Turnitin Blackboard® Direct Integration (Beta) Student User Manual
Version: 2.1.0
Updated October 31, 2011 (View PDF version)
Contents
Introduction
Submitting a Paper
File Types and Size
How to Check Turnitin Assignment Dates
Submission Types
File Upload
Text Submissions
Submissions Inbox
Grade Center
Originality Reports
GradeMark®
Glossary
Introduction
Welcome to the Turnitin Blackboard Direct Integration Student Manual. This section will educate students on how to submit papers to a Turnitin assignment. Other topics that will be covered are: a walkthrough of the assignment inbox interface, how to view an Originality Report, and how to view GradeMark.
Submitting a Paper
Student users submit papers to a Turnitin assignment from the Turnitin assignment inbox, first click the "View Assignment" link from your list of assignments. This will open the assignment Summary page, which outlines the details of the current assignment, including Title, description, status and the start, due and post-dates of each part.
Click the "Submit" tab to make a submission to Turnitin.
File Types and Size
Turnitin currently accepts the following file types for upload into an assignment:
- Microsoft Word™ (DOC and DOCX)
- Corel WordPerfect®
- HTML
- Adobe PostScript®
- Plain text (TXT)
- Rich Text Format (RTF)
- Portable Document Format (PDF)
The file size may not exceed 20 MB. Files of larger size may be reduced in size by removal of non-text content or the instructor may be contacted to request multiple assignments to submit the document in sections.
Note: Text only files may not exceed 2 MB.
PDF File Note: PDF documents must contain text to be submitted. PDF files containing only images of text will be rejected during the upload attempt. To determine if a document contains actual text, copy and paste a section or all of the text into a plain-text editor such as Microsoft Notepad or Apple TextEdit. If no text is copied over, the selection is not actual text.
PDF Tip: Users submitting scanned images of a document or an image saved as a PDF will need to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to convert the image to a text document. Manual correction of the resulting document is highly recommended to fix any errors caused by the conversion software.
Embedded Links Note: Some document formats can contain multiple data types. This includes text, images, embedded information from another file, and formatting. Non-text information that is not saved directly within the document will not be included in a file upload. This includes references to a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet included within a Microsoft Office Word document.
File Type Note: Users whose files are saved in a file type that is not accepted by Turnitin will need to use a word processing program to save the file as one of the accepted types. Rich Text Format and Plain Text file types are nearly universally available in word processing software. Neither file type will support images or non-text data within the file. Plain text format does not support any formatting, and rich text format supports only limited formatting options.
Tip: When converting a file to a new file format, users should rename their file with a name other than that of the original file. This is suggested to prevent permanent loss of the original formatting or image content of a file due to it being overwritten.
How to Check Turnitin Assignment Dates
To submit a paper to a Turnitin assignment, you must upload a file to an existing assignment. Turnitin assignments cannot accept student submissions until the assignment start date & time. Assignments may also reject submissions after the due date and time set by an instructor (unless Late Submissions has been enabled. Please check with your instructor if you are unsure).
To check the start date and due date information; click the "View Assignment" link in your list of assignments, which will take you to the "Summary" tab. (If you are already viewing the assignment, simply click the "Summary" tab).
Submission Types
There are two submission types a student may use to submit a paper: "File Upload" or "Text Submission." An instructor may set up the assignment to require the student to submit in one of the two submission types or let their students decide which submission type they would like to use.
File Upload
The file upload submission type allows students to submit to the assignment by directly loading the file from their computer.
Warning: Make sure that the file type you are submitting can be accepted by Turnitin.
Note: Users whose files are saved in a file type that is not accepted by Turnitin will need to use a word processing program to save the file as one of the accepted types. Rich Text Format and Plain Text file types are nearly universally available in word processing software. Neither file type will support images or non-text data within the file. Plain text format does not support any formatting, and rich text format supports only limited formatting options.
Submitting a paper by file upload:
- Click on the "View Assignment" link from your list of assignments, and then click the "Submit" tab to open the assignment submission page.
- If you are given a choice of which submission type to use to submit to the assignment, you will need to select "File Upload." If the assignment requires you to submit by "File Upload" go to the next step
- Enter the submission title
- If there is more than one part for the assignment you will need to select which part you are submitting to from the "Submission Part" pull down menu
- Click on the "Choose File..." button to select the file you would like to submit
- If your instructor has enabled this option, before submitting you will need to check the box next to "Notice."
- Click the "Submit" button to submit your paper
Text Submissions
The cut and paste submission option allows users to submit information from nonsupported word processors or file types, or to only submit specific parts or areas of a document that may need an Originality Report generated.
Please note that only text can be submitted via the cut and paste method - any graphics, graphs, images, and formatting are lost when pasting into the text submission box.
Submitting a text submission to a Turnitin assignment:
- Click on the "View Assignment" link from your list of assignments, and then click the "Submit" tab to open the assignment submission page.
- Enter the submission title
- If there is more than one part for the assignment you will need to select which part you are submitting to from the "Submission Part" drop down menu
- Copy the text you want to submit and paste it within the text box
Tip: To cut and paste text, highlight the text of a paper in a word processing or text editing program and select "copy" from the edit menu. To transfer the text into your browser, place your mouse cursor in the text box of the submission page and select "paste" from your browser’s edit menu - If your instructor has enabled this option, before submitting you will need to check the box next to "Notice."
- Click the "Submit" button to submit your paper
Submissions Inbox
Once a submission has been made to a Turnitin assignment, the submission inbox will contain the submitted paper. If the instructor has allowed students to view the Originality Report for their paper, a percentage icon will appear once the report has been generated. If the instructor used GradeMark to grade the paper, then once the post date passes, students will see a comment icon that will open GradeMark when clicked.
The My Submissions tab contains the following columns:
Submission - Contains the part name and submission title of the submission you made.
Date Submitted – Contains the date and time of the submission. Late submissions are color coded red.
Similarity - this column contains a percentage indicating the overall similarity of the paper to information in the Turnitin repositories, 100% being ‘fully similar’, 0% indicating ‘no similarity’. Clicking on the Similarity % icon opens the Originality Report.
Grade – Contains the grade received for this submission and the GradeMark icon (if your institution is not using GradeMark then no icon will appear).
Download icon – a file icon located to the right of the submission. Click on the icon to download a copy of the submission.
Grade Center
The Blackboard grade center gives users a full overview of a Turnitin Direct assignment. Click on the "Tools" link in the sidebar within a course then click on the "My Grades" link. Click on the link or the exclamation point icon within the grade column to view your submissions to the assignment.
Originality Reports
Instructors can choose for each assignment whether or not to allow students to view Originality Reports. If a student has been given access to Originality Reports, they can view their report by clicking on the Originality Report icon in the Similarity column within the "My Submissions" tab.
For more information about Originality Reports click here to view the Originality Report chapter of the Student User Manual.
GradeMark®
To access GradeMark, click on the comment icon in the Grade column within the "My Submissions" tab. For more in depth information on using GradeMark please click here to view the GradeMark section of the Turnitin Student Manual.
Please note that not all accounts have purchased the GradeMark product, if GradeMark has not been purchased the grademark column will be blank where the GradeMark icon should appear.
Glossary
Definitions
account - a Turnitin account allows instructors to use products purchased from Turnitin
account ID - the numeric identification number for a specific account or sub-account
administrator - the controller of a specific Turnitin account. This user type is able to install and configure, activate or deactivate products on an account, change account settings, and add or remove instructors from account access
assignment - Submissions to a class on Turnitin are made to an assignment. Each assignment can allow only a single submission per student user who is enrolled in the class
class - to allow students to submit files, an instructor must create a class for their students. A class requires a name, a class ID, and a class enrollment password
class portfolio - the class portfolio page is the main view page of a student for a specific class
digital receipt - the digital receipt is a confirmation of a successful paper submission to a Turnitin assignment. The digital receipt contains the unique paper ID number, user name, submission date and time, class name, assignment title, and a copy of the submitted work. The digital receipt is shown on-screen after submission and a copy is sent by e-mail to the user at the e-mail address provided as the user login name. This e-mail is sent by noreply@turnitin.com or jisc_help@turnitin.com for UK users and spam filters should be checked to ensure they do not block users from receiving this e-mail
download - transmission of a file from Turnitin to the computer of the user selecting to download files). Some users may need to enable file download due to security considerations on the web browser or computer being used
due date - the due date on a Turnitin assignment indicates the date and time of day at which an assignment is due. Submissions after the due date and time may no longer be allowed and will be automatically blocked by the Turnitin system. Only the instructor can enable late submissions on an assignment on Turnitin. The due date must come after the start date and before the post date during assignment creation. The due date and time may be changed by the instructor at their discretion to meet the needs of a class
GradeMark - a digital grading product offered by Turnitin which allows instructors to place comments and QuickMark editing marks on a submission for students to review. This product also includes standardized rubric scorecards and the ability to share QuickMarkSM standard editing marks and rubric scorecards between instructors on an account via export or via administrators using the libraries sharing feature of the GradeMark digital grading product
homepage - the default login page, which is different based on the selected default user type of the user profile being accessed
instructor - the term used for teachers, tutors, or other student-assisting users added or authorized to join as instructors on a specific Turnitin account. A single person may be joined to multiple Turnitin accounts or sub-accounts using one user profile or separate user profiles. Users may fill more than one user type role on Turnitin
internet archive - Turnitin’s web repository includes inactive or no longer available web pages and copies of pages that have changed over time. This allows Turnitin to search against information that is no longer available or which has changed over time.
items per page - a user info page preference that allows users to determine the number of items from any list they wish to see per page on Turnitin
libraries - the libraries menu displays the rubrics created by Turnitin or the instructor. For more information about rubrics please view the GradeMark training video or the rubric section of the GradeMark manual available at www.turnitin. com/training.html
log in - the act of an authorized user entering the e-mail address and personal password created for a user profile to enter Turnitin as the user associated with the e-mail address entered
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) - Optical character recognition software converts a image of text information into an actual text document that can be read and altered by word processing software. Papers or documents transferred into a computer via a scanner require optical character recognition software conversion to be submitted to Turnitin. Turnitin only accepts documents containing actual text data rather than an imaged document or submission. Some scanners offer OCR conversion automatically, but most OCR conversion requires hand correction to resolve any inaccuracies which can cause major changes to the actual content of a document
OriginalityCheck - this product creates Originality Reports for submissions in assignments on Turnitin. The Originality Reports allow instructors and students to easily determine any problems in citation or referencing and assists instructors in determining the originality of a submitted work
Originality Report - the Originality Report is a flexible document that allows students and instructors to review matches between a submitted work and the repositories scanned by Turnitin. Citations, quotations, and bibliographic material are all scanned against Turnitin’s repositories to determine an overall similarity percentage as well as specific matches to similar text
Overall Similarity Index - the overall similarity index is a percentage indicating the similarity of the text submitted to information contained in the Turnitin repositories used for comparison on the assignment the submission was made in. This percentage indicates a percentage based on the length of the paper compared to the length of the areas flagged as similar during the comparison
paper - a paper refers to the document or file submitted by a user to an assignment in a class on the Turnitin website
paper ID - the paper ID number is a unique identifier that can be used to refer to a specific paper. The paper ID number can be viewed by accessing the paper in the assignment inbox for instructors. The paper ID number is also available on the paper view page, Originality Report, and GradeMark digital assessment view of the submission
PeerMark - this product allows students to anonymously or with attribution review submissions made by other students within the course. Students reply to free response and scale questions selected or created by the instructor. Instructors may also comment on the paper using three different commenting tools: inline text tool, highlighter tool, and composition marks. A PeerMark assignment must be based on a normal Turnitin assignment where the student papers are initially submitted
post date- the post date of an assignment is set by the instructor during the assignment creation. When the post date and time has passed, students will be able to view GradeMark and GradeBook information on their submissions in this assignment. If the assignment is a Peer Review, students will be able to read the assessments written by their peers after the post date passes. The post date does not control Originality Reports. The post date must come after the start date and due date during assignment creation
product - a specific service, feature, or group of features offered by Turnitin as part of the purchase of a Turnitin license by an educational customer
repository- a set of information of a specific type or types. In the specific context of the Originality Report provided by Turnitin, repository is used to refer to the type of information the submission was evaluated against for direct matching or high levels of similarity. Available repositories include internet, archived internet, periodical/journal/publication information, and previous submissions
resubmit - the act of submitting a new paper in place of an existing submitted paper. Resubmission can only be done if the instructor has set an assignment to allow students to overwrite until the due date and time of the paper, or if the instructor has manually deleted the student’s existing submission in the assignment inbox. This option can only be enabled by the class instructor
revision (assignment type) - an assignment created by an instructor that is linked to an existing assignment. Revision assignments may have a different start, due, or post date than the primary assignment. Revision assignments allow instructors to easily enable students to submit multiple drafts of the same submission to different assignments. Revision assignments, like regular assignments, only allow one paper per student to be submitted
start date - a date and time selected by the instructor when creating an assignment. The start date and time must pass before students are able to begin submitting to an assignment. Instructors are not prevented from submitting before the start date. The start date for an assignment must be before the selected due date and post date during assignment creation. This may be updated only by the instructor to meet the needs of a class
student - a user type able to enroll in courses created by an instructor user. Student user profiles can only submit to assignments created by an instructor in a class they are joined to or have been authorized to join
submission - a file or files uploaded by a student or instructor user into an assignment within a Turnitin class. Only a single file per student user can be submitted to an assignment by a student user
submission type - Turnitin offers multiple submission types for students and instructors. Students are able to submit a single file at a time by either file upload or cut-and-paste submission
upload (file) - the act of submitting or sending a file into a specific assignment within a Turnitin for use with the Turnitin products selected for the class
user profile - the user profile is a set of user preferences and information associated with a specific ID within Turnitin. Each user profile requires a unique e-mail address. A specific e-mail address can only be used once within the Turnitin repository. New attempts to create a profile associated with an e-mail address currently existing in Turnitin will not succeed
