The Adams Center for Teaching and Learning has made Turnitin.com available to all faculty.

Turnitin, a web-based application used to detect plagiarism and grade students’ work, has gained considerable recognition from universities over the past several years and now serves over 10,000 educational institutions.

Berlin Fang, director of instructional design at the Adams Center, believes ACU’s widespread implementation will increase students’ awareness of copyright violations.

“Turnitin is an instructional tool to help professors collect student assignments, check them for originality, provide feedback and assign grades,” Fang said. “It will be a great learning tool to educate students about plagiarism.”

The application also provides grading features for assignments other than essays. Turnitin can grade and provide feedback for presentations, as well as subjects such as economics, math, science and visual arts.

Karen Cukrowski, English and Cornerstone instructor, is especially looking forward to the application’s teaching tools for students.

“I’m a teacher and not a cop just aching to catch plagiarists,” Cukrowski said. “So, I really love that we can use Turnitin as more than a ‘gotcha.’ There’s an instructive element because a student can see they may have neglected to cite clearly, or, by using the grammar features, a student may be able to see some areas of an essay that need more work.”

Additionally, Turnitin provides special grading templates for unique assignments such as a dance performance or music recital. Turnitin also enables teachers to give feedback in more than just written methods.

“Professors can also record audio feedback on papers, which would help to create multiple paths to learning for students,” Fang said.

The Adams Center has provided instructors with resources to assist in ACU’s widespread implementation of Turnitin. The center also works daily to cultivate faculty enrichment through high-caliber learning facilities and a communal environment.