Digital Smarts - Debate on the Use of Anti-Plagiarism Software Continues

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (UTA) recently took another look at anti-plagiarism detection software and found that it is not terribly accurate. This revelation, similar to the same results found 2 years ago when UTA did a similar study, is fueling renewed debate about how the software is used, especially in K-12 education where teachers often use results from a scan of a student project to punish students rather than as a tool to teach them how to write and cite correctly. The researchers warn that teachers who use the software as their sole means of evaluating student papers for originality are experiencing a “measure of false security, like having people take off their shoes at the airport.”