Use Turnitin with Assignments

NOTE: Text submission in WYSIWYG editor is NOT recommended as it may not generate a similarity report.

Enabling Turnitin Feedback Studio on Assignment Settings

From the Edit Folder page, expand Evaluation & Feedback panel to do the following:

  • Enable detailed Similarity Reports for assignment submissions
  • Control end-user visibility
  • Set the Similarity Report's frequency
  • Select the sources to check the submission against
  • Determine if the current submission is added to the file index for new submissions to be checked against

Viewing the Similarity Report® Options in the Turnitin Feedback Studio

  1. From the Evaluation & Feedback panel, click Manage Turnitin.
    Identifies the Manage Turnitin link on the Evaluation & Feedback panel.

  2. In the Turnitin Integration popup window, select Enable Similarity Report for this folder.
    From the Display and Submissions Checked area, select the appropriate radio button.
    • Allow learners to see similarity scores in their submission folder - Allow students to view their similarity scores in their folder.
    • Automatic similarity checking on all submissions - Performs a similarity check on all student submissions.
    • Identify individual submissions for similarity checking - Requires you to select submissions individually to check for similarities.

      Identifies transfer options; indicates Turnitin tab and Enable Grademark for this folder checkbox

Viewing Similarity Report® Options

  1. When you enable Online Grading®, the Enable Similarity Report® for this folder checkbox is automatically selected. Therefore, Turnitin® generates a Similarity Report automatically. If it is not enabled, check the box.

    Indicates Enable Originality Check for this folder check box

    NOTE: If you do not enable these options for this folder before students submit any papers, Online Grading® will not generate the similarity reports for any submissions, even if you select the checkbox at a later date.

    You may clear the Online Grading® option and use only the Similarity Report®, but you cannot use only the Online Grading® option without selecting Similarity Report®.

  2. From the Display area, select the Allow learners to see similarity scores in their submission folder, if needed.



  3. From the Submissions Checked area, change the frequency of your Similarity Reports.
    • Automatic similarity checking on all submissions, which will put all student submissions through Turnitin®.
    • Identify individual submissions for similarity checking, which will allow you to choose which students’ papers are sent through Turnitin®.



  4. Click the More Options button. A window displays additional Turnitin® options.

Viewing Optional Settings

Area
Setting Name
Setting Description
Submission Settings
Paper Repository
(Drop-Down List)

Allows students to submit papers to the standard paper repository. Leave this set to Standard paper repository unless you do not want Turnitin® to save the submissions to the repository.


Allow Submission of Any File Type
Allows students to submit any file type. With this option selected, Turnitin® will check submissions for similarity where possible. Submissions will also be available for download, and Online Grading® feedback tools will be available where possible.

Allow Late Submissions

Defaults to Yes and you cannot change it. Please note, this setting will not change the dates you have set in your D2L assignment, and won’t change the acceptance of papers if you have put in both a due date and an end date to allow late papers.


Enable Grammar Checking Using ETS®e-rater®  Technology
Allow Turnitin® to check the grammar automatically. If you select this option, additional options display.

Attach a Rubric
If you have built rubrics inside Turnitin®, you can attach one to the assignment. These rubrics are totally separate from D2L rubrics.
Compare Against
  • Student Paper Repository
  • Current and Archived Web Site Content
  • Periodicals, Journals, and Publications
Select the options to compare assignments against.
Similarity Report
  • Generate Similarity Reports for student submission
    (Drop-Down List)
  • Exclude Bibliographic Materials; Exclude Quoted Materials; Exclude Small Sources
  • Select an option from the drop-down list that determines how Turnitin® handles the Similarity Report for multiple submissions.
  • Select the options to exclude from the Similarity Report.
Additional Settings

Save These Settings for Future Use

Enables the settings you have made, so you do not have to go through and reset them for each assignment.

Manually Submitting Files for Similarity Checking

If your assignment folder has Identify individual submissions for similarity checking enabled, you need to submit file submissions for similarity checking manually. 

This option is useful if you do not want to check every file submission for plagiarism but still want the ability to do so on a case-by-case basis.

  1. Click the drop down arrow next to the Assignment and select View Submissions.
  2. From the Folder Submissions page, click thedecorationSubmit file to Turnitin icon to the far right.


    It may take a moment for the Similarity Report to generate after selecting this option. Refreshing the page may be necessary.

Similarity Reports

From the Folder Submissions page, you can view Similarity Reports. When a report is available, the status changes from In-Progress to a percentage rating, which indicates the level of matching content.

  • A lower percentage rating indicates the content is likely original and has not been copied.
  • A higher percentage rating indicates the content is likely not original and has been copied from another source.

Colors are associated with percentage:

Blue = 0%
Green >= One word and < 24%
Yellow >= 25 and < 49%
Orange >= 50 and < 74%
Red >= 75 and <= 100%

If the Similarity Report Fails to Generate

If a Similarity Report fails to generate, you can attempt to resubmit submissions to TurnItin.

  1. Navigate in your course to [Course Activities] -> [Assignments] and click the dropdown arrow next to the assignment, then click [View Submissions] to access the Folder Submissions page.

  2. Next to the student's submission, click the [Resubmit File to Turnitin™] icon.

    Shows where to click Resubmit File to Turnitin™

  3. The icon will change to In Progress. It may take several minutes to generate the submission report.

NOTE: This will only work if TurnItIn was already enabled for the assignment before the students' submission(s) were made. In cases when the TurnItin is activated after some submissions have been made to the assignment folder, please attempt the following workaround instead.

If that does not work, you can attempt the following workaround which can force the generation of the reports.

To trigger reports:

  1. Go into the Assignment editor. Click to expand the Evaluation & Feedback panel.

  2. Click the Manage Turnitin button
    Identifies the Manage Turnitin button.
     
  3. Click the More Options button.


  4. Change the Turnitin report generation setting to Generate immediately (resubmissions allowed until the due date)."
    Identifies the  selector to generate immediately (resubmissions allowed until the due date).

  5. Click Submit.

  6. Click Save.

  7. On the assignment editor page, make sure the due date is in the future.
    If the due date has already passed when this change occurs, it won't generate the reports.

    Identifies the Due Date field.

  8. On the newly selected due date, all reports will be re-run (which triggers the generation of the reports that are missing).

Viewing a Similarity Report for a Submission

To view the associated Similarity Report, click the percentage rating. To access the Feedback Studio, click the pencil icon.

Opening Similarity Reports

Two panes make up the Similarity Report. 

  1. The right pane lists all of the matching sources, including the percentage of text that matches and a link to the online content.
     
  2. The left pane displays the submission text using colored highlights to draw attention to the matching content.

NOTE: For more detailed help with Similarity Reports, click the help link in the top-right corner of the report page within Turnitin®.

Indicates Originality Report Help icon

The following file types are compatible with Similarity Report®:

  • Htm
  • Html
  • Mht
  • Mhtml
  • Doc
  • Docx
  • Hwp
  • Odt
  • Rtf
  • Pdf
  • Wpd
  • Txt
  • Ps
  • Pptx
  • Ppt
  • Ppsx
  • Pps
  • Xls
  • Xlsx

NOTES: A PDF file must be a single file with highlightable text; Turnitin® will not accept PDF image files, forms, portfolios, or documents containing multiple files. If a file type is incompatible with Similarity Check®, the Information icon displays instead of the percentage rating.

If you would like to use Turnitin from the Turnitin.com website rather than through the integration with D2L, please contact VTAC.

Insights Panel

In the Insight panel, you'll find a quick overview of any integrity insights we've found in a document. Depending on your Turnitin license, it can include Similarity, Flags, and Document Details. Viewing more information is as easy as selecting the one you're interested in learning more about.

See Flags Insight Panel from Turnitin for more information.

Template Exclusion

Occasionally students are provided with templates that are submitted alongside their assignments. If all students within the class submit the same template, it will influence their Similarity Report. Templates can be uploaded to the assignment settings so that they can be automatically excluded from all students' Similarity Reports in that class.

See Template Exclusion from Turnitin for more information.

Using Turnitin QuickMarks

You can access the QuickMarks tool through the  icon on the right toolbar within Turnitin Feedback Studio. You can then select from a word bank that will allow you to insert feedback that may be applicable to the student's content.

See Adding QuickMarks from Turnitin for more information.