TurnitinUK for instructors – external guides
Follow this link to Turnitin/Blackboard guides including:
- Assignment set up and management
- Similarity reports
- Grading & rubrics
- Peer mark
Sam Cole Blackboard, Page updated for newlearn, TurnItIn 0 Comments
Follow this link to Turnitin/Blackboard guides including:
Sam Cole Blackboard, TurnItIn 0 Comments
Feedback Studio has been available in the standard web-based version of Turnitin for several years. Turnitin have now also developed an app designed for the iPad to complement the web-based tool. The iPad app allows users to download submissions to their iPad and then mark them using the standard Feedback Studio tools within a ‘touch’ interface. Once downloaded, or ‘synced’, submissions can be marked offline, allowing users to use the powerful grading features even in locations where no internet connection is available (for instance on the train).
Configuring the app – This guide explains the process of configuring your app for use with the TurnitinUK service. You should do this before you use the app for the first time to ensure that you are able to connect to the UoS Blackboard / Turnitin service.
Accessing Turnitin through the app – This guide explains how to generate a link which will enable you to access / add a ‘class’ (Blackboard course) to the Turnitin Feedback Studio app on your iPad. Linking requires you to first access Turnitin through the web interface.
Turning on the originality overlay – This guide explains how to toggle the originality overlay on / off. The originality / similarity overlay simply shows the originality / similarity score and colour coded matches within the iPad app.
Adding QuickMarks (without highlighting) using the iPad app – This guide explains how to add QuickMarks (without highlighting) using the Feedback Studio app. QuickMarks are comments designed for repeated use.
Adding QuickMarks directly to highlighted text using the iPad app – This guide explains how to add QuickMarks to highlighted text using the Feedback Studio app. QuickMarks are comments which are designed for repeated use.
Adding text comments (without highlighting) using the iPad app – This guide explains how to add text comments (without highlighting) using the Feedback Studio app. Text comments are entered manually and can be useful to provide very specific feedback.
Adding text comments to highlighted text using the iPad app – This guide explains how to add text comments to highlighted text using the Feedback Studio app. Text comments are entered manually and can be useful to provide very specific feedback.
Adding inline comments using the iPad app – This guide will explain how to add inline comments to a Turnitin submission using the Feedback Studio iPad app. Inline comments are similar to the comments you might make in the margins of paper submissions.
Crossing out text using the iPad app – This guide will explain how to cross out text in a submission using the ‘strikethrough’ feature. This can be useful if you wish to draw attention to text which you feel does not add anything substantial to the submission.
Sam Cole Blackboard, TurnItIn 0 Comments
Do not open Turnitin in multiple tabs or browser windows. Only use one browser tab to interact with Turnitin. |
Turnitin has an online marking feature known as Feedback Studio (previously known as GradeMark). The PC interface to Feedback Studio allows you to mark online using your PC and a web browser. In order to use Feedback Studio on your PC, you will need to have a working internet connection for the duration of the period you intend to use the feature. Feedback Studio can be used to mark submissions online using QuickMarks, text comments, voice comments, and rubrics. Whilst Feedback Studio is the new official name, you may still hear us referring to ‘GradeMark’ for a short while.
IMPORTANT – Copying and pasting from Word into Feedback Studio
We recommend that you do not copy and paste feedback from external software (such as Microsoft Word) into Feedback Studio. Text copied from software such as Microsoft Word may contain underlying HTML code which can cause complications when pasted into a web based system (such as Feedback Studio). Copying and pasting from Word may result in unexpected formatting or comments not saving correctly.
Note that Turnitin only currently supports a single marking sheet, so if more than one marker is due to mark a submission, both markers will ‘share’ a single marking sheet (and should therefore ensure good communication between markers when editing or removing existing comments and marks). Multiple markers should avoid marking the same submission at the same time.
Accessing Feedback Studio – This guide explains how to access Feedback Studio using a Mac or PC, and explains the elements which make up the interface. Feedback Studio can be used to mark a Turnitin submission online in order to provide detailed feedback to students.
Adding General Comments – This guide explains how to add general comments and feedback to a Turnitin submission using Feedback Studio. General comments can contain up to 5000 characters, and should be used for providing overall feedback to the student about their submission.
Adding a score to a paper – This guide explains how to add a score to a Turnitin submission. Note that once you have entered a score for any submission made to an assignment you should NOT change the post date for that assignment, as doing so may result in marks being removed.
Adding voice comments to a paper – This guide will explain how to add voice comments to a Turnitin submission using Feedback Studio. You can add one voice comment of up to 3 minutes in duration per submission.
Adding text comments (without highlighting) – This guide will explain how to add text comments to Turnitin submissions using the Feedback Studio tool. Text comments are used to provide one-off specific feedback.
Adding QuickMarks (without highlighting) – This guide will explain how to add QuickMarks to Turnitin submissions using the Feedback Studio tool. QuickMarks are pre-set comments which are designed for repeated use.
Highlighting text to add text comments and QuickMarks – This guide will explain how to highlight specific text in Feedback Studio in order to add directed text comments and QuickMarks which apply directly to the highlighted text.
Adding inline comments – This guide will explain how to add Inline comments to a Turnitin submission using Feedback Studio. Inline comments are similar to the comments you might make in the margins of paper submissions.
Changing to a different QuickMark set – This guide will explain how to switch to a different QuickMark set. QuickMarks are commonly used comments which you may wish to use across a number of different submissions.
Adding a feedback file – It is not currently possible to upload a file direct to Feedback Studio to complement your online comments. However, this guide provides advice on how to achieve this through uploading a file to the Turnitin section in the Blackboard Grade Centre.
Sam Cole Blackboard, TurnItIn 0 Comments
Do not open Turnitin in multiple tabs or browser windows. Only use one browser tab to interact with Turnitin. |
‘Similarity Reports’ are one of the main features of Turnitin. Turnitin is able to scan for similarity on text based filetypes (MS Word, WordPerfect, PostScript, PDF, HTML, RTF and plain text). Depending on how this is configured for each assignment, tutors may use this to identify potential breaches of academic integrity, or may simply use it as a learning tool to help students learn how to correctly reference their work.
Note that the ‘similarity index’ % score should only be used as a guide, and you should not rely simply on the overall % score when considering issues relating to potential breaches of academic integrity.
Viewing originality reports – This guide will take you through the process of viewing individual originality reports for each student who has submitted (assuming that you have configured the assignment to generate these reports). Originality reports help to identify possible cases of plagiarism or incorrect referencing.
Excluding sources from an originality report – This guide explains how to exclude sources from an Originality Report. This may be useful if you need to remove matches for a legitimate reason (for example if a student is re-submitting something which they have previously submitted to a different assignment link).
Filtering an originality report – This guide explains how to filter an originality report, for example to filter out any text appearing within quotation marks, or to filter small matches (less than a specified % or fewer than a specified number of words). Course instructors can turn filters on or off for any submission.
Turnitin ‘Paper View Request’ emails – Every now and then, tutors may receive an email requesting permission to view the text of a paper which has been submitted to an assignment on a Blackboard course you are enrolled on as an Instructor or TA. This guide explains what this email is about and how to tell if the email is genuine.
Please note that if a student makes a re-submission to a Turnitin assignment, the originality report for the re-submission may not be available for 24 hours after the re-submission date and time. This delay is usually enforced upon the third re-submission.
Sam Cole Blackboard, TurnItIn 0 Comments
Do not open Turnitin in multiple tabs or browser windows. Only use one browser tab to interact with Turnitin. |
The ‘assignment’ is the most fundamental part of Turnitin, allowing students to submit work online through Blackboard. Tutors should note that students can only submit single files to a Turnitin submission if they are to be checked for originality. For example if you have a two part essay which is split into seperate documents, you will need a Turnitin link for ‘Essay Part 1′, and a Turnitin link for ‘Essay Part 2′.
Turnitin does not currently have a facility for enabling group submissions. It is possible for an individual to submit a piece of work on behalf of a group, but only this individual will be able to see the submission. In addition, only the individual who submitted the work will have access to any marks and/or feedback added to the submission using GradeMark or added through the Blackboard Grade Centre.
IMPORTANT – Students should be advised to save and submit their final work in PDF format when submitting to Turnitin. This will ensure that any graphs and tables within submitted documents are correctly rendered in the Turnitin online viewer.
It should be noted that when viewing Turnitin submissions, the Turnitin word count may differ slightly from the word count shown in the original document (for example a Word document or a PDF). This is due to the variation in how different software will calculate the word count. For example, Microsoft Word has two different ways of calculating the word count depending on the configuration chosen by the user.
Similarly, other file types (such as PDFs) may generate a higher word count in Turnitin as it is only possible to count ALL words within a PDF rather than being able to exclude certain elements such as footnotes and endnotes.
Turnitin uses a word counting algorithm very similar to that of Microsoft Word. For everything except HTML, PDF, and PS file types, Turnitin relies on Microsoft Word’s word count system. Note: Turnitin does not count the words in textboxes, footnotes, and end-notes since these are not included by default (in Microsoft Word). However, users who have changed this setting in Word may see a different word count once they upload to Turnitin. We therefore recommend that the Turnitin word count is used as a guide only.
Once an assignment is complete, faculties should ensure that a local copy of all submissions is made in the event that you wish to retain easy access to these submissions after students have qualified (completed their course of study). Once students qualify, their user account will be disabled in Blackboard and access to Turnitin submissions made by these students may be removed.
Creating a Turnitin assignment – This guide explains how to setup a new Turnitin assignment within your Blackboard course. You will need to setup a new Turnitin assignment in order for your students to be able to submit their work. This guide covers both basic and advanced options.
Viewing submissions to your Turnitin assignment – This guide explains how you can check and view submissions made to a Turnitin assignment on your course. This allows you to see WHO has submitted (if not anonymous), as well as WHAT they have submitted. It also summarises the ‘Similarity Score’ for each assignment.
Deleting a submission from Turnitin – This guide explains how to delete a submission from Turnitin. This may be useful if you need to delete a submission that has been made in error, for instance the student has submitted the wrong file to the wrong assignment.
Synchronising your Blackboard course with a Turnitin assignment – This guide explains how to synchronise your Blackboard course enrolments with a Turnitin assignment. This can be useful at the start of a new semester when enrolments tend to be updated regularly.
Downloading Turnitin submissions – This guide will explain how to download Turnitin submissions. You can download files which students have submitted, or the GradeMarked papers for submissions. Anonymous assignment files downloaded will not contain identifiable information.
Exporting a GradeMark summary – This guide explains how to export a Grademark summary of an assignment as an excel file containing submission details and grades. You can then prepare this data for onwards transmission (for instance to Banner)
Anonymous Marking in Turnitin – It is possible to turn on anonymous marking for a Turnitin assignment. This page explains the things you need to be aware of if you are considering using anonymous marking.
Syncing Grades – This guide explains how to synchronise Turnitin grades with your course. You may need to do this if students report seeing an ‘Error 124’ message when trying to view Turnitin feedback through My Grades.
Sam Cole Blackboard, TurnItIn 0 Comments
As a member of staff, there are several things you may need to know how to do using Turnitin. The way that you use Turnitin may be different depending on which faculty you are in. There are, however, several key areas of Turnitin that you may need to know about in order to successfully use Turnitin: managing assignments, similarity reports, and grademark (on PC and iPad). We have individual pages covering each of these main sections. Each page has a list of step-by-step guides which explain how to use each aspect of Turnitin. We have tried to provide step-by-step guides for the most common things you may need to do in Turnitin, but the list is not exhaustive.
Do not open Turnitin in multiple tabs or browser windows. Only use one browser tab to interact with Turnitin. |
‘Feedback Studio’ – The interface for Turnitin’s GradeMark online marking tool and originality / similarity reports is known as ‘Feedback Studio’. Anyone using Turnitin through Blackboard will see this interface automatically.
Click the link above for further information on this interface, or click through our step by step guides in the sections below.
We recommend that users who are due to mark during Semester 1 read through the online guides in advance of any marking periods to familiarise themselves with the new interface.
If you have any queries about the feedback studio interface, please raise a call with Serviceline@soton.ac.uk
Managing Assignments – Assignments are the most fundamental part of Turnitin, allowing students to submit their work online. This set of guides covers various aspects of managing your Turnitin assignments.
Similarity Reports – ‘Similarity reports’ are one of the main features of Turnitin. Turnitin is able to scan for similarity on text based filetypes. This set of guides covers how to work with originality reports.
** Note that the guides below may refer to either GradeMark or Feedback Studio (the name of the redesigned GradeMark interface) **
Feedback Studio for PC / Mac – Turnitin has an online marking feature known as Feedback Studio. The PC interface allows you to mark online using your PC and a web browser. This set of guides explains how to use Feedback Studio on a PC, as well as things to consider when using this feature.
Feedback Studio for iPad – The Feedback Studio online marking tool is available as an iOS app as well as on a standard computer. This set of guides explains how to use Feedback Studio on your iPad, as well as covering some important things to consider when marking using the Feedback Studio app.
Rubrics and grading forms – This set of guides explains how to use rubrics and grading forms in Turnitin and Feedback Studio.
External Help – Whilst we do our best to create step-by-step guides to the most commonly used features within Turnitin, we do not have an exhaustive list of guides. If you’re looking for help on a particular feature but you can’t find it listed in our guides, then you may be able to find more information on some of the external pages listed here.
Matthew Deeprose Bb Assessment, Bb Grade Centre, Blackboard, TurnItIn
Do not open Turnitin in multiple tabs or browser windows. Only use one browser tab to interact with Turnitin. |
Currently TurnItIn does not directly give you the ability to add a file to your feedback. If you wish to add a file to your feedback a possible workaround is to use the Grade Centre. This guide assumes that marking has already been done in GradeMark but that you wish to add an additional feedback file
1. From your course’s Control Panel, expand the Grade Centre menu and choose Full Grade Centre.
2. Find the row and column that corresponds with the student in question and the assignment.
3. Hover your mouse pointer within the cell to reveal the action button.
4. Click on the action button.
5. From the menu that appears click on the attempt to which you wish to add a feedback file.
6. You will see the students attempt. You should see the mark you already gave in GradeMark.
7. Under the Feedback to User section, you can now add a comment (e.g. please look at the attached file), and then attach a file to give back to the student.
8. Click on Submit.
9. You are returned to the overview screen of the student’s attempt for this assignment. You can click on Grade Attempt if you wish to go back and change the feedback.
The student can view their usual Grademark entered feedback by following the instructions here: http://elearn.southampton.ac.uk/blackboard/student/viewfeedback/
To view the feedback file you attached they should, in addition to the above, do the following:
1. Click on My Blackboard Scores from the My University of Southampton page within Blackboard.
2. Find the course concerned.
3. Find the assessment concerned and click on the name of the assessment.
4. The feedback is shown along with the attached file.
Matthew Deeprose Blackboard, How to… Bb Guides for students
Blackboard has a calendar feature which may be accessed via the Global Navigation menu.
You can choose whether you wish to have your calendar represented using the Gregorian calendar, the Hijiri Calendar, or a mix of both. You may also choose on which day the week should appear to begin in your calendar. The Hijiri Calendar implementation uses the Umm al-Qura algorithm for date calculation.
Below are examples of the different calendar options. Sunday has been set as a personal starting day of the week, and the four calendar options are shown.
Matthew Deeprose Bb Content, Blackboard, embedding in Bb
If you have video or audio clips which you wish to add to Blackboard that are below 100MB in size you may follow the steps below to upload those clips so that they play within an HTML5 compatible framework. This will provide the highest level of compatibility with modern web browsers and devices.
If your content is larger than 100MB we strongly recommend using the media streaming service detailed at http://elearn.southampton.ac.uk/panopto/uploading/
1. From within your Blackboard course, with Edit Mode enabled, hover over build content and choose item.
2. In the text box, click on the Insert/Edit Embedded Media icon.
3. Select HTML5 Video or HTML5 Audio as appropriate. The best video format to use is mp4, and the best audio format to use is mp3. If you find the video format you are using is not compatible convert it to one of the aforementioned formats. (ServiceLine can help you with this.)
*** Ensure your file has an extension in lower case characters e.g. file.mp4, not file.MP4 ***
4. Click on Browse My Computer to upload a file from your computer, or Browse Content Collection to select a file that is already within your Blackboard course.
5. Blackboard will always assume you wish the video to be displayed in a window 320 pixels by 240. You may wish to change this to the dimensions of your video.
6. Click on Insert. Complete the rest of the text box if you wish.
7. If you wish to allow students to download the video you should also add it as an attachment. This will help students whose browsers do not support HTML5, for example in institutions or environments where they are forced to use out of date web browsers.
8. Here is an example of how an HTML 5 video looks, along with having the file available as an attachment.
And here is how an HTML 5 audio looks.
Sam Cole Blackboard, How to… Bb Guides for students, TurnItIn
This guide explains how to view a submission you have already made to a Turnitin assignment, and also how to view any feedback your tutor has left using Feedback Studio (the Turnitin grading tool).
1. Login to Blackboard and browse to the the relevant course. Once you are in your course, locate the content area where the submission link is, and click on it (for example, Assignments).
2. Locate the TurnitinUK Assignment link, which will look similar to the screenshot above, although will have a different name. Click on the link which says View / Complete. This will take you into your assignment homepage for this specific assignment. This is the same link you clicked on when you first submitted your assignment. Clicking this link after you have submitted will allow you to check the submission you have made, and access related materials such as originality reports and feedback / grades. The availability of originality reports and feedback / grades depends on whether your tutor is using these features.
3. As you have already submitted to the assignment in question, you will see a range of different buttons depending on the whether the assignment due date has passed or not, and depending on how your tutor has setup the assignment. Generally you will see one of the 3 button layouts shown in the image above:
a. If your tutor has set the assignment up to allow re-submissions then you will see a blue re-submit button up until the due date. You will also see a grey View button which allows you to check the file you have already submitted. The download button (the downward pointing arrow) allows you to download both your file and your digital receipt.
b. If your tutor has set the assignment up so that you are only allowed to submit once, then the Submit button will now be greyed out. You can still use the grey View button to check the file you’ve submitted. If you have accidentally submitted the wrong file and need to resubmit, you’ll need to contact the course tutor and ask them to remove your current attempt so that you can re-submit (this is done at their discretion). The download button (the downward pointing arrow) allows you to download both your file and your digital receipt.
c. In the final example, the Submit button is unavailable as submissions are no longer allowed, but the View button is now blue. If you see a blue view button it means that your tutor has marked your work, or left feedback online using the Feedback Studio tool. Clicking on the blue view button will allow you to see this feedback. This button will only be blue if your tutor uses Feedback Studio to provide a mark and feedback. If you do not see a blue button and wish to find out your grade for the submission, you should contact your tutor to ask how they will communicate this information with you.
4. If your tutor has used Feedback Studio to add comments, these will appear on screen after you’ve loaded your paper by clicking on the blue ‘View’ button. Comments will appear as blue speech marks or blue boxes.
5. Clicking on a blue box will expand the comment or QuickMark to see the detailed comment if applicable.
6. On the right hand side of the page you should see a series of blue boxes. These allow you access to the rubric scorecard for your assignment (if one is being used), and also allows you to listen to any voice comments. Voice comments are short recordings which your tutor may make to summarise their thoughts. This will not be available unless your tutor has chosen to use this feature. At the bottom of this side bar you can view general comments which have been left by the marker.
7. The very top of the blue side bar area shows you any score which has been entered by the marker for your paper. Note that scores which appear in Turnitin are usually provisional, and should not be considered your ‘final’ mark.
If you wish to download a copy of your submission including any feedback, you can download a PDF to be viewed offline or to be printed.
First look for the download icon in the right hand side panel. This is highlighted in the screenshot above. Click on the icon.
Having clicked on the button, you should see a popup message asking what you wish to download. Click on ‘Current View’. The popup will disappear, and a message saying ‘Preparing Download’ should appear. Shortly after, your PDF should open (or you may be asked to save the PDF depending on your local browser settings.