Collaboration or Plagiarism: What happens when students work together

This paper describes the findings of a small-scale case study concerning the collaborative aspects of student working practices. It is a pilot investigation into the strategies that are employed by students when attempting Object Oriented programming exercises outside the formal classroom setting. Some of the collaborative practices are simple cases of copying, but others, despite falling within the definition of plagiarism, are a beneficial, and possibly useful, means of enhancing the learning process. Although this study only focuses upon a small group of students in one UK University, the practices highlighted are unlikely to be confined to this one setting.