Are All Of Our Students Completing Their Own Work? Examining Contract Cheating Within The Computing Discipline - London Metropolitan University - 12/02/16
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The seminar led by Dr. Thomas Lancaster examines the prevalence of contract cheating among students, particularly in computing disciplines, and identifies the various methods used by students to outsource their assignments. It discusses the implications of such practices on academic integrity and suggests technical solutions and pedagogical strategies to mitigate contract cheating. The seminar aims to engage academics in recognizing and addressing these challenges while providing insights gathered from extensive research and anecdotal evidence.
Are All Of Our Students Completing Their Own Work? Examining Contract Cheating Within The Computing Discipline - London Metropolitan University - 12/02/16
- 1. 1#contractcheating Are All Of Our Students Completing Their Own Work? Examining Contract Cheating Within The Computing Discipline Dr. Thomas Lancaster London Metropolitan University Seminar Friday 12 February 2016
- 2. 2#contractcheating Background To The Seminar
- 3. 3#contractcheating Some Key Questions To Be Answered What does work completed by a third party look like and how can we recognise it? What methods are students using to outsource their work and what type of assessments are students having completed for them? What technical solutions to contract cheating are available and how can the Computing discipline support their development? What should we being doing to reduce contract cheating?
- 4. 4#contractcheating Open To All! Although some examples are pulled from the Computing discipline, the ideas are intended to be widely applicable and useful Assessment and cheating extends far beyond the traditional “essay”
- 5. 5#contractcheating Discussion Welcome! Twitter – @DrLancaster Live – Feel free to join in and share ideas #contractcheating
- 6. 6#contractcheating Dr. Thomas Lancaster Senior Lecturer in Computing at Birmingham City University Programme Leader in Computer Science Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Completed PhD on plagiarism detection at London South Bank University in 2003 Originally focused on contract cheating as a problem for computing students Research now extends across multiple disciplines and the many mechanisms that students can use to gain undocumented assessment help
- 7. 7#contractcheating Paying Thanks To My Colleague “Detective Bob” Robert Clarke Educational Consultant and Researcher at SCL Current Visiting Lecturer at Birmingham City University Former Principal Lecturer with 30 years teaching experience Spend his free time trying to alert academics when students are attempting to solicit other people online to complete work for them Has collected over 30,000 attempts made by students wanting to cheat
- 8. 8#contractcheating How Easily Can Students Fake Their Way To A Degree?
- 9. 9#contractcheating From Fake Britain – Shown on BBC1 30 November 2015 Leaflets collected from outside a London university
- 10. 10#contractcheating Work Produced By A Third Party From Fake Britain – Shown on BBC1 30 November 2015 2000 word Literature Review for a second year Computing module, designed to prepare students to complete a Final Year Project Produced by a well- known UK essay writing service in March 2015
- 11. 11#contractcheating £275 “Buys” A Mark Of 65% (2:1 as promised) From Fake Britain – Shown on BBC1 30 November 2015 Good work - no real indicators of suspicion
- 12. 12#contractcheating From Fake Britain – Shown on BBC1 30 November 2015 Students Not Too Impressed With Cheating
- 13. 13#contractcheating A Few More Essay Writing Quotes (February 2016) A student using any of these services and handing in the result would be contract cheating £135.60 £68 (approx)
- 14. 14#contractcheating Contract Cheating Contract cheating happens when a student make use of a third party or other service to produce an original piece of assessed work which they then submit as if they had created it this will not usually be detected as unoriginal through Turnitin
- 15. 15#contractcheating Can We Do Better? USD $ Bid GBP # Equivalent 70 48 60 41 30 21 83 57 50 34 77 53 23 16 60 41 25 17 Average 53.11 36.44 Request for 2,000 word Literature Review on Freelancer.com – February 2016 9 bids in 3 minutes
- 16. 16#contractcheating One Bidder Bid of $60 USD (£41 GBP)
- 17. 17#contractcheating How Good is Outsourced Student Work?
- 18. 18#contractcheating Outsourcing A Programming Homework Using An Agency Site Request made for a Computer Science assignment (programming) made on vWorker.com Request received 11 bids in under 1 hour, 38 bids in 2 days. Workers offering to complete the assignment came from around the world, including India, Vietnam, Ukraine and Argentina Bidder in the the USA selected to produce the work Price offered between $10 and $40. The Guardian – 6 May 2008 "I would have given the program code element of the coursework about 50%”. Robert Clarke, Birmingham City University.
- 19. 19#contractcheating Essay on Copyright Law (2005 Study) Three students (directed by Charles Oppenheim of Loughborough University) used essay writing services to request a 1500 word original essay on copyright law Prices ranged from £135 to £205. Oppenheim marked the essays at 42%, 55% and 58%. One essay contained elements plagiarised from a paper in an academic journal.
- 20. 20#contractcheating Ofqual Study Purchased 2,000 word ‘A’ Level essays from three UK essay writing services History essay, price £120-£220, awarded B, C/D, E English language essay, price £70- £138, awarded C/D, D/E, U/E Mystery shopping exercise of web-sites that offer a range of ‘support services’ to students, LE London Economics, September 2014 http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20141031163546/http://ofqual.gov.uk/documents/mystery-shopping-exercise-support- services-students
- 21. 21#contractcheating Computer Code Submitted For Marking (2006 Study) Jenkins and Helmore from the University of Leeds used agency (auction style) web sites, including RentACoder and GetACoder, to purchase multiple solutions to first year programming assignments Assignments were cheap First assignment cost £8.91 and £16.12 Final task cost just £4.74 The student presented their work for marking in class (sometimes twice in the same session, using simple disguises!) The student was not caught, and was given good marks Jenkins, T. and Helmore, S. (2006), Coursework for cash: the threat from on-line plagiarism, in Proceedings of 7th Annual Conference for Information and Computer Science, Dublin. Higher Education Academy pp121-126
- 22. 22#contractcheating Who Writes These Assignments? “I spoke to somebody who admitted to writing essays for students over the internet as far back as the year 2000. Now a MailOnline journalist, they asked to remain anonymous. He was 17 at the time, earning £300 per thousand words for a defunct agency called ‘Essays-R-Us.’ ‘They’d give you an essay, you’d Google the information, write up the essay then send it back. It was something I did in the school holidays – looking back it does seem a little unethical.’” Why Hired Essay Cheats Will Make Your Degree Worthless – 1 February 2016 http://dorms.campussociety.com/why-hired-essay-cheats-will-make-your-degree-worthless
- 23. 23#contractcheating Cheating – Observations And Numbers
- 24. 24#contractcheating “Student Cheating Crisis” The Times – Saturday January 2, 2016 50,000 students from 129 UK universities caught cheating in the past three years, according to a Freedom of Information Act request. The top 5 institutions for 2012-2015 were: 1. Kent 2. Westminster 3. East London 4. Sheffield Hallam 5. Oxford Brookes (London Metropolitan outside Top 10)
- 25. 25#contractcheating Aside – Has Cheating Decreased? The Independent on Sunday 11 March 2012 found that 45,000 students at 80 institutions had been found to have cheated in the previous three years (188 per institution per year then, 129 per institution per year now). The top 5 institutions for 2010-2011 were: 1. Greenwich 2. London Metropolitan 3. Sheffield Hallam 4. Leeds Metropolitan 5. Wolverhampton
- 26. 26#contractcheating Comparative Subjects On An Essay Writing Service 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 R European Langs, Lit & related P Mass Comms and Documentation W Creative Arts & Design F Physical Sciences K Architecture,Build & Plan H Engineering M Law G Mathematical & Comp Sci Q Linguistics, Classics & related C Biological Sciences X Education B Subjects allied to Medicine V Hist & Philosophical studies L Social Studies N Business & Admin studies Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2012), Dealing with Contract Cheating: A Question of Attribution, 1st HEA STEM Conference April 2012, London, United Kingdom Sample of 627 “all subject” cases collected on EssayBay over 5 months in 2010, and manually classified by UCAS Subject Category EssayBay no longer operational, but this is an example of an agency site exclusively set up for student assignments
- 27. 27#contractcheating University Level Work Seen In An Essay Mill Using US Writers 1 Business =2 Health (including nursing and psychology) =2 IT 4 History 5 Anthropology 6 Sociology 7 English language and literature 8 Law (blue subjects dominate the requests) 80% of work university level, 20% of work high school level (occasional MA/doctoral level pieces of work in regular queue, but most goes into private queue) Personal Communication From A Essay Company Writer (Used With Permission)
- 28. 28#contractcheating The Variety Of Computing Assignments Observed Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2007), Assessing Contract Cheating Through Auction Sites – A Computing Perspective, 8th Annual Conference of the Higher Education Academy for Information and Computer Sciences, Southampton, United Kingdom (Sample of 910 Computing cases collected on RentACoder from Mar 04 to Dec 06) Site used primarily for computer contracting, so assignments dominated by Computing academic discipline
- 29. 29#contractcheating Some Examples Of Requests Observed On Freelancer.com
- 30. 30#contractcheating Database Systems Development CC6001 Advanced Database Systems Development Coursework Assignment 2015-16 The coursework assignment is an individual assessment weighted 40% of the marks for the module. It is designed mainly to assess students‘ practical problem-solving skills and critical thinking evaluation on the design and development of database systems. It requires the student to analyse, design and implement a web-based database application based on a given business case study. Freelancer 8850447 Nov 2015 “Sri Lanka” $30 - $250Budget range
- 31. 31#contractcheating Transport Policy and Travel in Society Transport Policy and Travel in Society Module Code LT 6010 This is an individual case study assessing the effectiveness of transport provision for tourists in a specific location, selected from four option areas of (i) a medium sized historic city; (ii) the historic part of a major city of over 250,00 population; (iii) a coastal resort, or (iv) a largely rural area. The case study is presented in the form of a consultant’s report examining transport policies and concepts with practical application and brings together key themes of the module with a practitioner focus. Freelancer 6712389 Nov 2014 “Ukraine” $35 known "third-party subcontractor"
- 32. 32#contractcheating Digital Marketing MC7045 Digital Marketing Assessments The group project requires students to work in groups of 2-3 to analyse the digital marketing presence of a selected organisation in men’s clothing or wine industry. The project requires the group to present a 20 minute analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of all the different online tools and services, the costs and potential benefits of engaging with them. The task also calls for the group to identify examples of good practice (beyond their selected organisation) and to consider how they might adopt that approach Freelancer 6131135 June 2014 UK Individual Brand Analysis Presentation and Supporting Material (1500word limit). DIGITAL MARKETING- NEEDED REPORT OF 1500-2200 WORDS. company chosen- BURTON'S MENSWEAR UK Also posted
- 33. 33#contractcheating Essential Psychology for Managers MN5054 Essential Psychology for Managers Assignment 2 (2000 words): Your individual poster book needs to be based on one of the case studies distributed in the sessions Links to articles (choose one of these two): Chrisafis, A. (2009) France: stress and worker suicides mean the future’s not bright at Orange, Guardian, 18 September Freelancer 5299751 Jan 2014 UK MN5002 Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Leadership Assessment 3: Individual Research BA5001: Business Decision Making Year 2013-14 Coursework 1 Also posted £42
- 34. 34#contractcheating Distributed and Internet Systems Distributed and Internet Systems Distributed Application It requires developing a prototype distributed system of choice that consists of clients, servers and/or peers for exchanging information via a developed message protocol. As well as submitting the completed application a written report will also need to be submitted by the deadline and a formal demonstration of the completed software given. $30 - $250 Budget range Freelancer 5077037 Oct 2013 UK known "third-party subcontractor"
- 35. 35#contractcheating Econometrics EC5007 COURSEWORK 2012-13 This coursework is an empirical economics and finance report that applies econometric methods to a particular economic model using dedicated statistical/econometric software such as Excel and Eviews. It consists of THREE Sections. In part A and B you will use hypothetical data and in part C real data. You are required to apply economic models using regression analysis and present findings in a report Freelancer 4417485 April 2013 UK ???closed " 1. a) Specify a linear econometric model for SALARY (semi- log) as a function of EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE. What would be a possible consequence of ignoring the EXPERIENCE variable? Also posted
- 37. 37#contractcheating Improve Attribution With A Database Of Assignment Briefs 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 (ICPCA07), Birmingham City University, United Kingdom Upload all assignment Specifications to Turnitin There is scope for an intelligent system to automatically find and classify requests for assignment outsourcing
- 38. 38#contractcheating Use Individualised Assignments Individualised set of data Individualised set of questions Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R.(2010), Staff Led Individualised Assessment – A Case Study, 1th Annual Conference of the Higher Education Academy for Information and Computer Sciences, Durham University, United Kingdom
- 39. 39#contractcheating Doctupus – Track Interactions With Submitted Documents Khan, W. (2015). Plagiarism detection 2.0: detection of contract cheating. International Conference – Plagiarism Across Europe and Beyond, Brno, Czech Republic. https://vimeo.com/130263579
- 40. 40#contractcheating Analyse Document Properties Extracted from an early draft version of this presentation
- 41. 41#contractcheating Investigate The Use Of Stylometrics “If routinely, every single piece of output of every single student in an institution was retained and analysed, then you’d have the statistical basis to say that the stylometric differences between this piece of writing by this student compared with their previous bits of writing is so extreme that it starts to become evidential.” PC Pro – How Schools Beat The Net Cheats, Feb 2010 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/355597/how-schools-beat-the-net-cheats/4#ixzz2ivUq6nef Professor Fintan Culwin Freestyler software developed by Thomas Lancaster and Fintan Culwin Culwin, F. (2008), Inverse Authorship Attribution – At Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R., Contract Cheating Workshop, Birmingham City University, 7 March 2008
- 43. 43#contractcheating Use Detection Software To Act As A Deterrent To many students, plagiarism detection software is a black box The risk of being caught is a valid preventative measure Use appropriate technologies Turnitin for written work MOSS and JPlag for source code
- 44. 44#contractcheating Encourage Students To Act As Professionals Help students to understand why they are assessed and how completing this assessment will help them in the future (for instance, through their employability) Educate students about professionalism, ethics, contract cheating and plagiarism Interest students in the wider application of their subject
- 45. 45#contractcheating Consider The Appropriateness of Assessments Original assignment briefs (deterrent) Industrial simulations Teamwork Vendor style tests Viva sessions Student designed assessments Peer review Tests linked to coursework
- 46. 46#contractcheating Final Warning: The Dissertation Conveyor Belt
- 47. 47#contractcheating 8000 word (AMEER) DISS BY WEDNESDAY Dissertation title: The diplomatic relationship between the UAE and the UK and how it impacts the aviation industry in both countries. Freelancer 7545306 April 2015 UK $100
- 48. 48#contractcheating The Same Team Also Posted… PLEASE DELIVER THIS AUGUST 12TH 3k is already done by the way of the proposal attached, use it BUT tidy it up somewhat as its too loose. I suggest you do anoter 10k yourself to get it to 13k in total USE LOTS of graphs and tables conduct interviews and results etc..... made up obviously !! DO A GOOD JOB PLEASE !! The main book to use is by JAMES DOUGLAS called BUILDING ADAPTATIONS. I attach some ebooks to help you. The proposal is the first doc attached $145
- 52. 52#contractcheating Selected References For Our Contract Cheating Work Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2015), Contract Cheating – The Outsourcing Of Assessed Student Work, in Handbook of Academic Integrity, Bretag, T. (editor): SpringerReference. Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2015),The Implications of Plagiarism and Contract Cheating for the Assessment of Database Modules. 13th International Workshop on Teaching, Learning and Assessment of Databases (TLAD 2015), Birmingham, UK, July 2015. Hersey, C. and Lancaster, T. (2015), The Online Industry of Paper Mills, Contract Cheating Services, and Auction Sites, Clute Institute International Education Conference, London, 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 City University, 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, University of Victoria, 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, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 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, April 2012. Lancaster, T and Clarke, R (2010). Staff-Led Individualised Assessment – A Case Study; 11th Annual Higher Education Academy Conference in Information and Computer Sciences, Durham University, August 2010. Lancaster, T and Clarke, R (2008). How to Succeed at Cheating Without Really Trying: Five Top Tips for Successful Cheating; 9th Annual Higher Education Academy Conference in Information and Computer Sciences, Liverpool Hope University, August 2008. 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 City University, 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, University of Southampton, 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), Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA: 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 2006 - Newcastle, UK, June 2006.
- 53. 53#contractcheating My Contact Details Thomas Lancaster Email: thomas.lancaster@bcu.ac.uk Website: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk Blog: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster Twitter: @DrLancaster
- 54. 54#contractcheating Contract Cheating Resources General Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_cheating http://contractcheating.com Contract Cheating Special Interest Group (originally supported by the Higher Education Academy): https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi- bin/webadmin?A0=CONTRACTCHEATING Slides Available At: http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster