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Info

Please note that this guidance

  • relates to UCL's integration of Turnitin with Moodle.
  • is frequently updated in line with Turnitin and Moodle developments - so it's worth watching the page. (See also Turnitin FAQs)
  • focuses on the Assignment activity - i.e. not PeerMark or Moodle Workshop.
  • draws on definitions of marking in the UCL Academic Manual.

In a nutshell

Both interfaces offer:

  • submission with deadlines.
  • ability to hide marking from students until a certain date.
  • an online feedback environment which supports the use of reusable comments, inline annotations, general comments and rubrics / marking guides, and a numeric mark.
  • download submissions to look at without a network connection.
  • anonymous marking (student names are hidden).
  • generate a Turnitin Similarity Report

...

  • Similarity Report - checking students' sources and referencing by viewing an overlay of matched phases while marking.
  • summary spoken feedback recorded directly into Turnitin (no need to save and upload).
  • online marking interface;
    • drag and drop in-text comments (and re-use saved comments across papers).
    • categorise comments for particular modules, assignment types and year levels.
  • ability to associated a comment with a single criterion, enabling cross referencing.
  • a word count (though note this is inclusive, and may be discrepant from the word processor's word count).
  • marks are hidden from students by default until a set date and time known as the 'post date' (with Moodle you have to actively set this).
  • if you have an Apple iPad, offline marking in an app (note that UCL ISD cannot guarantee technical support here)*.
  • the ability to analyse Quickmarks and Rubric levels to better understand, and show to students, which kinds of feedback comments are associated with which grade bands. (See an example of how marking data downloaded from Turnitin can be used).

Detailed Comparison

Capability

Turnitin Assignment (integrated with Moodle)

Moodle Assignment

Overview

Thirdparty, commercial software we pay a licence for. Integrated with Moodle.

Core to Moodle (the open source Virtual Learning Environment we use at UCL).

Supported formats

Traditional essays

i.e. word processed, maybe including graphics

Yes

If 'Allow any file type' is enabled Turnitin will accept any file:

  • that is less than 100Mb;

  • that has a minimum of 20 words; and

  • that is less than 800 pages

File types/formats that can be checked for similarity:

  • Microsoft Word® (.DOC and .DOCX)
  • WordPerfect® (.WPD)
  • OpenOffice Text (.ODT)
  • HTML
  • PostScript (.PS)
  • Plain text (.TXT)
  • Rich Text Format (.RTF)
  • Adobe® Portable Document Format (.PDF)
  • Microsoft PowerPoint® (.PPT, .PPTX, .PPSX and .PPS)
  • Microsoft Excel® (.XLS and .XLSX)
  • Hangul Word Processor file (.HWP)

See:

For further clarification and exceptions.

Yes

Moodle will accept any file:

  • that is less than 160Mb


Moodle does NOT check for similarity (but Turnitin can be enabled now within a Moodle assignment to perform this check).

Range of media

Only limited by what the assessors can technically open using applications available to them.

File types that can't be processed to generate a similarity report and cannot be displayed in Feedback Studio can still be downloaded from the submission inbox and marking tools can still be used to give feedback in Turnitin about the submission. 

Image types that are supported and when embedded in one of the above file types do not hinder similarity checking:

  • JPEG
  • GIF
  • PNG
  • TIFF
  • BMP
  • PICT

Only limited by what the assessors can technically open using applications available to them.

Maximum file size per submission

100Mb.

160Mb.

Number of separate files

Up to 5.

Up to 20.

Or limitless if files are ‘zipped’.

Mobile support

Yes for students.

iPad only for markers.

Yes.

Operational processes - mostly by staff

Impose deadlines / prevent editing

Yes.

Yes.

Feedback on drafts

Provisionally.

To avoid problems with a Similarity Report referencing an earlier submission, or with resubmissions overwriting earlier feedback, create a separate Turnitin assignment with the setting for drafts/testing selected

Yes.

Caution – ask Digital Education to advise about settings to avoid resubmissions overwriting earlier feedback.

Staff follow up on late work

Yes.

Via Moodle Activity report.

Yes.

Via Moodle's Activity Report, which allows messaging.

Release or withhold marks and feedback.

Yes.

Caution – this applies across a cohort and cannot be done on an individual basis.

Yes.

Extenuating circumstances - discretionary deadlines for individuals

Minimal, withworkaround.

A tutor needs to restrict access to the Turnitin assignment to just those students.

Yes.

Including the ability to set new deadlines.

Word count

Yes.

Caution - inclusive ofcoversheet, references, &c. Since this may differ from the word processor's word count, it's important to clarify with students how markers will check students' adherence to the word limit.

Yes.

Caution – yes if word processed, no if PDF.

Download summary report onspreadsheet

Yes.

Yes.

Technical cautionsStudents and staff will need to disable their web browser's pop-up blockers.No.

Governance, fairness, ethics

Email receipt for student

Yes.

Students also get on-screen confirmation and can check that their submission appears in the Turnitin submission inbox.

Yes.

Students can also visit Moodle and check that their submission is in the submission inbox.

Blind marking (student anonymity)

Yes

Caution – if marking is shared between more than one marker, arrange who marks which submissions, and how to identify them (e.g. apply Moodle Groups or sort by paper ID).

Yes.

Caution– if marking is shared between more than one marker, arrange who marks which submissions, and how to identify them (e.g. Moodle Groups, or Moodle Marking Workflow).

Selective removal of student anonymity

Yes.

With accountability.

Yes.

With accountability.

Independent marking (multiple markers working in isolation)

Minimal.

Workaroundnecessary to present each marker with clean submission.

Working solution

One marker downloads the submissions and marks outside Moodle.

Moderating

Yes.

Yes.

External examiners

Provisionally.

Caveat – see Double Blind, above. If external examining is planned for after student anonymity has been lifted (it needs to be lifted to enable feedback conversations) then in order to preserve anonymity for the external examiners, departmental staff need to plan for marked submissions and marksheetsto be downloaded after marking but before Post Date; pass external examiners this still-anonymous, downloaded marked work outside Moodle.

Provisionally.

Caveat – see Double Blind, above. If external examining is planned for after student anonymity has been lifted (it needs to be lifted to enable feedback conversations) then in order to preserve anonymity for the external examiners, departmental staff need to plan for marked submissions and marksheetsto be downloaded after marking but before Post Date; pass external examiners this still-anonymous downloaded marked work outside Moodle.

Marking and feedback

Similarity Report

Yes.

Caveat – it’s simple matching that Turnitin does, so any coversheet will register as a match, for example. It's very helpful for students to have the chance to take action in response to the Similarity Report before the deadline. It is also important for staff to decide on systematic approaches with the Similarity Reports which treat students' work equitably.

Optional.

It is now possible to enable Turnitin within a Moodle assignment. Students submit as normal, and will have access to Similarity Report in much the same way as they would for a Turnitin assignment. 

In-context (bubble) comments

Yes.

Type your comments directly into Turnitin, drag them to where you need them, edit as needed, and save to use again, if helpful. It is possible to highlight text in different colours and attach comments.

Provisionally.

If Moodle can convert the document to PDF (work ongoing as of Oct 2016). Otherwise, open and mark e.g. in a Word Processor.

Stored frequently-made comments

Yes.

The ability to create share multiple 'Quickmark sets'. These attach to the individual assessor but can be shared.

Yes.

Attaches to the individual assessor.

Structured mark sheet

Yes.

Called Grading Form. Weighted criteria, blank space for markers grades and comments for each.

Yes.

Called Marking Guide. Contains weighted criteria, blank space for markers grades and comments for each.

Rubric

Yes.

Marking grid plotting criteria reference statements against levels of achievement. If marks are attached to each level, can calculate a mark.

Yes.

Marking grid plotting criteria reference statements against levels of achievement. If marks are attached to each level, can calculate a mark.

Rubric viewable by students

Yes.

However, it is easy to miss - students need to be told it exists and where to view it.

Yes.

Students need to know it exists, and where to view it. Once on the Moodle Assignmentpageit is impossible to miss.

Cross-reference between rubric and comments

Some.

Markers can associate each comment with a single criterion. This association displays both in the individual comments and in the rubric (students can filter all the comments for a given criterion).

No.
See all comments at a glance.

Yes.

Students and tutors, page by page.

Yes.

Students and tutors.

Feedback as freehand drawings

No.

Provisionally.

If Moodle can convert the document to PDF (work ongoing as of Oct 2016). Otherwise, open and mark e.g. in a Word Processor.

Includes circles, rectangles, straight and freehand lines, ticks, crosses, and different ink colours.

Symbols as feedbackNo.

Some.

Ticks and crosses.

Spoken word feedback

Yes.

Record directly into Turnitin.

Potentially.

Word processing software eg MSWord doesn’t allow this, but it’s possible to upload a different kind of feedback file eg MP3 for each student or for a cohort.

Feedback as track changes

No.

Yes.

If opened and marked in word processing software.

Feedback as video or screen capture.

No.

Yes.

Any file type accepted as feedback.

Check if students have accessed feedback

Yes.

Yes.

In a more roundabout way than Turnitin.

Offline marking

Yes (with iPad); partly (without iPad).

If you use Turnitin's Apple iPad app*, you can upload the marks back to Turnitin (take great care to coordinate with other markers because overwriting is possible).

Or you can download the submissions, including anonymous ones - and read offline on any platform.

But there is no upload of marks or feedback.

Yes.

Bulk download submissions inbox withmarksheet.

You can also bulk upload marked submissions, feedback files, and completedmarksheet.

Bulk download

Yes.

Caution – if anonymous marking is enabled then this is only possible only after marking - and if you need to preserve anonymity, only possible between completion of marking and the Post Date.

Yes.

Group work

Apply Moodle groups to an assignment

Yes.

i.e. to allocate markers to pre-existing Moodle groups (not for group submission).

i.e. to connect markers to pre-existing Moodle groups (not for group submission).

Collaboration on a single piece of work

No.

No shared editing environment - consider using MyPortfolio or a wiki instead

No.

No shared editing environment - consider using MyPortfolio or a wiki instead.

Submit a single piece of work on behalf of a group

No.

Currently, every submission is attributable to an individual.

Yes.

Can be set up based on Moodle groups.

Differentiate between individual contributions within a group.

N/A

No.

Peer review/assessment

Use Turnitin Peermark instead.Use the Moodle Workshop peer assessment activity instead.

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