Contract cheating
Encyclopedia
Contract cheating is a form of academic dishonesty
in which student
s get others to complete their coursework
for them by putting it out to tender.
The term was coined in a 2006 study by Thomas Lancaster and Robert Clarke at the University of Central England in Birmingham
(now known as Birmingham City University).
Whereas the quality of solutions to assignments sold by essay mill
has been questioned, a study by Jenkins and Helmore showed that work obtained through the use of an auction site was of sufficient quality to gain good marks and remain undetected by the module tutor.
A more recent study examined over 900 examples of contract cheating by students studying computing subjects. The published results categorise the assignment types (e.g. Programming, Database, Web Design) and are analysed by country. One new concern identified by this study was the number of major projects (both final year undergraduate and postgraduate) being posted onto auction sites.
In July 2007 a paper proposed a systematic six-stage process that tutors can use to detect students who are contract cheating.
From a study of 4,000 suspected cases of "contract cheating" some interesting patterns of behaviour have been observed. A summary was presented at the HEA Workshop on Contract Cheating (March 2008).
At the Aske conference held in June 2009 a paper detailing a "multi-faceted" approach to dealing with the problem of "contract cheating" was presented.
Academic dishonesty
Academic dishonesty or academic misconduct is any type of cheating that occurs in relation to a formal academic exercise. It can include* Plagiarism: The adoption or reproduction of original creations of another author without due acknowledgment.* Fabrication: The...
in which student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s get others to complete their coursework
Coursework
Coursework is the name for work carried out by students at university or middle/high school that contributes towards their overall grade, but which is assessed separately from their final exams. Coursework can, for example, take the form of experimental work, or may involve research in the...
for them by putting it out to tender.
The term was coined in a 2006 study by Thomas Lancaster and Robert Clarke at the University of Central England in Birmingham
Birmingham City University
Birmingham City University is a British university in the city of Birmingham, England. It is the second largest of three universities in the city, the other two being the Aston University and University of Birmingham...
(now known as Birmingham City University).
Extent of contract cheating
The first published material detailing the extent of contract cheating is a study by Robert Clarke and Thomas Lancaster. The study presented three main findings:- Over 12 percent of postings on a popular website for outsourcing computer contract work are actually bid requests from students looking to attempt contract cheating.
- Contract cheaters posted an average of 2-7 requests, suggesting that habitual use is made of such services by these students.
- A smaller number of users have posted over 50 bid requests, including examples from multiple institutions. This suggests that these are agencies subcontracting work, not students who are directly making use of the services.
Whereas the quality of solutions to assignments sold by essay mill
Essay mill
An essay mill is a ghostwriting service that sells essays and other homework writing to university and college students. Since plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty or academic fraud, universities and colleges may investigate papers suspected to be from an essay mill by using Internet...
has been questioned, a study by Jenkins and Helmore showed that work obtained through the use of an auction site was of sufficient quality to gain good marks and remain undetected by the module tutor.
A more recent study examined over 900 examples of contract cheating by students studying computing subjects. The published results categorise the assignment types (e.g. Programming, Database, Web Design) and are analysed by country. One new concern identified by this study was the number of major projects (both final year undergraduate and postgraduate) being posted onto auction sites.
In July 2007 a paper proposed a systematic six-stage process that tutors can use to detect students who are contract cheating.
From a study of 4,000 suspected cases of "contract cheating" some interesting patterns of behaviour have been observed. A summary was presented at the HEA Workshop on Contract Cheating (March 2008).
At the Aske conference held in June 2009 a paper detailing a "multi-faceted" approach to dealing with the problem of "contract cheating" was presented.
External links
- Contract Cheating Workshop - archive at Higher Education AcademyHigher Education AcademyThe Higher Education Academy is an independent organisation in the United Kingdom that supports higher education institutions with strategies for the development of research and evaluation to improve the learning experience for students.-History:...
Subject Centre for Information and Computer Sciences