Fintan Culwin

When fingers do the talking: a study of text messaging

SMS or text messaging is an area of growth in the communications field. The studies described below consisted of a questionnaire and a diary study. The questionnaire was designed to examine texting activities in 565 users of the mobile phone. The diary study was carried out by 24 subjects over a period of 2 weeks. The findings suggest that text messaging is being used by a wide range of people for all kinds of activities and that for some people it is the preferred means of communication. These studies should prove interesting for those examining the use and impact of SMS.

A Comparison of Source Code Plagiarism Detection Engines.

Automated techniques for finding plagiarism in student source code submissions have been in use for over 20 years and there are many available engines and services. This paper reviews the literature on the major modern detection engines, providing a comparison of them based upon the metrics and techniques they deploy. Generally the most common and effective techniques are seen to involve tokenising student submissions then searching pairs of submissions for long common substrings, an example of what is defined to be a paired structural metric. Computing academics are recommended to use one of the two Web-based detection engines, MOSS and JPlag. It is shown that whilst detection is well established there are still places where further research would be useful, particularly where visual support of the investigation process is possible.

Plagiarism issues for higher education

Academic institutions are finding they have to operate under a pro‐active anti‐plagiarism policy, where plagiarism is actively sought out as a serious breach of acceptable academic behaviour. This paper considers the reasons that institutions need such a policy and the issues they should be aware of when implementing one.

Classifications of plagiarism detection engines

Abstract Plagiarism detection engines are programs that compare documents with possible sources in order to identify similarity and so discover student submissions that might be plagiarised. They are currently classified as either attribute counting systems or structure metric systems. However these classifications are inconsistently applied and inadequate, an area of particular relevance when classifying free text detection engines as this is where most current research is focused. This paper proposes a new and alternative set of classifications based primarily around the types of the metrics the engines use. Current detection engines are classified using the new groupings. These new classifications are intended to allow detection engines to be discussed and compared without ambiguity.

An active introduction to academic misconduct and the measured demographics of misconduct

An activity designed to actively introduce first year students to issues related to academic misconduct is described. The activity involves computing students writing a short essay on a topic related to the history of computing. The essays are subsequently automatically checked for non‐originality and the outcomes made available to the students. The results of approximately 350 students from two different sessions are analysed for any demographic influences. The only significant findings were that non‐originality was a predictor of non‐completion of first year studies and of a lower percentage outcome.

Enter the usability engineer: integrating HCI and software engineering

This paper examines the role of Human Computer Interaction in the context of the Computer Science and Software Engineering curricula. We suggest there needs to be much more integration between Computer Science and HCI. We believe this can be brought about by adopting HCI as the underlying principle to the development of systems. Usability engineering would provide the necessary framework for the development of usable systems.

Preserving academic integrity—fighting against nonoriginality agencies

Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 1 2007 153–157 doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2006.00491.x Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Oxford, UKBJETBritish Journal of Educational Technology0007-1013British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 20052005381153157Colloquium ColloquiumBritish Journal of

Towards an error free plagarism detection process

For decades many computing departments have deployed systems for the detection of plagiarised student source code submissions. Automated systems to detect free-text student plagiarism are just becoming available and the experience of computing educators is valuable for their successful deployment.This paper describes a Four-Stage Plagiarism Detection Process that attempts to ensure no suspicious similarity is missed and that no student is unfairly accused of plagiarism. Required characteristics of an effective similarity detection engine are proposed and an investigation of a simple engine is described. An innovative prototype tool designed to decrease the workload of tutors investigating undue similarity is also presented.

Web hosted assessment—possibilities and policy

This paper presents a categorisation of Web hosted assessment systems and then uses this to produce an outline specification for a fully featured system, against which other systems can be evaluated. It concludes by considering the logistics of using such systems for summative assessment.

A Longitudinal Study of Nonoriginal Content in Final-Year Computing Undergraduate Projects

This paper describes a four-year longitudinal study of the extent of nonoriginal material in final-year undergraduate computing projects. This was done in conjunction with the establishment of a proactive departmental policy on academic integrity which emphasized education and prevention as well as detection and penalty. The intention of the project was to attempt to reduce the amount of nonattributed nonoriginal (plagiarized) content in the projects. The amount of nonoriginal material contained in each of approximately 900 projects over all four years was automatically measured and subsequently investigated and evaluated. Despite problems caused by the continual development of the measurement tools during the project, the conclusion can be drawn that the amount of nonoriginal material has declined and that which remains is being used with greater integrity.