NVQ evidence: pliagerism and correct citing of sources.

Professional reflection: Plagiarism in the NVQ process.

Philip McMullen.  Jan 2008.

Introduction.  

Whether evidence is presented in handwritten, printed or electronic formats, the assessor /verifiers ought to have an understanding of how to establish that the evidence presented is original, and where and to what extent it relies on citing other people’s work. This skill-set requires having an understanding of the candidates writing style – the textual hallmarks that give an accurate assessment of the originality and authenticity of the evidence produced – in much the same way as a college or university tutor would mark an essay.

With the availability of third person work freely available on the internet, and access to paid model answers, this is a ‘clear and present’ issue. Work can also be taken from another portfolio or originated by a friend or family.  Remember signatures and dates can be faked / falsified.  In my experience, evidence often contains unacknowledged third party citations. It is not always deliberate.

Possible solutions:  

1.  Assessor/ verifier continued professional development. 

The assessor should be presented with sample written evidence that has extracts taken directly from text books and ‘internet sites’. Exploration of these, individually or in groups should enable assessors to develop the skills to identify the changes in style, syntax, knowledge level etc that differentiates these portions of text from the surrounding original authentic text.

Assessors should be equipped to understand the standards of  correct referencing/citation  for any quotations and extracts used. These should be in keeping with the level of the award of the candidate (with level  5 requiring full academic referencing with bibliography). The centre’s standardization processes should decide the reference system to be used. It is worthwhile noting that several reference systems exist for written text but internet web and blog references have only advisory status. Never-the-less one should be chosen.

2. Candidate Induction 

At inductions the requirement for authentic evidence should be stressed along with an outline and examples of practices that are not acceptable.

It is wise during the induction to ask the candidate to answer several (perhaps 3-6) model questions in your presence. These questions should require information from different aspects of their work and should require answering in past, present and future tenses. These can provide a baseline for understanding the candidates writing style – to identify any future serious deviations.

This exercise can also include enabling candidates to properly paraphrase a piece of text while acknowledging it’s origin by using the authors name and date of publication.

How to write a bibliography should be explained appropriate to the level of the award and a standardized form should be used for them.

 Reflection from practice: 

Included in a nearly complete portfolio (level 3) was a reflective account that bore little relationship to the candidate’s usual writing style.  The reflection was written in a much briefer, ‘clipped’ style and the spelling was more accurate than usual. I sensitively but clearly raised my observations on the text with the candidate.  It was explained to me that the candidate’s daughter had written the answers – paraphrasing what the candidate had told her. There was clearly no intent to deceive and the content of the evidence (as distinct from the style of the evidence) was congruent with the candidate’s usual presentation style.

I requested that the candidate include a statement such as “this evidence was typed by a third person who paraphrased my answers to their own writing style. I confirm that it is accurate to the spirit and intent of my verbal evidence.” This was readily accepted and I was able to record that I accepted this explanation.  However the candidate eventually decided they were uncomfortable with the evidence in their portfolio and re-presented it by hand.

Further Information : 

http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/libdocs/hsl-dvc2.pdf Information on methods for citation of electronic sources.

http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/libdocs/hsl-dvc1.pdf Information on Harvard citation method for written sources.

http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/ Virtual Training Institute with many resources to using the internet for learning / research. It includes sections on Social Sciences and Management.