✨Feedback from user survey: Ability to filter variations in template code

[joeyylow]

Cc:

Hi

Pain

Problem description and boilerplate code can have minor variations over different years. However, the checker will flag two submissions as a plagiarism case with high similarities as the submissions have the same/ similar template code in them even though other parts of the code are different.

Suggested Solution

Plagiarism checker should filter out these variations and focus only on student-written code to prevent false positives.
Implement an algorithm that does not flag similarities caused by template/ boilerplate code, but instead only looks at similarities in students' code.

Tasks

• Research on how other existing plagiarism checkers does not flag similarities caused by template code
• Adapt and implement the algorithm

Acceptance Criteria

Two submissions with the same template code in them (but all other parts of the code are different) should not have a high similarity score/ flagged as plagiarism case.

More Information

The feedback provided originates directly from the user feedback surveys and may include requirements and suggestions that lack clarity. The SSID team should evaluate and decide whether the team should address the identified issues or reject suggestions that do not provide clear and actionable insights.

Screenshots

Thanks!

[joeyylow]

Discussed on 20 November 2023 Meeting (with Yu Xin and Si Binh)
Functionality to filter template code has already been deployed.
Steps to take moving forward:

• User Guide: Will highlight this functionality and make it more obvious in the user guide and the FAQ section.
• Improve UI: Ensure that this functionality is made known to users on the webpage itself (page where users upload assignment files)