Postgraduate students perception and attitude on antiplagiarism software use to control plagiarism in JKUAT and United States International University-Africa, Kenya
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Date
2019-11
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Antiplagiarism software use to control plagiarism by universities is on the increase in the developing countries including Kenya. The study sampled JKUAT and USIU-A universities. The objectives of the study were; to describe the types of plagiarism that postgraduate students are aware of, to identify postgraduate students’ perceptions use of antiplagiarism software to control plagiarism, to justify postgraduate students’ attitudes on antiplagiarism software to control of plagiarism and to relate postgraduate students’ level of awareness of plagiarism control to institutional plagiarism policy. Documented research showed that uncertainty and resentment arose due to suspicions of using the software as a deterrent and punitive measure for plagiarism. Data collected and analyzed within the sampled universities indicated that some students were positive about use of plagiarism control software while a few were still negative about its implementation. This study established that, there has not been adequate research on students’ perception and attitude towards antiplagiarism software use to control plagiarism among postgraduate students justifying the undertaking of the research. The study findings can help to address issues related to students' perception and attitude towards plagiarism control through use of a software. The beneficiaries of the study are university policy makers, lecturers supervising students and the students themselves. This study adopted both qualitative and quantitative research designs. It utilized purposive sampling method and applied a descriptive cross-sectional study design. A Cronbach’s alpha test was carried out to test and determine the reliability of the research instruments which yielded a .807 score. Data was coded and entered in Statistical Computer Package, IBM SPSS software which was also used to check and clean errors or discrepancies. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics to obtain means, frequencies and percentages. This study concluded that perceptions and attitudes on antiplagiarism software use among postgraduate students can only be managed through human intervention and not by use of text matching software.
Description
A research project submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of master of library and information science, school of education Kenyatta University, November 2019
Supervisor. Charles kamau maina