Category: Surveys

Plagiarism Prevention Resources and SafeAssign

SafeAssign logoSafeAssign, a plagiarism prevention service, was made available in Blackboard for instructors to use in their course sites over Spring Break 2013. SafeAssign is part of a campus-wide plagiarism prevention training and support initiative for instructors and students. This program is a partnership between Technology Across the Curriculum (TAC) and the Office of Student Conduct. SafeAssign is entirely optional for instructors; there are many ways to address plagiarism without using SafeAssign. Plagiarism prevention resources for instructors and students are available online.

As of Week 7 of S2013, 114 instructors teaching 24 different subjects had created more than 180 SafeAssignments in Blackboard courses sites.

The Blackboard Steering Committee created a survey to gather baseline metrics on how SafeAssign is being used by instructors and students, and to what extent users value SafeAssign as a tool to help student prevents plagiarism and improve their writing.

The SA_S2013_survey_summary highlights conclusions and recommended next steps based on responses to the SafeAssign surveys.

 

Blackboard Instructor Survey

In November 2012 the Blackboard Steering Committee distributed a 19-question survey of OSU instructors, faculty and GTA’s designed to find out the following:

  • What types of courses are instructors using Blackboard for?
  • If they are not using Blackboard, why not?
  • Of those who are using Blackboard, which features do they use, and how frequently are those features used to assess student learning?
  • How do instructors access technical and user support?
  • Are instructors aware of the Blackboard Steering Committee?
  • What comments do instructors have on Blackboard features and potential improvements for Blackboard?

Approximately 340 instructors responded to the survey; they represent a broad diversity of positions from tenured professor to TA’s, as well as emeritus faculty, research staff, administrators and INTO instructors. 91% of respondents use Blackboard; 9% do not.

On-campus, Ecampus and Hybrid courses were well represented in the survey, as were both small and large sections (over 400 students) that used Blackboard. The responses indicate that Blackboard is widely-used for a range of teaching activity.

The Steering Committee derived five key findings and three recommended next steps, based on the responses we received. You can review the survey summary here.

Bb_Instructor_Survey_2012_Short_Summary