Using SafeAssign at Wilmington University

Understand Blackboard’s SafeAssign service and faculty responsibility

Locate WilmU Academic Integrity policy and other web resources

Understand the sources SafeAssign uses to identify unoriginal work

Understand the difference between Institutional and Global Reference Databases

Create a SafeAssignment in Draft and Final modes

Submit a paper using Direct Submit

Interpret a SafeAssign originality report

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Plagiarism prevention service linked to Blackboard

Learning tool for students Compares submitted text to a number of

electronic databases Teach students about Intellectual Property and

deters poor practices SafeAssign allows students to submit papers in

“Draft” and “Final” modes

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When the student writes a paper, the student certifies the originality of all work not otherwise identified by appropriate acknowledgments.

Academic Integrity Policy: http://wilmu.edu/academics/acadintegrity.aspx

Additional information may be found in the Wilmington University Student Handbook (p.

78-79): http://www.wilmu.edu/studentlife/handbook/

Useful link regarding plagiarism:http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml

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Instructors do not need student's consent if student's name is removed from a paper prior to SafeAssign submission.

If you intend to use SafeAssign in your course, please make it clear to students that papers submitted to SafeAssign may NOT contain personal identifying information. 

Before submitting to SafeAssign: Students must remove their name and personal information

from the paper and title page before submitting SafeAssignments.

Instructors, who use Direct Submit, will remove all student's personal information before submitting student papers to SafeAssign.

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Please complete Final Step in the Online Course to receive directions to turn on the SafeAssign Tools

Turning on the SafeAssign tools is required for each course you teach

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For each assignment, Instructor adds two ‘SafeAssignments’ in Bb◦ One for Draft paper◦ One for Final paper

Added inside a content area

‘SafeAssignment’ is selected from the drop-down menu “Create Assessment”

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Name the assignment Assign point value Write any necessary

instructions Make the assignment available

Check for Draft View – allows students to submit without being checked against the Institutional Database

Yes -Student Viewable – allows students to see the report

(Optional) Urgent Checking allows processing of paper more quickly

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Name the assignment Assign point value Write any necessary instructions Make the assignment available

DO NOT check the Draft box

The final paper will be checked against the Institutional Database

Yes for Student Viewable – allows students to see the report

(Optional) Urgent Checking - allows processing of paper more quickly (results can still take up to 72 hours)

Students and Instructors get an interactive report for every paper submitted

The report details the results of the matching process of words found from the various databases◦ For Draft Originality Report,

Institutional Database is omitted

The instructor must allow the Originality Report to be viewable for the Draft submission, as it serves as a learning tool

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1. From the Control Panel, select Course Tools, click SafeAssign

2. Select SafeAssignments

3. Click the “Synchronize this course” link found on the top right of the page.

4. This only has to be done once in each course

5. You may synchronize throughout to pull in updates from the server

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Students access the SafeAssignment Draft link and click VIEW/COMPLETE Students may submit their paper just like a regular assignment by browsing for

their work and clicking Submit There is a Release Statement included from the system If you set up the Student Viewable option, students can come back later to view

the SA report Student is then directed to view SafeAssign Originality Report (from

View/Complete link found under the assignment) Students modify their paper as appropriate and submit Final paper in the

second SafeAssignment set-up by the instructor For Final submission, Students have the option of submitting to the Global

Reference Database or not (their choice)

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SafeAssign checks all submitted papers against the following databases:

◦ Internet - comprehensive index of documents available for public access on the Internet via Microsoft Windows Live search engine

◦ ProQuest ABI/Inform database with over 1,100 publication titles and about 2.6 million articles from '90s to present time, updated weekly (exclusive access)

◦ Institutional document archives containing all papers submitted to SafeAssign by users from Wilmington University

◦ Global Reference Database containing papers that were volunteered by students from Blackboard client institutions to help prevent cross-institutional plagiarism

Databases used in Draft Mode

Database used in Final Mode with Draft box

unchecked

Database option ..

Student’s choose this database

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The Overall score indicates what percentage of the paper matches sources of the databases

Scores below 15% - probability the paper was not plagiarized, the paper may need further review to see if the paper needs proper attribution

Scores above 15% - probability the paper needs further review to see if matching content is properly attributed

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Understand Academic Integrity Policy Review policy with students Create a Draft Safe Assignment Preview report and provide feedback, if needed Allow enough time for student to review report

and make revisions (approx. one week) Create a Final Safe Assignment Review final report and grade Assignment

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SafeAssign does not find ALL instances of cheating, plagiarism

Will only match text also found in the SafeAssign databases

SafeAssign provides only an Originality Report, not an absolute assessment of whether cheating/plagiarism occurred

Faculty must review/evaluate the Originality Report!

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Instructors should Always select the “Student Viewable” option when creating a SafeAssignment

Student submits first in Draft mode

Receive feedback from both Draft’s Originality Report and/or instructor

The instructor may use only Draft mode– to utilize SafeAssign as a learning toolor create a Draft SafeAssignment and a Final SafeAssignment for the same paper

The instructor can Direct Submit a paper if needed as a “Draft Option”

(example: if student encounters technical problems while submitting.)

If a text is found to be matching, is it cited?

If there is a high percentage of matching, is it possible the student constructed the passage independent of the matching source?

Is matching due to copying assignment text in the write-up?

If there is a high percentage of matching, is the assignment restrictive in terms of possible responses?

Did the student cite themselves if they’ve re-used content?

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Give students tools to correctly cite sources◦APA Guides from the Library:

http://wilmu.edu/library/reflinks.aspx

Introduce students to resources for writing help:◦SmartThinking

Linked from “Online Tutoring” in Blackboard Can receive writing feedback within 24 hours Writing Handbook and other resources

◦Student Success Center http://wilmu.edu/learningresources/

instructorsguide.aspx

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*PLEASE NOTE Text only is checked for matching Symbols, images and numbers are not checked

against the database Submission of papers to the SafeAssignment must not exceed 10MB or 5,000 words, or the

submission may fail

Documents*Only the following formats are permitted at this

time: zip, .doc, .docx, .txt, .pdf, .rtf and .html

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1. = False

2. = TRUE

5. = TRUE

4. = True… Setting up a Draft SafeAssignment first is necessary to serve as a learning tool for students.

3. = TRUE

1. Safe Assign will catch a student that is plagiarizing.

2. The Wilmington University Academic Integrity policy can be found on the web.

3. It may take several minutes and up to 72 hours to get a report.

4. A draft safe assignment is recommended.

5. Students have the option of submitting to the Global Reference Database

SafeAssign by Blackboard. (2007). Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.SafeAssign.com

Karjoo, M, & Knight, E. (2009, March 30). About SafeAssign. Retrieved from http://wiki.safeassign.com/display/SAFE/About+SafeAssign

Plagiarism: what It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It. (2004). Retrieved April 7, 2011,

from http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml

Technical support representatives are available to support you 24/7 at 1-877-708-2905

Email facultytraining@wilmu.edu directly to request Blackboard training and to receive further help from the Online Learning and Educational Technology Department at Wilmington University

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