How do I submit a written assignment for plagiarism check (Turnitin)

[ChikNg]

A student submitted a written assignment to me by email (pass the due date on set on Canvas).  How do I submit the assignment to Turnitin for plagiarism check?   

[nwilson7 · Accepted solution]

@ChikNg You can do this through Turnitin's website.  I will note that you may have to say you forgot your password though to get in.  Not sure how many other places do this but since we use Turnitin exclusively with Canvas we do not actually create accounts directly in Turnitin for our faculty.  This means an account is created for them once they use it once it Canvas but a password is not created for them in the process.  So, you have to say you forgot your password to do the password setup potion of your account. 

Once you are in, you will see your course and within the courses, the specific assignments that you have enabled Turnitin for.  Once you find the assignment, you will see a "more options" menu to the far right.  If you click this, one of the option is to "submit".  You can choose to submit on behalf of a student or really can make up any information as the user and then have the plagiarism checker run on it.

Hope this helps!

-Nick

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @ChikNg ...

Do you know if your school has integrated Turnitin into their Canvas environment?  It's my understanding that when you use the Turnitin LTI integration in your course, students are the ones who have to submit the assignment to you via the Turnitin interface.  I'm 95% sure (though I'd be happy to be wrong) there isn't a way for you, as the instructor, to submit the student's assignment using the Turnitin LTI within Canvas.  I *think* you can do this outside of Canvas, via the Turnitin website.  I know that @dhulsey uses Turnitin quite a bit, so I'll defer to him for the specifics and any other suggestions he might have for you.

Hope this will help a bit.  Take care...

[ChikNg]

My school has integrated Turnitin into Canvas.  I will check out the Turnitin website.  Thanks.

[nwilson7 · Accepted solution]

@ChikNg You can do this through Turnitin's website.  I will note that you may have to say you forgot your password though to get in.  Not sure how many other places do this but since we use Turnitin exclusively with Canvas we do not actually create accounts directly in Turnitin for our faculty.  This means an account is created for them once they use it once it Canvas but a password is not created for them in the process.  So, you have to say you forgot your password to do the password setup potion of your account. 

Once you are in, you will see your course and within the courses, the specific assignments that you have enabled Turnitin for.  Once you find the assignment, you will see a "more options" menu to the far right.  If you click this, one of the option is to "submit".  You can choose to submit on behalf of a student or really can make up any information as the user and then have the plagiarism checker run on it.

Hope this helps!

-Nick

[SusanNiemeyer]

@nwilson7  @Chris_Hofer - I think we spend too much time figuring out "work arounds."  Canvas is set up that only students can submit assignments, not instructors, for a reason. If there's any potential concern about plagiarism, then it's really important that the student has submitted the work himself or herself. 

All @ChikNg has to do is reopen the assignment for the student with +ADD.  That's the simplest answer.

[SusanNiemeyer · Accepted solution]

@ChikNg  - I teach at a community college, and I have a strict policy that all work must be submitted through Canvas. I will not accept work that is emailed to me or even submitted as a "submission comment." Every single piece of student work must be properly submitted by the student, especially if you're concerned about plagiarism.

Here's my recommendation.

Reopen the Assignment for that individual student with the +ADD function. Once the student properly submits his or her work, you will instantly know whether there are any issues.

Don't mess with "work around" solutions. Don't try to run it through Turnitin yourself. It's your student's responsibility to submit his or her work.