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Contract CheatingA Workshop On The Bespoke Assessment Industry
Presented by Dr. Thomas Lancasterat Learning and Teaching Conference
Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering and SciencesSheffield Hallam University
on Friday 16 September 2016http://thomaslancaster.co.uk@DrLancaster
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Workshop Target Understanding(Through Presentation and Activities)What contract cheating is and why this educational development is of concernExamples of the ways in which students can outsource their assignments and the type of work that is being outsourcedPractical steps that academics can take to reduce the likelihood and impact of contract cheating in their modules
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Your Involvement Is Much Encouraged!
Twitter Please tweet observations, comments, quotes, photos, discussion topics#LTAConf16#contractcheating@DrLancaster
Live Please join in the discussion, ask questions and contribute stories
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My BackgroundActive researcher in student cheating andplagiarism since 2000Associate Head of School (Marketing andRecruitment) at Coventry UniversityRegular media speaker on contract cheating andrelated issuesHave wider teaching and learning interests instudent employability, professional onlinepresences, social media marketing,entrepreneurshipSenior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
BBC South East Today– BBC1
Dispatches – Channel 4
Fake Britain – BBC1
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References For My Main Contract Cheating Publications
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 2014Lancaster, 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.
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http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster
A selection of the talks available on my SlideShare account
(the slides from today’s workshop also available on SlideShare)
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With Thanks To “Detective Bob”
Robert Clarke
My research partner in the contract cheating fieldsince 2006Educational Consultant and Researcher at SCLFormer Principal Lecturer at Birmingham CityUniversity with 30 years teaching experienceEnjoys using his free time trying to alert academicswhen students try to request other people online tocomplete assessed work for that studentBob has collected over 30,000 attempts made bystudents wanting to cheat since we began ourresearch BBC News at Six – BBC1
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About Contract Cheating
Contract cheating describes the process through which a student has an original piece of work produced for them:Usually this requires payment of a feeUsually this work is submitted for assessment (as if the
student produced the work for themselves)
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Flyer courtesy of Jane Mandalios, Deree, The American College of Greece
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Activity
What kind of assignments are most at risk of contract cheating?From your own experience, identify:• Examples of ‘bad’ assignments• Examples of ‘good’ assignments
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“View from an ‘essay mill’: the best offer legitimate support for struggling students”
Times Higher Education – September 10 2016https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/view-essay-mill-best-offer-legitimate-support-struggling-students
“It’s incredibly frustrating that we are subject to the blanket negative perception of our industry, thanks to an official report that has assessed only a tiny sample of companies that do not reflect the operations, ethics or intentions of the majority.”
“A report like this one only serves to perpetuate the stigma facing students that seeking external help is somehow wrong and underhand; how does that attitude help anyone?”
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Activity
The following are examples of assignments found on outsourcing websites during our research.How much do you think that students paid to have their work completed for them?
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“Critically assess The London Marathon event in terms of the event’s holistic
impact on its host community”
Place Your Bid… £____
“Assignment (Individual 2000 word essay):
You are required to critically assess a major sporting event in terms of the event’s holistic impact on its host community.
• London Marathon”
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“Financial Risk Management”
Place Your Bid… £____
“Select a non financial services organisation, then:1. Outline and rank all the key foreign exchange and interest rate exposures which your company faces. You should clearly justify your ranking of these risks. 2. . Using a wide range of literature, discuss whether the company should actually manage the exposures which you have outlined. 3. Recommend and justify how you would manage the top two or three exposures you have identified. 4. Outline how your recommendations will be integrated as part of an Enterprise Wide Risk Management Policy 5. . Your chosen company is currently reviewing its treasury structure. Critically evaluate the different treasury structures which your company could utilize and make a clear and justified recommendation.”“Words - 3500-4000”
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“Hydraulics Assignment”
Place Your Bid… £____
“You are the factory engineer working in a highly automated modern factory that has been in operation for some years.”“What are the possible causes of the problems; this may include technical and human issues. Remember, you are being asked to discuss the system fault and that the rise in temperature is a symptom.What modifications might you make to protect against this occurrence in
future?, (You are not expected to suggest hydraulic changes as the circuit generally works well.What maintenance strategy could be applicable to this piece of equipment?”“3-4 pages text, or 1250 - 1500 words”
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The original request was posted by a known third party subcontractor
(with their location stated as Ukraine)
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“Investigation project (computing) in Hacking and cybercrime/ cyberwarfare”
Place Your Bid… £____
“I require 50 pages (approximately 15000 words) investigation based project on Hacking and Cyber warfare (computing).
open to suggestions on any specific route you may want to investigate in this field. If you have any other relevant computing topics of choice i can consider them too.
Message me with your ideas i will choose the one that best fits”
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This Represents Only A Very Small Selection Of Requests!
Not all assignments are traceableAssignments often get deleted from public viewStudents can make private requests for help through their contactsMany essay mills keep the requests made to them private, using their in-house writers or freelance workers
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Activity
In a small group, discuss the assigned scenarioReport back a short summary of the issues raised
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Continuing The Discussion
How can we design assessments that
discourage students from contract
cheating?
What mechanisms are available for ensuring that contract cheating
attempts are not successful?
What incentives are there for staff to
ensure that academic misconduct cases are
pursued?
How can we work with students as
partners to promote a positive view of
academic integrity?
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http://www.dusa.org.au/Advocacy-(1)/Contract-Cheating
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International Day of Action Against
Contract CheatingOctober 19, 2016
http://contractcheating.weebly.com
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Speaker Bookings, Training Opportunities and Further InformationDr. Thomas Lancaster Contact Details
Email: [email protected]: http://thomaslancaster.co.ukBlog: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blogLinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster
Twitter: @DrLancaster
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
