COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to the Prevent & Avoid Plagiarism in Vocational Education course. This program is designed for trainers, assessors, compliance officers, and vocational education professionals who are responsible for upholding academic integrity and preventing academic dishonesty within the VET sector. 

As the integrity of qualifications depends on the authenticity of learner evidence, this course focuses on understanding, identifying, managing, and reducing plagiarism across training and assessment practices.

The course begins by defining plagiarism and exploring the four primary ways that students may engage in it—whether intentional or unintentional. You will examine the psychological and motivational factors that contribute to plagiarism using frameworks such as the Expectancy-Value Model and Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour. These models highlight the strong link between a learner’s attitudes, awareness, and intentions, and how these influence their decision to plagiarise.

You will also explore the difference between deliberate and accidental plagiarism, the beliefs and values that influence behaviour, and the impact of plagiarism on learners, trainers, and the reputation of RTOs. The course highlights the institutional and educational risks associated with academic dishonesty, and why it is essential for RTOs to act decisively in preventing and responding to it.

A key section of the course focuses on strategies to minimise plagiaristic behaviour, including how to embed integrity expectations within the learning culture, how to create awareness of student responsibilities, and how to incorporate anti-plagiarism education into course orientation and ongoing delivery. You will learn how to explain quoting, summarising, and paraphrasing to students and support them in understanding how to use sources ethically.

In addition, the course details the responsibilities of both RTOs and students, the application of academic dishonesty policies, and how to respond to incidents of cheating and plagiarism with fairness and consistency. You will explore detection methods using both plagiarism detection software and manual strategies—such as reviewing formatting irregularities, monitoring for inconsistencies in language, and identifying mismatched references in hard copy submissions.

The course also provides guidance on how to integrate plagiarism policies into the assessment process, how to detect and report incidents through your Learning Management System (LMS), and how to maintain proper documentation in accordance with RTO compliance requirements.

By the end of this course, you will have a clear understanding of the causes and consequences of plagiarism in vocational education, how to effectively detect and address it, and how to promote a culture of academic honesty and personal responsibility—ensuring that all learners can demonstrate authentic, ethical, and meaningful achievement.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:

·       What is meant by plagiarism?

·       How students plagiarise in four different ways?

·       Why plagiarism occurs using the ‘Expectancy-value model’

·       The reasons why students plagiarise

·       What influences the process of plagiarising

·       The significant link that exists between intention and behaviour in relation to plagiarism

·       The disadvantages of plagiarism to the reputation of the educational institutions

·       The difference between deliberate and accidental plagiarism

·       The relationship between awareness and intention to plagiarise

·       The relationship between attitude to plagiarism and awareness

·       The Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behaviour and plagiarism

·       The beliefs and values associated with plagiarism

·       The strategies to minimise plagiaristic behaviour

·       Plagiarism in the VET sector

·       How to create awareness of student integrity requirements?

·       The RTO’s responsibilities in relation to plagiarism?

·       The student’s responsibilities in relation to plagiarism?

·       How to detect plagiarism?

·       The plagiarism detection software

·       Detecting plagiarism through the RTO’s learning management system?

·       How to detect plagiarism in hard copy submission?

·       Why RTO’s should take the necessary steps to detect plagiarism and cheating?

·       What is meant by Academic Dishonesty?

·       The possible forms of plagiarism   

·       How to respond to incidents of cheating and plagiarism?

·       How to avoid plagiarism?

·       The difference between quoting, summarising and paraphrasing      

·       An example of an RTO cheating and plagiarism policy

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

You must have access to a computer or any mobile device with Adobe Acrobat Reader (free PDF Viewer) installed, to complete this course.

COURSE DELIVERY:

Purchase and download course content.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.