Assignments with TurnItIn

The Assignments tool provides a convenient way for students to electronically submit assignments. You can enable Turnitin on any assignment folder, which will compare student submissions to a repository of student papers and websites and generate a similarity report. This report helps you determine if parts of the submission were plagiarized.

There are two parts to Turnitin: Similarity score and Online Grading.

• The Similarity score is generated automatically by Turnitin
• If you enable Turnitin’s Online Grading, scores can be entered by the teacher in Turnitin and synced back into D2L. (This feature is optional. You can use D2L’s Evaluate button instead of Turnitin’s Online Grading.)

If you enable Turnitin Online Grading, you will see a notation of “No Score.” This indicates that no score has been entered in Turnitin, or that the score has not been synced back to D2L.
Before proceeding, it is important to note that for students to easily see their Turnitin score, we advise that you add a “Grade Out Of” value on the assignment folder. Linking the assignment to a D2L grade item is optional.

Enable Turnitin for a D2L Assignment

1. Edit or create an Assignment Folder
2. Select the Evaluation and Feedback menu
3. Select the Manage Turnitin link
4. After making your selections, scroll down and select the More Options button
5. Under Submission settings, select where to submit the papers. Select the question mark icon next to any option to see more information
   1. Standard Paper Repository
   2. Do not store the submitted papers (Use this option if this is a first draft of the student’s paper)
6. If you want to check grammar, select the box for Enable grammar checking and select additional options
7. Continue setting your preferences
   1. Compare against
   2. Similarity Report
   3. [optional] Exclude assignment template
8. Select the box to Save these settings for future use
9. Select Submit
10. Select Save on the Turnitin options
11. Select Save and Close for the Assignment folder

View Student Submissions and Leave Feedback

When you use Turnitin, you have two options for assessing student submissions:

1. Use the Assignment folder Evaluate page as you do with other assignments
2. Use the Turnitin Online Grading feature

Whatever method you choose, you can view a student’s similarity report by selecting the similarity score percentage or by selecting the pencil icon next to a student’s submission. The notation “No Score” indicates that no score has been entered inside of Turnitin, or that the score has not been synced back to D2L.

OPTION 1: View Similarity Report and Assess using D2L Evaluate

1. View the similarity report in Turnitin feedback studio by selecting the similarity score or select the edit (pencil) icon next to a student’s submission.
2. A new tab opens that takes you into the Feedback Studio. You can leave comments and use the markup tools in Turnitin as desired. Note the help button in the upper right corner and the tools along the right-hand side of the page.
3. When finished viewing the report, close the feedback studio, return to the D2L Assignment submission page and select Evaluate.
4. Enter a score and feedback and then select Publish.

OPTION 2: View Similarity Report and Assess using Turnitin Online Grading

1. To view the similarity report and to enter a score in Turnitin Online Grading, select the similarity score or select the edit (pencil) icon next to a student’s submission.
2. A new tab opens that takes you into the Feedback Studio. You can leave comments and use the markup tools in Turnitin as desired. Note the help button in the upper right corner and the tools along the right-hand side of the page. You will also see a score at the top of the page.
3. When you enter a score in Turnitin, the score can be automatically or manually transferred back into D2L in “draft” mode (depending on what you selected when setting up the assignment). If you chose automatically, you may need to refresh your web page. NOTE: If you chose to manually transfer the scores back, you will need to manually select the sync button to get the scores to transfer, and you will also need to manually enter the score in the “Evaluate” area.
4. After the scores are synced to D2L, they need to be published. Select the Draft Saved button, add any additional comments, and then select Publish. If you have a grade item in D2L that is connected to the assignment, the score will also transfer to the gradebook when published.

For more information about Turnitin, check out this these instructor resources.