For many institutions, similarity and AI detection software serves as a formal, final check to verify the originality of a finished assignment. At Hof University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Hof), a push for a more modern approach didn’t come from a top-down mandate. It started with a student. A master’s thesis on the future of academic honesty sparked a bottom-up movement, prompting the university to rethink how it keeps pace with AI to protect scientific integrity.
Hochschule Hof provides practice-oriented courses with an emphasis on applied research in engineering, business, and computer science. Creating a supportive environment for its 3,500 students is central to the German public university’s mission. This mandate hasn't changed, even while navigating the realities of technology within the educational space.
“The higher education landscape has fundamentally changed. Digitalization is a matter of course, and with the arrival of AI, you have to react,” explains André Rister, coordinator, Digitalization of Teaching team (DAL).
The higher education landscape has fundamentally changed. Digitalization is a matter of course, and with the arrival of AI, you have to react.
Alongside the university’s proactive grade-monitoring program and open-access makerspace, it introduced Turnitin solutions to help students and instructors use AI within a modern educational environment. These tools have become learning resources that give instructors freedom to use their professional judgment while reinforcing intellectual honesty among students.
Challenge
Reaching the limits of a legacy approach
André emphasizes that schools shouldn’t automatically read bad intent into a student who uses AI tools. “It’s not that we assume everyone wants to cheat,” he says.
Instead of using similarity checkers once a student is already under suspicion, André believes universities must recognize and address new challenges during the student writing process. Those challenges include widespread, easy access to digital writing aids.
"Students must know how to use AI right. How to avoid forgotten citations, for example, or how to apply the guidelines correctly.”
Hochschule Hof lecturers couldn’t always identify the digital tools students used while writing, and they lack the time and resources to keep up with AI’s rapid evolution. To protect academic integrity and support students and staff, the university needed a more proactive approach to similarity and AI detection.
Solution
A student-led path to a new institutional standard
The catalyst for change was a master’s thesis developed as part of the ii.oo project, a collaborative research initiative focused on digital, competence-oriented assessment. This research investigated how educators can leverage tools to efficiently check exam papers while navigating the rise of AI in a university context.
The author of the thesis became a vocal champion for improved AI solutions, and the project’s success spurred the university to adopt a comprehensive suite:
- Turnitin Similarity to protect against plagiarism and guide students in the ethical use of sources.
- Turnitin Originality, including AI detection and Authorship, for an advanced layer of text-authorship analysis.
These solutions provide a more holistic view of student work and confidence that submissions reflect genuine effort.
“Turnitin was the overall package,” André says. “The usability is outstanding, and you don’t need extensive training for lecturers or students. It was also important that it seamlessly integrated with our Learning Management System, making it even easier for lecturers to use,” André explains.
Turnitin was the overall package. The usability is outstanding, and you don’t need extensive training for lecturers or students.
Other non-negotiables for Hochschule Hof included a Moodle integration, campus-wide licensing, and GDPR compliance.
“Turnitin’s legal certainty was essential,” André confirms. “If it wasn’t GDPR compliant, we wouldn’t have been able to introduce the tool.”
During implementation, the Turnitin team partnered with the university’s IT and legal departments to ensure compliance with data protection regulations. Turnitin then trained DAL staff, who in turn provided lecturers with a Moodle course on the tools’ functions.
“The cooperation with Turnitin is always very good,” André says. “You get quick, competent answers.”
Results
Facilitating partnerships between educators and students
With Turnitin Similarity and Turnitin Originality, Hochschule Hof underwent a significant cultural shift toward proactively supporting original thought and effort in student writing.
Messaging was key to this change. Rather than framing the Similarity Report and AI writing report as definitive answers, staff members know to use them as indicators of work that requires closer analysis. Research found that similarity scores aren’t comparable across departments due to different filter settings, so the scores are meant to serve as a starting point for further dialogue.
“The Similarity Report and AI writing report are not end results, but tools that must be interpreted correctly,” André notes.
An advantage of the Similarity Report is that it isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Instructors can customize the report to exclude specific sources, ensuring each report reflects the specific context of their department’s requirements. “That is very important to get a reliable assessment,” André confirms.
The reports give instructors insights they can use to guide their next steps. Every action happens in the spirit of full transparency and partnership between a staff member and their student.
The solutions remove a heavy burden from instructors, who now have always-on support when addressing AI-powered writing tools.
“Resources are scarce, and lecturers do not have the time or means to search for plagiarism themselves. Turnitin provides support at exactly the right point,” André says. “The feedback from lecturers is that they save a lot of time—that alone is enough profit.”
Turnitin is important because it eases the burden on lecturers. Resources are scarce, and lecturers do not have the time or means to search for plagiarism themselves. Turnitin provides support at exactly the right point.
Reinforcing intellectual rigor
André credits the university’s success with Turnitin in part to the student thesis that sparked the change. “The fact that this initiative came from the students themselves brought a high level of acceptance from students,” he reflects.
Turnitin’s platform supports many languages, increasing equal access to writing resources and clear standards for scientific integrity. Students use Turnitin’s tools throughout their studies and thesis preparations, uploading and revising drafts based on instructor feedback. This capability positions Turnitin as a formative tool for honing student's independent writing and critical thinking skills instead of an instrument for policing.
With this support, Hochschule Hof is pioneering a new way forward in Germany, reinforcing longstanding values of intellectual integrity to help students improve their work and develop their writing skills.
“We have a tool that protects scientific integrity, increases security, and provides functionality for students,” André concludes. “That is the be-all and end-all for any higher education institution.”
Mission:
All students are excellently educated and cared for in our internationally oriented Green Tech University. Our teaching is influenced by the ideas of strong-practice orientation, open-mindedness and resource efficiency.
