Within your module Ultra Blackboard, click on the title of the Turnitin Assignment you wish to view submissions for.
If a new Turnitin Assignment was set-up in an Original Blackboard (post September 2022), navigate to the Assessments folder and location where the Assignment was built (e.g. the route student’s use to submit), then simply click on the ‘Title’ of the Assignment which will take you directly to that Assignment Inbox.
With the Assignment Inbox displayed either select the Title of the submission you wish to view or select the Pencil icon under the Grade column:
The submitted script will open in a separate window: Turnitin’s Feedback Studio for you to view, add feedback and mark.
Under the standardised University Turnitin set-up, students will see their Feedback at different times and in different ways depending on whether they submitted on time or late:
Turnitin Assignment (submission point)
How and When Students See Their Feedback
Final (on time)
Students access feedback directly through Turnitin on the Post date
Final (after deadline)
Students access feedback directly through Turnitin on the (After Deadline) Post date
Table showing when students can expect to see their feedback depending on the type of Assignment used
Feedback for Late Submissions
The policy has been revised to improve efficiency of work processes. The agreed ‘best fit’ date (5 weeks minus 1 day) is set so that feedback will be released automatically to students on the Post Date. Please be advised if moderation is required after the Post Date has passed, feedback will need to be conducted outside of Turnitin.
Accessible Feedback
Feedback Studio has been designed to be highly accessible across a range of devices and by users with a range of needs. Where students may find accessing their feedback difficult, a PDF copy can be downloaded and e-mailed to them (as per the Special Arrangements for Feedback for Late Submissions section above).
Choice of Presentation of Feedback
Choice of presentation of feedback in Turnitin may help to improve your learners’ understanding of assessment criteria, their motivation to engage with your feedback and their ability to do so.
Currently, Turnitin Voice Comments cannot be downloaded and archived for retention purposes. However, there are ways of linking audio, as well as screen-recorded, feedback to Turnitin feedback in a way which can be retained. Contact your School’s Digital Academic Developer for advice.
Ensuring Feedback is Downloaded and Archived
Where you need to retain feedback on work submitted to Turnitin, or a list of grades for a particular assessment, you will need download archive the contents of your Turnitin Assignment. You must do this before:
the Turnitin Assignment is deleted,
the Blackboard site is deleted
you Refresh Inbox Data (update the list of students)
Failure to download and archive beforehand may result in lost feedback. See the separate Downloading and Archiving from Turnitin section for advice and instructions.
Risk of Losing Feedback added before the Turnitin Due Date
Under the standardised University Turnitin set-up, after a student has submitted to a Final (on time) Turnitin Assignment they can update their submission with a new file any time up until the submission deadline. This is useful in the case of accidental submissions of the wrong file (although they can only see their Similarity Report once, after the deadline). If you add feedback to students’ work before the submission deadline for Final (on time) submission points, you will see a prompt from your browser stating:
An embedded page at www.turnitinuk.com says: This is a draft submission. Any and all marks will be deleted when or if the paper is resubmitted. Would you like to continue?
This does not mean the student has submitted a draft to self-check their work – there are separate submission points for this. It is a warning that, because you are adding feedback before the submission deadline, your feedback will be lost if the student updates their submission.
Note: this is not the case for Final (after deadline) submission points. Students can make only a single submission to these.
Ensure you save paragraphs of summary text comments before closing Turnitin
After typing paragraphs of summary feedback into the Text Comments side panel, in order to save this you must click out of the text box by clicking on another area of the screen such as the white space next to the formatting options. If you close Turnitin before clicking outside of this Text Comments area, your feedback will not be saved. If you accidentally delete or overwrite feedback in this Text Comments area, you may be able to recover it by immediately Undo-ing. Clicking the right mouse button or the CTRL+Z keys will work on many (but not all) web browsers.
As Turnitin has a security time-out feature that locks open papers that have not been interacted with after approximately 10 minutes, we recommend that markers either save regularly by clicking outside of the Text Comments are or draft their feedback in a word-processor first and then copy and paste this in.
Limitations in Second Marking and Moderation
Turnitin currently has no built-in facility for recording second marker comments. Second markers can comment as additions to the first marker’s feedback but changes made to the first marker’s feedback are not tracked. Turnitin only shows the latest version. There is currently no provision blind second marking. The second marker will always see the first marker’s feedback. If your external examiner has instructor access to Module-level Blackboard sites containing Turnitin Assignments, submitted work and feedback will be visible by them. However, the following limitations apply:
you cannot restrict external examiners’ view to only a sample of work in Turnitin, they will be able to see all submitted work and feedback
you cannot set Turnitin as ‘read only’ for external examiners, they will have the ability to edit or even delete submitted work and feedback
An alternative is to download a sample of submitted work and feedback as PDF for external examiners. Contact your School’s Digital Academic Developer for advice.
Limitations with Group Work
Turnitin has no built-in support for group work. You can only add feedback to an individual student’s submitted work. The only way to manage group work in Turnitin is to ask for a nominated member of the group to submit work on behalf of the group or ask all members of the group to submit a copy of the same work and write a duplicate set of feedback for each member. A single student’s feedback cannot be shared with several students online, in an interactive way. You would have to download a PDF copy of the feedback and distribute amongst the group outside of Turnitin. Also, a single grade would be entered by Turnitin into the Module-level Blackboard site Gradebook. You would have to manually duplicate the grade for other group members. You cannot copy a whole set of Turnitin feedback between students. You would have to copy and paste individual comments from one student’s feedback to another’s.
Risk of using the Turnitin iPad App in Marking Teams
The Turnitin iPad app enables offline marking and feedback (see separate guide). However, due to the way it synchronises between the online Turnitin Assignment online and your iPad, there is a risk of feedback being lost when marking in teams. Contact your School’s Digital Academic Developer for advice.
This is advice for markers on using Turnitin to prevent and help detect plagiarism in line with the University policy. It describes how similarity checking in Turnitin works, including its limitations and University requirements for the use of Turnitin. It also contains advice on interpreting Similarity Reports and managing requests to view papers from other Institutions.
In the event of a Blackboard/Turnitin outage, Academic Administration will confirm whether programmes are required to extend submission deadlines by 24hours for all Turnitin Assignments (submission points) for assessments due that day, regardless of whether the assignment was due before or after the time of the outage. Please refer to the University Assessments Procedure for further guidance.
To allow for the 24-hour extension you need to change the Due Date on each of the two Turnitin Assignments for the assessment:
Turnitin Assignment
Action
Final (on time)
Extend Due date by 24 hours. Do not change ‘to allow late submissions‘.
Final (After Deadline)
Update to be to one minute after the extended due date on the Final (on time) Turnitin Assignment.
Please note that it is not typically advisable to change the setting of a Turnitin Assignment retrospectively as there can be unintended consequences. The method outlined here will not affect any submissions already made.
Repeat the following steps for each of the two Turnitin Assignments, adjusting the Due Date for each by 24 hrs.
Should the extension period be extended further (i.e. in the event of an ongoing Blackboard/Turnitin outage) this date will need to be moved forward in parallel with the outage (please consult message that would be posted to the top of the Blackboard Institution Page / StaffNet for ongoing updates).
Please ensure that NO submissions have been made to the Turnitin Assignment you wish to delete as this will result in student’s work being lost and cannot be retrieved. Maybe consider ‘hiding’ the assignment i.e. setting it as ‘hidden from students’.
If you are certain you wish to delete the Turnitin Assignment:
Select the three dots next to the Assignment you wish to delete.
From the drop-down menu select Delete
By clicking Delete this will delete the Turnitin Assignment from the relevant content area, as well as deleting the associated Gradebook Column.
IMPORTANT: Once you have deleted a Turnitin Assignment it is not possible to undo this action.
Confirm the deletion selecting the Delete button on the message that appears:
IMPORTANT NOTE: Students are required to submit work to Turnitin themselves. For students with disabilities, submitting work uses regular Blackboard web pages which are screenreadable and tab-controllable. However, it can take a lot of ‘tabbing’ to use. If students find this difficult, tutors or programme administrators may submit work on their behalf.
To submit a student’s work for them,
Go to the Assignment InBox of the Turnitin Assignment you want to submit the student’s work to.
Click in the Submit on behalf of student field and select the student name from the drop-down list that appears:
NOTE: If the student’s name does not appear in the drop-down list, please see: Update list of student names displayed in Turnitin (Refresh Inbox Data).
A prompt will appear confirming which student name was selected to submit on behalf of. Select Continue if it is the correct student name.
Enter the Submission Title
Click on Choose File and navigate to the correct file
Select Upload and Review
Wait for the Submit File screen to display fully and double check the details
When you are happy that the correct file is being uploaded select Submit to Turnitin
Wait for the green tick to appear to confirm successful submission.
Papers cannot easily be moved once submitted to Turnitin, so it is key to communicate clearly to students where they are expected to submit for each of their assessments. There are two common scenarios:
Student submits to the wrong Turnitin Assignment on the correct/same module Blackboard course
Student submits to a Turnitin Assignment on the wrong/incorrect module Blackboard course
Please note any requests that need to be raised with TurnitinUK Support to perform the move can take a few days particularly during peak submission times, the more lead time the better.
There are circumstances in which a student who has made an incorrect submission to a Turnitin Assignment will need support to put this right, either from someone with instructor permissions to Blackboard or the TEL Team, depending upon the particular scenario.
This is due to one or more of the following factors:
if a Turnitin Assignment is set up to send assignments to the central repository, the assignment will be sent immediately (regardless of the originality report settings chosen)
because Turnitin Assignments for summative assignments are set up either not to allow overwriting or overwriting only up until the submission deadline
There is a correct process which should be followed for deleting/removing submissions made to Turnitin.
A student’s submission can be cleared from a Turnitin Assignment in one of the following ways depending on the scenario:
Scenario 1 – A student has submitted to a DRAFT Turnitin Assignment, but wishes for this to be removed.
The student themselves can overwrite their assignment with another version or a different assignment. If they want it removed, the steps below should be followed.
if the assignment needs to be submitted to the correct submission point and there is sufficient time before the submission deadline for the student to make a new submission, delete the assignment and ensure you advise the student of the correct Turnitin submission point to use.
if the assignment needs to be submitted to the correct submission point and it is either nearing the submission deadline (e.g. within 2 days) or after the submission deadline, ensure you download the assignment before deleting it from the submission point and re-uploading it to the correct Turnitin Assignment submission point.
Who? Anyone with Instructor privileges can remove the submission by selecting the three dots next to the submitter’s name and selecting Remove From Inbox.
Why? As DRAFT Turnitin submission points are setup to not send work to the Turnitin ‘Standard Repository’, assignments can be simply deleted. As the DRAFT Turnitin submission points are also set up to permit a student to overwrite until the due date and the due date is set beyond the expected completion date for the student’s programme, the student can make unlimited submissions.
Scenario 2 – A student has submitted to an INCORRECT Turnitin Assignment, but on the CORRECT module Blackboard (e.g. they submitted to ‘Extensions / Late Submissions’ rather than the FINAL submission point).
If there is sufficient time before the submission deadline for the student to make a new submission, delete the assignment and ensure you advise the student of the correct Turnitin submission point to use.
If it is either nearing the submission deadline (e.g. within 2 days) or after the submission deadline, ensure you download the assignment before deleting it from the Turnitin Assignment and reuploading it to the correct submission point.
Who? Anyone with Instructor privileges can remove the submission by selecting the three dots next to the submitter’s name and selecting Remove From Inbox.
Why? Turnitin does not match an individual student’s paper against themselves within the same module Blackboard; i.e. a student’s incorrect submission will not result in a 100% similarity report score when submitted to the correct Turnitin Assignment.
Scenario 3- A student has submitted an unfinished version of their assignment to the correct Turnitin submission point on the CORRECT module Blackboard
the student cannot overwrite their assignment in a late submissions / extensions submission point. Up until the submission deadline, it is safe to delete the assignment, provided the student either has sufficient time before the submission deadline to make a new submission, or they have provided electronically (e.g. via email) their finished assignment before the submission deadline that you can upload on their behalf. Ensure you advise the student of the correct Turnitin Assignment to use.
the student themselves can overwrite their assignment in a final or resubmission Turnitin Assignment with another version up until the submission deadline; ensure you remind them of this. After the submission deadline, the steps below should be followed:
if the submission needs to be made to the correct submission point and it is after the submission deadline, only make the deletion from the Turnitin Assignment if the student has provided (via email) their finished assignment before the submission deadline. Where this is the case, you can upload the finished assignment to the correct Turnitin Assignment once you have deleted the unfinished version.
If they have not provided their finished assignment before the submission deadline, do not delete the assignment as the unfinished version will need to be regarded as their final submission and the student must be advised to submit an ECRF.
Who? Anyone with Instructor privileges can remove the submission by selecting the three dots next to the submitter’s name and selecting Remove From Inbox.
Why? Turnitin does not match an individual student’s paper against themselves within the same module Blackboard; i.e. a student’s incorrect submission will not result in a 100% similarity report score when submitted to the correct Turnitin Assignment.
Scenario 4 – A student has submitted an INCORRECT Assignment (e.g. an Assignment for a different module) to a Turnitin submission point on the CORRECT module Blackboard.
the student themselves can overwrite their assignment with another version up until the submission deadline. After the submission deadline, the steps below should be followed:
if the submission needs to be made to the correct Turnitin Assignment and it is after the submission deadline, only make the deletion from the submission point if the student has provided (via email) their correct assignment before the submission deadline. Where this is the case, you can upload the correct assignment to the correct Turnitin Assignment once you have deleted the incorrect assignment.
If they have not provided their correct assignment before the submission deadline, do not delete the assignment as the incorrect assignment will need to be regarded as their final submission and the student must be advised to submit an ECRF.
Who? Anyone with Instructor privileges can remove the submission by selecting the three dots next to the submitter’s name and selecting Remove From Inbox.
Why? Turnitin does not match an individual student’s paper against themselves within the same module Blackboard; i.e. a student’s incorrect submission will not result in a 100% similarity report score when submitted to the correct Turnitin Assignment.
Scenario 5 – A student has submitted to a Turnitin Assignment in the INCORRECT module Blackboard.
up until the submission deadline, it is safe to delete the assignment, provided the student has sufficient time before the submission deadline to make a new submission.
if it is after the submission deadline, ensure you download the assignment from the Turnitin Assignment in the wrong module Blackboard before arranging for its deletion. Once it has been deleted, you can then re-upload it to the correct Turnitin Assignment in the correct module Blackboard.
Who? Only the System Administrators can remove the paper by contacting Turnitin Support directly to have the paper deleted from their repository. Instructors should contact the IT Service Desk (it-service@canterbury.ac.uk; ext. 2626) with the full name of the Blackboard site, the name of the Turnitin Assignment, the name of the student and the paper ID of the submission in order to facilitate this.
Why? Turnitin Support will need to remove the paper fully in order that the submission will not result in a 100% Similarity Report score when submitted to the correct Turnitin Assignment on the correct module Blackboard.
Should further assistance be required, please contact the IT Service Desk by phoning: 01227 78(2626) or email: it-service@canterbury.ac.uk. When contacting the IT Service Desk, please provide the following information:
Full name of the Blackboard course e.g. 2022-23 (Advent) Professional Practice (U12345)
Blackboard course ID e.g. A22U12345
Full name of the Turnitin Assignment e.g. FINAL Submission – Enhancing Person Centred Care – Essay
