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Safe Assign

What is honesty assurance (Safe Assign)?
Why use honesty assurance?
What is the Faculty guideline on implementing honesty assurance in a unit of study?
What do I need to consider when implementing honesty assurance?
Do I need to amend my Unit of Study Outline when using honesty assurance?
Can I require my students to submit electronically?

What is Safe Assign?

A Blackboard building block, Safe Assign, is a text matching tool. It checks submitted papers against web sources, proprietary databases and lecturer-submitted materials for matching phrases.

Why use Safe Assign?

Safe Assign provides support for students to develop appropriate academic writing habits and avoid negligent plagiarism.

At the University of Sydney plagiarism is a growing issue of concern for many Faculties. On 15 Feb 2005, a new policy was approved, Student Plagiarism: Course Work Policy and Procedure.

What is the Faculty guideline on implementing honesty assurance in a unit of study?

Following feedback from the University Teaching and Learning Committee and the 2003 pilot with TurnItIn, the Faculty's Learning and Teaching Committee recommended (intranet) that electronic matching/detection software should only be used for educational purposes and an opt-out clause must be provided for students when plagiarism detection software is being used. This is a work-in-progress at Academic Board level.

Once further experience has been gained, its reliability gauged and the University clearer on its own approach to best practice detection, the Faculty Learning and Teaching Committee will reconsider its usage with final or summative assessments (Academic Honesty in Coursework Academic Board Resolution). An exception for units requiring students sign confidentiality agreements was passed in 2006. Individual requests for an exception should be sent to the Secretary of the Learning and Teaching Committee, Serena Wilson.

Staff wishing to trial its use should:

  1. Select Draft mode when setting up SafeAssign within your UoS.
  2. If permission to use in Final mode has been granted then ensure students are aware of the implication of your ability to view the matching report. Final mode may not be used without providing students with an opt-out clause unless an exception has been granted.
  3. Contact a Faculty learning adviser (such as A/Prof Mark Freeman) for advice, or contact Faculty eLearning with questions.
    For example, there are various issues around timing, interpretation and setting students expectations which, if considered appropriately, will ensure its success is more likely to occur.

What do I need to consider when implementing Safe Assign?

Students can only submit to Safe Assign once
The new version of Safe Assignment (acquired by Blackboard and re-named Safe Assign in 2008) only allows students to submit their work once for checking. It no longer allows multiple submissions. To allow students to submit multiple times we recommend setting up two instances of Safe Assign per assessment. After two submissions you would need to clear the students attempts via Blackboard's Control Panel.

Matching score results
Be clear on how the output from the matching report might be best interpreted. Discussion with peer academics may assist this since acceptable matching with attribution may differ between assessments across and even within disciplines (eg. an essay comparing codes of conduct would have more direct quotes than a simple research essay).

Time period for students to submit drafts
Be clear how many days the draft will be available before the final submission. The scanning compares with other resources at particular points of time meaning that a student needs to return to see the result (possibly the next day) and still have time to make final adjustments/corrections.

What to do if you suspect students have plagiarised after final submission
Be clear how suspected cases may be checked if suspected eg. Conduct a google search of text-strings and references.
Note: In Draft mode, instructors can not view matching reports in Gradebook.

Be clear what should be referenced and how it should be referenced
Provide students with your preferred method of reference e.g. Harvard or APA.

Informing students? on your aim for implementing Safe Assign
Provide students information on:

  • Why it is being used with drafts (eg. provide formative feedback on academic writing, assist students avoid academic dishonesty, help develop graduate attribute of ethical professionalism, development of culture of trust).
  • How they can interpret their results (eg. what % matching of correctly attributed text is acceptable).
  • Be clear when and how matching statistics should be interpreted.
  • Set these expectations with:
    - Excerpts in UoS Outline
    - Active discussion in class at the start of semester, when assessment handed out and when draft assessments should begin coming in.
    - Provide an expression of authenticity and own work (eg. have an assessment cover sheet; a description to this effect underneath the Blackboard area where files are submitted i.e. Assignment; DropBox)

Do I need to amend my Unit of Study Outline when using Safe Assign?

When implementing text matching using Safe Assign into your unit of study it is stongly recommended that you include an additional statement.

To assist students write in an academically appropriate way and to avoid negligently plagiarising, the Faculty has scanning software that checks for matched phrases. The tool is embedded within Blackboard for this UoS. You can submit a draft of your assessment/assignment (select Assessment>Draft Safe Assignment 1) and return later to receive a report of matched phrases. Where necessary take appropriate corrective action, such as carefully inserting quote marks for attributing ownership for matched phrases. The matching rating will be explained in one of the early lectures. Please note that draft assessments/assignments are not retained for future comparison.

NOTE: Remember to include:

  • What would be an acceptable matching score result for the course.
  •  How many drafts you will allow students to submit.
  • The name of the Safe Assign link here called ?Draft Assignment 1?.

Can I require my students to submit electronically?

Yes you can require students submit electronically and/or in print so long as Unit Coordinators provide equity measures for students who are unable to comply. Should students be unable to comply, prior alternative arrangements be made by students. Assessment cover sheets for both individual and group work are available for both paper and electronic submission.

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