Citation:Wannige, C.T., Sonnadara, D.U.J., Usoof, H.A. and Hewagamage, K.P. 2008. Detecting and preventing plagiarism in online assessment. Journal of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 4: 95-104.
Date:2008
Abstract:
Assessment is an important area in both teaching and learning. E-assessment is
the foremost methodology for assessment in distance learning. This paper presents a
method based on client-server architecture that can be used in capturing/preventing
plagiarism in online assessments for distance learning centres. Among many possible
scenarios of plagiarism, developed system focused on preventing or capturing
unauthorised help obtained from online chat forms, websites or other types of
communication mediums as well as use of stored text/restricted software. Bench tests
show high degree of accuracy in capturing plagiarism scenarios by monitoring the
change of grey values observed in edge detected screen shots. During pilot tests,
participants attempted activities of plagiarism although the software was designed to
prevent the act of plagiarism. The results show 97% accuracy in capturing plagiarism
scenarios by the developed software in a restricted Ubuntu Linux environment.
