The author details a number of critiques of Turnitin's recently released study purporting to show that Turnitin use results in a major decrease in plagiarism at institutions where it is used. The core of the critique is that Turnitin tends to start in classrooms where plagiarism has been a problem so the baseline is high and that it is often used in conjunction with a campus discussion about academic honesty and how to teach in ways that inhibit the drive to plagiarize.
A critique of an article published by USA Today titled"'Flipped classrooms' may not have any impact on learning." Research into the effectiveness of classroom practices is vital, but the USA Today article makes the article title's striking pronouncement based on unfinished and very limited "preliminary research."
A broad ranging survey of best practices, unlikely successes, and unacknowledged challenges in the critique of student work that stresses the importance of authentic communication that directs both the students and the instructors themselves on how to improve their work.