Turnitin Tips

Turnitin is a tool that can be used to improve student writing in addition to simply detecting plagiarism. JCCC has licensed the tool for use with ANGEL and Blackboard. You can submit papers (after licensing) directly through their website (http://www.turnitin.com/) and there's no need to use with ANGEL or Blackboard, though the integration is nice for students and instructors.

We thought we'd give you the heads up on a few useful “tips” if you want to use Turnitin. If you want students to see the reports generated, you need to make sure you've set the appropriate setting to yes. Unfortunately with Turnitin, it’s slightly more complicated than just toggling that setting on.

First, if you have not yet reached your "post date," trying to view the info through student preview on a faculty account will generate an "Angel Integration Error." The post date has nothing to do with the grade book or grading, just originality reports. This is a fairly logical outcome, so it’s not a bug, but we thought you’d like a heads up. If you’re getting an Angel integration error, it probably means you should check the post date.

In addition, there's an option in the advanced options for the assignment that effects when reports are generated. If you want your students to be able to view their reports immediately, make sure the reports are set to generate immediately and the post date is the same day as the day the assignment begins.

Thanks to Marziah Karch, Ed Tech Center Sr. Analyst, for these tips.