Moodle has a module that allows for basic use of Turnitin. This tutorial will walk you through the basics of Turnitin.
Instructions on how to set up Turnitin in your Moodle course:
- Turn editing on and add a new activity.
- Choose the External Tool module from the list.
- Once you choose the pre-configured tool type, you will need to provide a title and description. You will note that many of the fields present are non-editable. This is okay as all the backend sign-in codes are set for you.
- Once you add a title and a description, choose save and display.
- At initial glance, you may have to wait for the module to load when you first get to the page. After loading you should see two tabs; the assignment inbox and a settings tab.
- The assignment inbox tab is likely showing what looks like an error message. This is simply telling you that no assignments have been submitted yet. This is normal as you have just created the assignment. This area will populate as students submit.
- Click on the settings tab. Enter all the pertinent information regarding your assignment, including due dates, whether or not papers are stored in a repository, how many attempts students are allowed, and all other details of the assignment. Don’t forget to look at the optional settings. Although these are labelled as optional, they are quite pertinent to the assignment.
That’s it. You are up and running. Students can submit their assignments right through Moodle to Turnitin without having to login via Turnitin.
Here are a few details about this module that you should be aware of before choosing to use it.
- This is a Moodle Direct module, which means Moodle pushes data directly to Turnitin, but does not pull it back in the same way. So all changes to the assignment should be made via the Moodle Turnitin Module.
- If you wish to utilize this assignment as part of a master class that utilizes sections, you should run those assignments directly via Turnitin.com
Viewing Originality Reports using the Turnitin Module
Once students submit a paper, you as an instructor will have access to a Similarity Report. This is a text matching report that identifies where similarities have occurred in student papers in reference to content found in the Turnitin databases. In the assignment module, this report can be accessed by clicking on the percentage of similarity in the similarity column.
The similarity report opens in a window that allows you to explore the report using Turnitin familiar tools.
NOTE: The file used for this example was written by someone else and is showing 100% similarity index. Likely this will not occur when you submit your files.
Grading an assignment via the Turnitin Assignment module.
To grade a submitted assignment, click on the Assignment inbox within the Turnitin Module you have setup. Note the student submissions. Click on the grade link in the columns accompanying the submitted assignment.
This module differs from other Moodle assignments, and grading and markup are often completed using Feedback Studio that is available on Turnitin.com and is available via this module.
You will enter into the Feedback studio editor where you can provide a grade, comments, as well as enter some short hand feedback. All grades and comments will be available to students when they click on their graded paper via the assignment module.
Uploading an Assignment as a Student.
- Choose upload submission.
- Provide a title as well as the file you wish to upload. Be sure to add any additional comments if needed.
- Upload the file. It may take a moment to upload and process. Upon uploading, you will still have to submit your file.
Viewing your Grade and Originality Report as a Student
• When you submit your assignments via the Turnitin module in Moodle, you will view your grades and comments via the same module.
• It is up to your instructor whether or not they allow you to view your originality report. If it is available, you will be able to see how your work was flagged by clicking on the number your paper was allotted in the % column. This percentage is the similarity index that has been given to your paper after running your submission through the database.
• Click on the grade in the grade column to open up feedback studio and see comments, as well as grade information.