Education/Ethics
1. Identify the macro and micro organisational contexts for the proposed research and the objectives of the research, including objectives
2. Critically review and synthesize the relevant literature on the subject area in order to construct a conceptual framework to underpin the research.
3. Research design
Using both deductive and inductive reasoning identify the nature of relevant evidence and associated data sources to support the research objectives to design a robust project
4. Presentation
Quality of report presentation – including structure, writing style and referencing.
Assignment Details
Student plagiarism has been determined to be on the increase. However, the situation is more complex than it first appears. You have been asked to design a research project to explore this apparent rise and the reasons why students plagiarise.
What you must cover in this research proposal are some of the complexities of student plagiarism in the form, of an introduction, this should be based on a critical analysis of the literature. Identify two issues that you would like to design a research project around. Discuss why these are important and how they will help to explore the problem of plagiarism.
Determine what information and data you would need to collect. Apply both deductive and inductive reasoning investigate the issues, discuss the merits and limitations of each approach and the conditions under which each approach should be applied
Identify two methods of collecting data associated with each approach discuss the benefits and limitations of both. Discuss which would be best for collecting the information you need.
Identify two methods of analysing the data given the collection methods you have unidentified. Discuss the benefits and limitations of each.
Speculate on what you might find from a research project such as this
Additional Information
Many useful articles can be found through the British Education Index.
Resources The following are a selection of references that may be useful. You should limit yourself to them.
Bennett, R. (2005), Factors Associated with Student Plagiarism in a Post-1992 University, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, vol 30, pp137-162.
Bryman, A., &Bell, E. (2011). Business Research Methods (3rd ed.). Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.
Carr, W. (2006). Philosophy , Methodology and Action. Journal of Philosophy, 40(4), 421-435.
Carroll, J and Appleton, J. (2001) Plagiarism A Good Practice Guide . JISC http://www.plagiarismadvice.org/documents/brookes.pdf
Carroll, J. and Appleton, J. (2005). Towards consistent penalty decisions for breaches of academic regulations in one UK university. International Journal for Educational Integrity, Vol 1(1).
Bretag, T and Green, (2009) “Determining outcomes for academic misconduct: Is it more important to be consistent or fair?” Paper presented in the refereed stream of the ATN Assessment Conference: Engaging students in assessment, University of South Australia, 20-21 November. Responding to plagiarism: The need to engage with students’ ‘real lives’,
Dahl, S. (2007) “Turnitin® : The student perspective on using plagiarism detection.” Active Learning in Higher Educationvol8, pp173
Davis, M., and Carroll, J. (2009) “Formative feedback within plagiarism education: Is there a role for text-matching software?” International Journal for Educational Integrity Vol. 5 No. 2 December, pp. 58–70
Devlin, M. and Gray, K. (2007) “In their own words: a qualitative study of the reasons Australian university students plagiarize” Higher Education Research & Development, 26, 181 – 198.
East, J. (2010) “Judging Plagiarism: a problem of morality and convention.” Higher Education, vol 59, pp 69-83.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building Theories from Case. The Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532-550. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/258557 .
Gulikers J, Bastiaens T and Kirschner P (2006) “Authentic assessment, student and teacher perceptions: the practical value of the five-dimensional framework”Journal of Vocational Education and TrainingVol. 58, No. 3, September, pp. 337–357.
JISC (2010). Plagiarism Advisory Advise Tutor Survey
http://www.plagiarismadvice.org/documents/surveys/TutorSurvey.pdf
Ledwith, A. and Rísquez A (2008) “Using anti-plagiarism software to promote academic honesty in the context of peer reviewed assignments” Studies in Higher Education, Vol. 33, No. 4, August, pp 371–384.
Levin (2006) Why The Writing Is On The Wall For The Plagiarism Police. http://www.student-friendly-guides.com/plagiarism/writing_on_the_wall.pdf
Mac Donald, R. and Carroll, J.(2006) “Plagiarism – A Complex Issue RequiringA Holistic Institutional Approach”. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education vol 31, issue 2, pp 233–45.
Price, M. (2002) "Beyond ‘Gotcha!’: Situating Plagiarism in Policy and Pedagogy." College Composition and Communication. Vol 54, issue 1 pp 88-115.
-Saunders, M., Lewis, P., andThornhill, A. (2009). Research Methods for Business Students. Harlow: Pearson education.
-Tennant, P. and Rowell, G. (2010) Plagiarism Reference Tariff. Presented at 4th International Plagiarism Conference, University of Northumbria, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 21-23 June, 2010.