From Thomas Lancaster, Academic Integrity Expert:
Contract cheating is a term that we originally publicised in 2006, based around a research study carried out of the use of the RentACoder (now Freelancer) site. The working definition of contract cheating has changed over a series of subsequent studies, talks and publications, but we’d generally classify this loosely along the lines of:
Contract cheating describes the process through which students can have original work produced for them, which they can then submit as if this were their own work. Often this involves the payment of a fee and this can be facilitated using online auction sites.
One of the most striking aspects of the original research into contract cheating has been how cheaply students can have work produced for them. Often, this costs only a few dollars when an agency site is used, using an auction process to help students find people to create assignments for them. This work is often produced far cheaper than traditional essay mills.
. . . .
Since contract cheating produces original work, this is unlikely to be picked up using standard text matching plagiarism detection services such as Turnitin.
Some of the more interesting findings across our research have related to the extent of the use of contract cheating services. Very few students do this as a one off, suggesting that there are students who are continually cheating (and, presumably, getting away with it). There are also outsourcers who have published tens, if not hundreds, of assignments, made up from a variety of different universities and courses. This suggests that a “third party subcontractor” is in operation, likely taking orders from students at a high price and then outsourcing them again themselves at a lower price.
. . . .
There is a lot of potential for further research into contract cheating, in particular trying to establish how and why students cheat. There is also a gap in the knowledge about how to detect this contract cheating. A variety of methods have been proposed, from requiring all assignment specifications to be submitted to a central repository to make them traceable, to using techniques from linguistics to investigate when an assignment has not been written by the student who submitted it.
. . . .
Beyond this, there are parallels with the research into the anti-plagiarism fields, in particular looking at the policies, processes and penalties surrounding contract cheating, and how to write assignments to prevent contract cheating.
Link to the rest at Thomas Lancaster
For those looking for an interest hook about this topic, would you be concerned if you learned your physician procured his/her undergraduate and professional education by paying others to create assigned work? How about the accountant who prepares your tax returns?
There is a website devoted to the challenge of Contract Cheating.
PG was interested to find a discussion of a possible legal approach to sanction contract cheating.
From The International Journal for Educational Integrity via Google Scholar:
The phenomenon of contract cheating presents, potentially, a serious threat to the quality and standards of Higher Education around the world. There have been suggestions, cited below, to tackle the problem using legal means, but we find that current laws are not fit for this purpose. In this article we present a proposal for a specific new law to target contract cheating, which could be enacted in most jurisdictions.
. . . .
Contract cheating, as we define here, is a basic relationship between three actors; a student, their university, and a third party who completes assessments for the former to be submitted to the latter, but whose input is not permitted. ‘Completes’ in this case means that the third party makes a contribution to the work of the student, such that there is reasonable doubt as to whose work the assessment represents.
. . . .
Proposal for a new “offence to provide or advertise cheating services”
(1) A person commits an offence if the person provides any service specified in subsection (4) but in the case of a service being provided in part then a person commits an offence only if the assignment or work could not otherwise be reasonably considered to be that of the student concerned
(2) A person commits an offence if the person advertises any services specified in subsection (4)
(3) A person commits an offence who, without reasonable excuse, publishes an advertisement for any service specified in subsection (4).
(4) The services referred to in subsections (1) to (3) are—
a. completing in whole or in part an assignment or any other work that a student enrolled at a Higher Education provider is required to complete as part of a Higher Education course in their stead without authorisation from those making the requirement;
b. providing or arranging the provision of an assignment or any other work (in whole or in part) that a student enrolled at a Higher Education provider is required to complete as part of a Higher Education course in their stead without authorisation from those making the requirement;
(5) A person shall not be guilty of an offence in subsections (1) (2) and (3) above if he or she demonstrates that they did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained that the services might or would be used for the purposes specified in subsection (4)
(6) Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under this section and the offence is committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he or she, as well as the body corporate, is guilty of that offence.
Using ‘strict liability’ removes the need to show intent on behalf of the provider of contract cheating services. The offence could be added to existing legislation (e.g fraud, or education laws) or could stand alone. It would apply to individuals as well as companies; a friend or family member who completes an assignment for a student would be committing an offence. Would apply to examinations as well as coursework, thus covering exam impersonation (although a separate specific offence to this effect could be included to put the matter beyond doubt).
Link to the rest at The International Journal for Educational Integrity
morality cannot be legislated. this is the seam where democracy itself gets in trouble, a total breakdown can follow. But we lived so well so long (Paul Simon).
One of the most striking aspects of the original research into contract cheating has been how cheaply students can have work produced for them. Often, this costs only a few dollars when an agency site is used, using an auction process to help students find people to create assignments for them. This work is often produced far cheaper than traditional essay mills.
Huh. In my day, kids had to bother to ask classmates to write essays for them. There was also that moment in middle school when Emily eagerly volunteered to answer three end-of-the-chapter questions for me, after I moaned about not wanting to read the chapter. The topic was about parasites, with pictures, and it was lunch time, so eww …
But, there’s an easy way to detect that the students are submitting fraudulent essays: have them write in-class essays. Surely the professor would notice the difference between what Chester Cheater produces on his own in class, and what he produces when he’s not under the watchful eye of the teacher?
They could also have the students turn in the assignment in stages, e.g., the research cites get turned in first, then the first draft (which maybe is written in class) and so on. Perhaps this would make the outsourcing of homework too expensive to bother. I don’t see a real case for making a new law over this issue.
It’s been done.
In my college days, the Engineering economics teacher assigned a semester-long design project to be our final exam. We were expected to research the tech, design a plant to implement it, analyze its economics, and recommend a final go/no go.
We were also to turn in weekly progress report memos.
(A great way to teach technical writing.)
Come final grading one student got an incomplete because the final report bore no resemblance to his progress reports.
He wasn’t cheating, but we were working in pairs and he allowed his partner to hijack the final report and overwhelm his voice. One final lesson from the best teacher I had: stand out.
As for legislating a solution to the “problem”, well, these days no problem is too small to federalize.
In-class essays are fine for people who already do their own work.
For those who struggle to write, though, the pressure might be very large – they need time to polish their execrable first drafts. I’m assuming that the quality of the thought might show through enough for a teacher with sufficient time to see the work was produced by the same person. Sufficient time is rarely available.
But what about editors? Are students allowed to get their work edited? By mom? By a paid editor? By a fellow student?
I must be naive: I never thought of letting anyone else see my work before handing it in.
But what about editors? Are students allowed to get their work edited? By mom? By a paid editor? By a fellow student?
By MS Word?
WORD isn’t an editor. Anyone who depends on it, without knowing what they’re doing, is asking for trouble.
A word processor with a spellchecker is a convenience, not an editor.
Do you use a calculator – or keep your basic math skills from getting rusty by using pencil and paper?
Convenience rules for the Millennials – just ask Alexa – but that should be used to free up time and energy for higher-level efforts. If all they do is lose the basics, let the machines do the easy stuff, and have fun, their lives aren’t going to be very satisfying.
And the convenience line will move at our convenience. Editors used to catch spelling errors. Now we look back in them as mere conveniences. The next convenience will probably be subject and verb agreement. And on we go…
And basic math skills? I do indeed keep them up to date, and work at improving them. I mastered them and don’t intend to lose them. However, I regularly watch 90% of people in a financial meeting reach for a calculator for pretty basic stuff that used to be computed mentally or with a few pencil scratches by 90%.
I’ve tried to tell younger people calculators are wonderful inventions and are incredible tools. But reaching for a calculator in a negotiation is a sign of weakness. It looks like someone choreographs it. All together now… Grab the calculator, look down, and tap, while missing something very important that is being said.
Not naive; I suspect it’s just a difference in training. I knew early in life I wanted to go into journalism, so since high school I’ve been used to same-day deadlines in writing assignments. Admittedly, I do have the advantage of coping very well with deadlines. I don’t do as well without them. If you don’t need deadlines, you have my respect, and envy 🙂
The stages I outlined above for essay work was what was used in the college prep classes for my school’s Language Arts department (English and history). I got a repeat of that in the first two years of college. I didn’t know this process wasn’t universal, but that might explain why the professors don’t realize there are options besides a law to curb cheating.
As for pressure, there wasn’t as much for the students, because the essays were about topics we were already discussing in class. Plus, the teacher would help us vet our proposed topic to make sure there was enough “there” there to get an essay out of it. By the time we wrote the first in-class essay (of our first draft) everyone was comfortable with the idea.
We did get to do the final draft at home, usually. And students helped each other with editing, plus whoever we trusted to give good feedback. As far as I know, every college campus has a writing center or something similar where a student could get professional help. No one had to sink; I guess I was fortunate that I was part of a group that helped each other to swim.
Add to this that in my college’s fiction writing program, we used the “workshop” method, where we’d read our stories out loud and critique them in class. We were like beta readers for each other, and no one was snarky, or petty or anything like that. I can’t remember what it’s like to not be able to get feedback on a first draft! I loved it, and the feedback was a useful way for a beginner to learn to trust her instincts.
So, not naive! Just different experiences. But you’re likely right that there would have to be an accommodation for a students who truly can’t handle time constraints.
I wrote ONE term paper in my life.
When I transferred to SU from UNAM (Mexico), I was halfway through physics.
I took Freshman English, thinking it would be required. We wrote a single paper on a topic approved by the teacher, with all the trimmings – note cards, library, drafts, etc. Got an A, and had fun – it was like a new game.
Turned out I had transferred with junior standing, and didn’t need to take the course!
My writing is mostly self-taught – I put the work in, always read voraciously, and always planned to write when I retired. The timing has been altered, and I was going to write mysteries à la Sherlock Holmes but have shifted to more mainstream work, but otherwise, I’m right on track.
Are Cliff Notes cheating? Do we need legislation to deal with them? Students are paying a third party so they can avoid doing required work, yet still get the desired grade.
Looking at the proposed text, I can see private tutors being ensnared in a prosecution. (One might assume that a tutor supplied through the “Higher Education provider” would be safe – of course, they are barely paid minimum wage, being students themselves.)
Interesting timing, PG, in light of the broad cheating scandal trying to get the children of wealthy celebrities and corporate figures into college.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-college-admissions-scale-elite-schools-20190312-story.html
I saw that, Meryl.
Unfortunately, more reasons to be cynical about the institutions involved.
What’s amusing to me is those kids won’t even be using whatever degree they (don’t) earn at the big name university. Their future careers will more likely be in partying, instagramming, and reality TV than in anything productive that might let them leave the world in a better shape than they found it.
Hey – they could be the next POTUS! 😉
(I know, it’s already been done …)
Every one of those kids are going to be under a microscope.
And stuff like this won’t help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lveMkZc-NRE&t=4s
Half a million in bribes for that.
What’s fascinating is that the parents were willing to waste their money like that. If the kids, who went to the best k-12 schools, and had every opportunity available to them, still couldn’t be bothered to study enough to get themselves over that last mile to college, then what’s the point of sending them? Why waste so much money on a lazy kid?
Shoot, aren’t the kids in the financial demographic for a “gap” year? Send them on one of those missions to dig wells or whatever. Sometimes the point of going to university is to “make connections,” but I gather the students are social media darlings, so college is even more of a waste of money.
Is bragging that your kid went to USC really supposed to be worth half a million in bribes? Does the average person know what “U-S-C” stands for? It’s not Yale, right? Why bother? This has to be one of the more pointless crimes I can think of just now.
I was wondering about that.
Did a bit (5min) of research and USC is the top school for athletics in California and the second ranked party school.
Which, going by the video, are the two main reasons the young lady making good money as a “social media influencer” listed for going to college. So if you’re going to major in partying and game day amusements, USC rises to the top in California.
The half million might even be a good investment, depending on how much money being a living billboard online brings.
This might come in handy for world building near future SF.
Party school! That makes sense. And for a vlogger socialite a top party school probably is Yale.
I don’t think I got past the first 30 seconds of the video when you posted it, so I didn’t realize that she was already a student. That explains the disappointing sparseness of her decor …
Oh, and I always think of these kinds of events as story fodder. I’m still trying to think of a premise for a Danica McKellar type (actress / mathematician) and a Brian May type (rock star / astrophysicist) to have a sci-fi adventure. Olivia Jade does have potential for a near-future SF/mystery.
It’s about making connections and getting the credentials of having graduated from [big-name school]. With those connections and credentials, since some colleges do not permit faculty to fail students, the favored few have a major advantage.
Yes, when I mentioned connections, I meant from the parents’ POV. It didn’t seem as if Olivia Jade would need college for that purpose, given her position as a “social media influencer.” Hence my belief Loughlin and her husband were wasting their money.
But now you’ve made think of the other side of the coin: OJ herself would be the connection for other students, and would make her an attractive candidate for the school. They could put her in brochures and whatnot. And, as you say, OJ would not be allowed to fail. And whatever connections she herself makes at USC would only help, of course.
If the kids, who went to the best k-12 schools, and had every opportunity available to them, still couldn’t be bothered to study enough to get themselves over that last mile to college, then what’s the point of sending them? Why waste so much money on a lazy kid?
They could easily get to college. Anyone can do that. But, regardless of one’s diligence in high school, it’s not easy to get into a set of highly desirable colleges. (Especially if one is an Asian-American.)
But the point of going to college? I don’t know. For most business positions, I can train a smart HS grad to do it just as well as a college grad.
Engineers and scientists are different. They can easily be trained in business, but it’s much harder to train the smart HS grad in science or engineering.
“Since contract cheating produces original work, this is unlikely to be picked up using standard text matching plagiarism detection services such as Turnitin.”
Tell that to that ‘writer’ that had fiver writing her books for her! 😉
At least one of those ghostwriters was claiming the plagiarized language got into the books because the “author” wanted it in there, and the ghosts had to write around those passages. That’s some chutzpah.
Depressing world we live in when you consider the fact that ghostwriters of Romance novels can make more money on Fiverr ghosting for “name” authors than they can publishing themselves. But I guess that’s a thought for another time.
As we all know, the hardest part of ‘publishing’ is ‘discovery’ – which those big names already are …
I have serious free speech concerns about this. If someone shows me an assignment they have and I feel like writing a response to it and showing it to them, it feels like a breach of my first amendment rights to say I can’t do that.
Your First Amendment rights have nothing to do with that unless the United States Government is the one infringing them.
If the Us Government is bringing a criminal prosecution for speech then it is the US Government doing the infringing.
Whoops. I am guilty of skimming and did not realize they’re actually suggesting legislation for this. My bad.
Update: And wow, rereading this makes me realize how much I missed. I apologize!
In this article we present a proposal for a specific new law to target contract cheating, which could be enacted in most jurisdictions.
If adopted as suggested, it would indeed be the US government or a state government acting against the writer.
“If someone shows me an assignment they have and I feel like writing a response to it and showing it to them …”
Are you actually ‘writing a response’ to/about the assignment – or are you doing their work for them? There is a difference you know …