How can we work with students to address contract cheating? This presentation was delivered by Dr Thomas Lancaster and Dr Irene Glendinning as part of the preparation for the 4th International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating, which takes place around the world on 16 October 2019. The slides discuss why contract cheating is a challenge for education and provides ideas for activities for institutions taking part on the day.
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Reducing Contract Cheating - International Opportunities For Action
1. Reducing Contract Cheating -
International Opportunities For
Action
Webinar In Support of the 4th International Day of
Action Against Contract Cheating, taking place on 16
October 2019
Register your institution to take part at:
https://academicintegrity.org/day-against-contract-cheating
Dr Thomas Lancaster
Imperial College London
Dr Irene Glendinning
Coventry University
2. Webinar Presenters
Dr Thomas Lancaster
Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of
Computing, Imperial College London
“Inventor” of contract cheating
(with Robert Clarke)
Dr Irene Glendinning
Academic Manager for Student Experience, Office
of Teaching and Learning, Coventry University
Vice President of the European Network of
Academic Integrity (ENAI)
3. Why Are We On This Webinar?
To share our concerns about contract cheating
To announce the 4th International Day of Action Against Contract
Cheating (16 October 2019) and encourage you to participate
To discuss ideas for activities you can use to make the event a
success
4. Contract Cheating
Contract cheating involves a student asking
someone else to complete assessments on their
behalf then submitting these as their own work
for academic credit
Can be via an essay mill, a tutorial company, a
family member, another student or a graduate
6. By Contract Cheating, That Student…
• Bypasses the learning that would have been
expected of them
• Is at a disadvantage for future assessment (and
susceptible to cheat again)
• May take opportunities away from more
deserving students
• Is helping to devalue the educational system
8. The Scale Of Contract Cheating
We know it’s
more than one
student
We don’t know
for sure how
many
There are lots of estimates out there, but the headline figures can also be misleading.
Numbers vary by institution and academic discipline.
10. Some Things We Can Be Certain About
• Every institution has a problem
with contract cheating
• Every student knows about
contract cheating
11. A Dangerous Industry
The contract cheating
industry is pervasive. It has an
active interest in its continual
growth and in signing
students up to use its services
18. Why Do Students Commit Contract
Cheating?
• They feel like they have no choice
• They think that other students are cheating
• They fall for the marketing
• They don’t understand academic integrity
• They have cheated before and have to cheat again
• They don’t see the value in doing their own work
And lots of other reasons
19. We Need To
talk openly about contract cheating
with students
find opportunities to work with
students as academic integrity partners
21. What Is The International Day Of Action
Against Contract Cheating?
• 16 October 2019, or the whole week
• 4th International event (growing every time)
• Coincides with Global Day of Ethics
• Can connect with other universities across the world
• Students can lead in this and they can help other
students
• Student competition held – with prizes
22. The Message To Communicate To
Students
Contract Cheating…
• devalues education
• by-passes learning and personal development
• is unfair to other students
• is against the regulations in most institutions
• is already illegal in some countries and states
• will have serious consequences on your career
• may lead to blackmail by your ghost writer
• may lead to abuse of your personal information
So don’t do be tempted to do it!
25. How To Participate In The Event
Students and staff can participate in the day by
• Signing up as official participants
• Planning well ahead to gain resources and funding
• Getting colleagues to and student societies to
participate and help
• Organising a range of events and activities during the
day or week
• Creating new posters, leaflets, videos and resources
• Contacting local media to arrange publicity for the event
26. Negative To Positive Publicity
Two stories from the same student newspaper -
October and December 2016
27. Get The Whole Institution Involved
On the day/week, you can
• Arrange for guest speakers to launch the event
• Run games and events to get students talking about
contract cheating
• Organise workshops for students
• Organise workshops for university colleagues
• Ask teaching staff to focus on academic integrity
during their sessions
28. Pledging On The Day
On the day/week, ask students to
• Write their own statement about why contract
cheating is wrong on a poster or small whiteboard
• Upload a photo with the statement to social media:
using hashtags #defeatthecheat #excelwithintegrity
• Follow other tweets and posts from people in
universities and colleges across the world during the
day