1

The turnitin program can be an excellent resource .  Although primarily promoted for its abilities to detect and deter plagiarism, I believe the program is most advantageously used as a method to help students understand the admittedly vague concept of what constitutes plagiarism.

Papers processed through the program are assigned a percentage score denoting the level of non-original prose, with the offending passages highlighted in red. Students who think substituting a couple words or changing the sentence order is sufficient are shocked to see how much of their writing is printed in red.

This visual feedback provides an effective illustration of what is considered inappropriate appropriation of another's writing.  Imagine the effort of personally providing similar feedback.

It is well worth the money for this feature alone.