international perspectives on contract cheating - staffordshire university staff research conference...

International Perspectives on #contractcheating

Staffordshire University Staff Research Conference 2017 1

International Perspectives

on Contract CheatingStaffordshire University Staff Research Conference 2017

Dr. Thomas Lancaster

School of Computing and Digital Technologies

Staffordshire University

Tuesday, 23 May 2017

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/




Staffordshire University Staff Research Conference 2017


http://thomaslancaster.co.uk2

Introduction








Overview

A brief overview of what contract cheating is and my role within international

contract cheating research work

Some key current international findings regarding contract cheating, including

highlights from the South East European Project on Policies for Academic

Integrity (SEEPPAI) project

The opportunities for research that exist within the contract cheating and

academic integrity fields








About Dr. Thomas Lancaster

Academic with ComputerScience Background

Contract Cheating Researcher

International Speaker Academic Integrity Media Contributor

Associate Dean – RecruitmentSchool of Computing and Digital Technologies, Staffordshire University

Operates a website and blog at: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk

Tweets using:@DrLancaster and #contractcheating

Answers emails at: [email protected]@thomaslancaster.co.uk

Archives slides on SlideShare at: https://www.slideshare.net/thomaslancaster





mailto:[email protected]


https://www.slideshare.net/thomaslancaster





Has worked closely with me since we first introduced the term contract cheating in a 2006 study

A devoted advocate of academic integrity

Now largely retired – for many years a senior Computing academic for Birmingham City University

Has identified more than 30,000 cheating attempts worldwide from students posting their assignment requests online for help from a third party

With Thanks To Robert Clarke








A Rapid Introduction To

Contract Cheating








A student pays one

of their peers to

complete an extra

version of the

assignment for them

A student asks a family member to review their assignment –

and substantial “corrections” are made to this document

A student posts a

request on an online

agency site to hire a

third party to

complete their

assignment

Contract Cheating Defined In A

Student Context

Just a few indicative examples – there are many more scenarios








International Providers Of Contract

Cheating Servics

Company

advertising

on

Facebook

Found inside an Australian bathroom cubicle

Business

card used

in the

United

States

Sample

online

writing

company Flyer distributed at a

university in Greece








International Users Of Contract

Cheating Services ?

“Many of our clients are non-native

speakers, often from China”https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5v7wvg/we_are_the_owner_and_one_of_the_professors_from

Unemployed

Professors

“I don’t think I’ve had an Australian

client at all, they are mostly Chinese.”http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/students-are-paying-people-to-write-their-

assignments-for-them/news-story/816f2da3bdeec5c231f2c8ec3377d9d0

“Kayne” – Australian

student advertising

writing services on

Gumtree




https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5v7wvg/we_are_the_owner_and_one_of_the_professors_from

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/students-are-paying-people-to-write-their-assignments-for-them/news-story/816f2da3bdeec5c231f2c8ec3377d9d0





Some Useful International Findings

Essays sold in Australia - 2016

Essays purchased online may be worthy of distinctions (3 out of 26), but they

may also be below pass quality (8 out of 26)

Lines, L., 2016. Ghostwriters guaranteeing grades? The quality of online ghostwriting services available to tertiary

students in Australia. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(8), pp.889-914.

Ghost writers working from developing countries - 2016

10 writers from developing countries interviewed. All had degrees from Western

universities – and had returned to their home countries to work as “academic writers”

Sivasubramaniam, S., Kostelidou, K. and Ramachandran, S., 2016. A Close Encounter with Ghost-writers: An Initial Exploration Study

on Background, Strategies and Attitudes of Independent Essay Providers. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 12(1).

Students in Australia - 2017

Students less likely to outsource reflections on practical work, individualised

assignments, work completed in class, spoken presentations(from survey of 15,047 students at 8 Australian universities)

Preliminary findings from a survey of students and staff in Australian higher education, shared at University of South

Australia symposium on 13 April 2017, https://cheatingandassessment.edu.au.




https://cheatingandassessment.edu.au/





What Does Recent Contract

Cheating Research Conducted

Within SE Europe Tell Us?








South East European Project on Policies for

Academic Integrity (SEEPPAI)

Regional academic integrity study, funded by Council of Europe as part of the Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education (ETINED) platform

The countries included in the study were:

Research conducted through international collaboration (United Kingdom and Czech Republic)

Data collected in late 2016, first findings published in April 2017

(1) Albania

(2) Bosnia and Herzegovina

(3) Croatia

(4) Montenegro

(5) The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

(6) Serbia








Results Released So Far Have Identified

Contract Cheating As An Issue

Plagiarism Across Europe and Beyond

Conference Paper

(24 - 26 May 2017, Brno, Czech Republic)

https://plagiarism.pefka.mendelu.cz

Supported by the European Network for Academic

Integrity (ENAI)

https://www.academicintegrity.eu

Final Report for SEEPPAI

http://www.plagiarism.cz/seeppai

(a paper looking

specifically at

contract cheating in

the SE Europe

region is planned -

this presentation

provides a “sneak

peak” at some early

observations)




https://plagiarism.pefka.mendelu.cz/

https://www.academicintegrity.eu/

http://www.plagiarism.cz/seeppai





Contract cheating is a

known problem in SE

Europe

In Croatia, 6 out of 10 students in a focus group told the SEEPPAI researchers that they knew someone who had purchased an assignment








The Contract Cheating Issues In SE

Europe Mirror Those In The UK

“You can find adverts [for

contract cheating services]

around the university. You can

find them in the Facebook

group for the department.”

Quote from a student focus group








Some commentators in

the UK have claimed that

contract cheating is the

results of student fees

Countries with no fees – and those with student grants – still experience the same challenges








Institutions in the region lack

comparable statistics relating

to academic misconduct

Even in the UK, when statistics do exist few institutions have the data to break these down by type of misconduct and/or academic discipline








Students in SE Europe seem

to operate within a wider

culture that allows financial

corruption in education

There is good practice across the region and many excellent dedicated lecturers – but also examples of students reportedly paying for results, or being expected to make purchases helping their lecturers to succeed with the course








What Should We Do About

Contract Cheating?








Opportunities For Contract Cheating

Research

How do we ensure consistent and effective contract cheating policies and

processes?

Can we evidence groups “at risk” from contract cheating services? What mechanisms can be used to support those

“at risk”?

What is known about the labour market for contract cheating services and how can this inform proactive

academic integrity developments?

What role do other stakeholders in higher

education have to take in the governance of contract

cheating?

How can research in stylometrics, linguistics and artificial intelligence be used

to confirm the identity of student writers?

How successful are student-led partnerships in reducing

contract cheating and improving academic integrity?








International Awareness Of

Contract Cheating

A movement towards academic integrity?#defeatthecheat #excelwithintegrity








More Information








A Few Of Our Contract Cheating Papers(for those of you with a preference for the formal academic approach)

Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2017). Rethinking Assessment By Examination In The Age Of Contract Cheating, to be published at Plagiarism Across Europe and Beyond 2017, Brno, Czech

Republic, May 2017.

Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2016). Contract Cheating – The Outsourcing Of Assessed Student Work, in Handbook of Academic Integrity, Bretag, T. (editor): SpringerReference.

Hersey, C. and Lancaster, T. (2015). The Online Industry of Paper Mills, Contract Cheating Services, and Auction Sites, Clute Institute International Education Conference, London, UK, June

2015.

Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2014). An Observational Analysis Of The Range And Extent Of Contract Cheating From Online Courses Found On Agency Websites; 8th International Conference

on Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems (CISIS 2014), Birmingham, UK, July 2014.

Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2014). An Initial Analysis Of The Contextual Information Available Within Auction Posts On Contract Cheating Agency Websites, 28th IEEE International

Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications, Victoria, Canada, May 2014.

Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2014). Using Turnitin As A Tool For Attribution In Cases Of Contract Cheating; 3rd Annual Higher Education Academy Conference in Science, Technology,

Engineering and Mathematics, Edinburgh, UK, April 2014.

Clarke, R. and Lancaster, T. (2013). Commercial Aspects Of Contract Cheating; 8th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, University of Kent,

Canterbury, UK, July 2013.

Lancaster, T and Clarke, R (2012). Dealing With Contract Cheating: A Question Of Attribution; 1st Annual Higher Education Academy Conference in Science, Technology, Engineering and

Mathematics, Imperial College, London, UK, April 2012.

Clarke, R, and Lancaster, T (2007). Establishing a Systematic Six-Stage Process for Detecting Contract Cheating; The Second International Conference on Pervasive Computing and

Applications, Birmingham, UK, July 2007.

Lancaster, T and Clarke, R (2007). Assessing Contract Cheating Through Auction Sites – A Computing Perspective; 8th Annual Higher Education Academy Conference in Information and

Computer Sciences, Southampton, UK, August 2007.

Lancaster, T and Clarke, R (2007). The Phenomena of Contract Cheating, in Student Plagiarism in an Online World: Problems and Solutions, Roberts, T. S. (editor), Idea Group Inc.

Clarke, R and Lancaster, T (2006). Eliminating The Successor To Plagiarism? Identifying The Usage Of Contract Cheating Sites; 2nd Plagiarism: Prevention, Practice and Policy Conference,

Newcastle, UK, June 2006.








Further Resources

Slides available at:


Video version of the presentation available at:

https://www.youtube.com/user/DrThomasLancaster

Contact details for workshop arrangement,

media enquiries, research supervision:[email protected]@thomaslancaster.co.uk





https://www.youtube.com/user/DrThomasLancaster

