Faculty of Science Learning, Teaching and Assessment Information and Resources

LTA updates

Reminder: Faculty LTA Development Day, Monday 15^th December 2014
21/11/14 Faculty of Science Learning, Teaching and Assessment Update
Faculty LTA Development Day and Faculty LTA Resources Website 41 Faculty staff have so far signed up to attend all or part of the Faculty LTA Development Day on Monday 15th December 2014. If you have not yet responded, please visit your Outlook calendar on this date/time and open the item to either accept, ‘tentative’ or reject. A reminder that the Faculty LTA Resources Website is here:
English for Academic Purposes support classes To help non-native English-speaking students achieve their full academic potential, LJMU offers free in-sessional academic English sessions throughout the academic year: Details can be found at: http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/studysupport/82283.htm
Sharing Practice from Curriculum Enhancement Internships This sharing practice event will be of particular interest to staff planning a Curriculum Enhancement bid in January 2015: 12.30 – 4.00, Monday 1st December 2014, Training Room 1, 5th Floor, Kingsway House, Hatton Garden To book a place on this event please contact Margaret Williams m.williams1@ljmu.ac.uk as soon as possible. Please also let Margaret know if you have any special dietary or other requirements.
Office 2013: Pop-out email replies and converting PDFs to Word Those colleagues who have used Outlook 2013, perhaps via off-campus applications, will know that email replies do not automatically appear in a new window as they do in Outlook 2010. To make your email replies always pop-out, see: http://s147346301.websitehome.co.uk/always-pop-out-email-replies-in-outlook-2013 One neat feature in Word 2013 is that you can open PDFs and the system will convert them into docx format. Initial trials suggest that this works well, even with embedded objects. Thus, if you need to convert a PDF to docx on an Office 2010 machine, first access Word 2013 via off-campus applications, then use File > Open > File type PDF.
Getting the best out of Turnitin (Thanks to Ruth Nagus) Ruth has compiled some common Misconceptions surrounding Turnitin and provides a link to a video tour of the originality area of the software. Misconception 1: Turnitin detects plagiarism. Reality: Turnitin matches to text in the Turnitin databases and leaves the judgment up to the tutor; tutors MUST look at the Originality Reports to determine if there is a problem. Misconception 2: The "Similarity Index" shows the percentage of paper that is plagiarized. Reality: The Similarity Index is just a percentage of material in the paper that matches sources in the Turnitin databases. Text that is quoted and cited will be included in the Similarity Index, which offers a great opportunity to check for proper citation. Misconception 3: A tutor can determine if a paper is OK or not from the Similarity Index % and doesn't need to look at the Originality Report. Reality: The Similarity Index must be interpreted in the context of the assignment and the actual writing. The only way to do this is to look at the Originality Report. Misconception 4: Turnitin works the same in all situations and is not flexible. Reality: Turnitin has many options and settings for adapting Turnitin to your needs. Tutors can decide to let their students see their reports, do re-submissions, get revised reports -- or not. Below you will find a link to a 2 minute video that highlights all the features of the “Originality” section of the tool. We recommend that you view the video even if you are a seasoned Turnitin user as it highlights all the features including the filters and settings you can change whilst inspecting a student’s report, irrespective of the settings chosen when the assignment was initially set up. View the 2 minute tour of an Originality report window and all the functions Misconception 5: The source named in the Originality Report is the exact source used by the writer. Reality: There can be many matches because of extensive duplications of material on the web. The source named may not be the exact source the student used. Misconception 6: Students can easily "game" Turnitin to escape detection. Reality: Once the student receives an Originality Report, they have to wait 24 hours to get another report on a re-submission, preventing students from wordsmithing and re-submitting repeatedly. Misconception 7: Matched text is likely to be completely coincidental or common knowledge. Reality: The likelihood that a 16-word match is "just a coincidence" is less than 1 in a trillion. Turnitin also includes the ability to exclude "small matches" if the instructor wants to exclude common phrases. Misconception 8: Turnitin compares a paper against everything ever written . . . web pages, books, publications, unpublished works, etc. . . Reality: There are sources that are not in Turnitin--especially if that material is only available in print. But the sources that students typically use are largely included in Turnitin. Misconception 9: Turnitin has expertise in plagiarism and can render judgment on specific cases. Reality: There is no "threshold" Similarity Index that is either "good" or "bad"--each Originality Report needs to be examined to understand what a student did and whether or not there is a problem. Misconception 10: All students hate Turnitin. Reality: Many students have stated that they like the fact that Turnitin helps maintain a level playing field. Turnitin protects students' work from unauthorized use, and gives students who want to do their own work a good reason not to share their work with others.
	Dr Philip Denton BSc PhD PGCE PGCert SFHEA Faculty Associate Dean (Education) Lecturer in Physical Chemistry Faculty of Science James Parsons Building Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF t: 01512312035 e: P.Denton@ljmu.ac.uk

Maintained by Philip Denton. Last Update: 13/10/2015.