Manuscript with arrow icon Book and magnifying glass icon Cross-check icon Process checklist icon Reputation ribbon icon Graduation cap icon Question speech bubble icon Headset call icon Mobile phone call icon Login arrow icon B+ Paper Icon Becoming B+ Paper Icon Checkmark Paper Icon Feedback Speech Bubble Icon Feedback Double Speech Bubble Icon Similarity Check Icon Professional Development Icon Admin Training Icon Instructor Training Icon Student Training Icon Integrations Icon System Status Icon System Requirements Icon Menu Icon Checkmark Icon Download Icon Rubric Icon Prompt Icon QuickMark Set Icon Lesson Plan Icon Success Story Icon Infographic Icon White Paper Icon White Paper Icon Press Release Icon News Story Icon Event Icon Webcast Icon Video Icon Envelope Icon Plaque Icon Lightbulb Icon Insights Lightbulb Icon Training Icon Search Icon User Icon Privacy Icon Instructor Icon Instructor-1 Icon Investigator Icon Admin Icon Student Icon Voice Grammar Icon Turnitin Logo (Text and Icon) Icon Facebook Icon Twitter Icon LinkedIn Icon Google Plus Icon Lightbulb Icon Binoculars Icon Drama Masks Icon Magnifying Glass Icon Signal Check Indicator Bars Red Flag Icon Analysis and Organization Icon
Contact Sales
UNSW Transition Program Online (TPO)
in numbers
Location
online university preparation program
Product
Turnitin Similarity
LMS
OpenLearning
Institution Type
Private Institution
Mission
UNSW Global, owned by UNSW Sydney, offers pathway programs for international learners. Of these, UNSW Transition Program Online (TPO) is a purpose-built online university preparation program for international students, delivered in partnership with OpenLearning. From wherever you are in the world, it will help you prepare for study at UNSW Sydney or one of our partner universities in Australia, New Zealand or the UK in only four months.

Summary

OpenLearning partnered with Turnitin to enhance academic integrity of written tasks and assessments submitted within the OpenLearning platform. The UNSW Transition Program Online (TPO) put OpenLearning’s integration with Turnitin to work and shared their firsthand experience of the practical benefits of this integration. TPO’s representatives noted that Turnitin’s text similarity detection solution helps promote a culture of academic integrity and tangibly improves student writing habits.

1

TPO teachers recognized the importance of academic integrity in a rigorous and accelerated university preparation program.

2

The seamlessly integrated OpenLearning-Turnitin workflow provides the program’s teachers and students with a comprehensive text similarity report.

3

TPO students now have the opportunity to review detailed information on similarity scores and ensure adherence to academic integrity expectations which is beneficial for further scholarly and career journeys.

As a teacher, I appreciate that Turnitin allows the student, under autonomy, to make informed decisions to ensure their submission is their own research.

- Jay Gardiner, Lead Teacher for UNSW Transition Program Online

UNSW Transition Program Online

Adjusting to a new country, a new language of instruction, and new teaching styles is quite a challenge, but it is one taken on by many students worldwide each year. The draws are clear, as access to a wider range of universities opens countless doors for life and careers. But the path is not always straightforward.

UNSW Global, with a long history of providing pathway programs to students, and OpenLearning, a leading Australian online learning platform, recognized that many students miss out on this life-changing opportunity because of small academic or language gaps.

This is why they developed the UNSW Transition Program Online (TPO). The TPO is an accelerated university preparation program tailored for international students who just fall short of direct-entry requirements to universities abroad. The program offers a fully online direct pathway to enrollment at UNSW Sydney as well as other universities in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand.

Being online, and featuring multiple intakes a year, the four-month program offers aspiring students unmatched flexibility along with the skills for university study including language preparedness. This way students can transition to university with confidence and find success and familiarity in a new environment.

Developing student autonomy and accountability

With TPO students coming from many different backgrounds, countries, and experiences the familiarity with and conceptions around plagiarism and academic misconduct can vary widely. As the program also targets English language skills there are linguistic issues at times. Teachers found that student work could display plagiarism, even without any subversive or deviant intentions.

The team at UNSW Global and OpenLeaning chose Turnitin as an effective solution to support academic integrity within the program. 

“In essence, OpenLearning partnered with Turnitin to solve a problem that shouldn’t exist in a perfect world,” said David Collien, Founder and Chief Technology Officer at OpenLearning. “There is a stark issue with assessment when educators or learners target grades, in favour of the transformational qualities of a learning experience.” 

Program Lead Teacher Jay Gardiner knew that it was necessary to pinpoint opportunities to promote academic integrity while mastering content: “[Turnitin] provides a high-level report and guide for students to have the opportunity to review their work. This feature acts as a deterrent to plagiarism, and allows them to address any issues” - said Gardiner. This was ideal for the educators seeking to develop student autonomy and accountability over distance with the TPO. 

The partnership between OpenLearning and Turnitin was a natural fit which resulted in a synergetic solution for educators and learners. It helped that the Turnitin Core API was production ready – it could build right into the OpenLearning platform and run automatically. 

Turnitin is a great component for the OpenLearning workflow as it integrates seamlessly with the knowledge artifacts that learners create within the OpenLearning platform.


David Collien, Founder and CTO at OpenLearning

Positive Results

For the TPO, the ability to confidently detect potential cheating and plagiarism provided a timely “means to resolve the issue” and build understanding. With access right within the OpenLearning platform, teachers employed similarity detection even within low-stakes activities to grow awareness, self-reflection, and confidence. 

Both the educators and students of TPO have direct access to the Turnitin similarity reports, which indicate and highlight any text in student work that displays similarity with known sources, right from within the OpenLearning platform. Since the Turnitin database is the largest on the internet and features billions of web pages and scholarly publications this allows them to determine the exact sources and easily work on acceptable quotation and citation practices. 

Using Turnitin together with OpenLearning has proven to be a highly effective and efficient solution for the program's current cohort of students. “As a teacher, I appreciate this as Turnitin allows the student, under autonomy, to make informed decisions to ensure their submission is their own research,” said Jay Gardiner.

Growing together

The enhanced capabilities and insights enabled by the OpenLearning and Turnitin partnership will allow the TPO to scale without compromising on learning outcomes. This ensures that more students can successfully bridge the gap to university admission.

The UNSW Transition Program Online fills a much-needed gap in the international education sphere. We are excited to be a part of that and we look forward to helping the program develop strong, prepared students.


Jay Gardiner, Lead Teacher for UNSW Transition Program Online

David Collien, Founder and Chief Technology Officer at OpenLearning