Contract Cheating Within The Computing Discipline – Examining The Threats And Solutions For Face-To-Face And Distance Learning Courses - The Open University - 24/10/13
This research seminar on contract cheating, presented at The Open University on 24 October 2013, explored the role of contract cheating in both face-to-face and distance learning courses. The results were based of around a corpus of over 19,000 attempts by students to get other people to do their work them, as well as four main quantitative research studies. The seminar focused particularly on issues facing The Open University and similar online providers of education.
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Semelhante a Contract Cheating Within The Computing Discipline – Examining The Threats And Solutions For Face-To-Face And Distance Learning Courses - The Open University - 24/10/13
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Semelhante a Contract Cheating Within The Computing Discipline – Examining The Threats And Solutions For Face-To-Face And Distance Learning Courses - The Open University - 24/10/13 (20)
Contract Cheating Within The Computing Discipline – Examining The Threats And Solutions For Face-To-Face And Distance Learning Courses - The Open University - 24/10/13
1. Contract Cheating Within The
Computing Discipline
Examining The Threats And Solutions For
Face-To-Face And Distance Learning Courses
Thomas Lancaster & Robert Clarke
The Open University
Thursday 24 October 2013
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1
2. A Bit Of Background
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2
3. What We’re Covering…
An introduction to contract cheating, informed by four main
studies within the Innovations in Computing Education research
group at Birmingham City University and our own experience.
The seminar is intended for Computing academics
(examples are selected to particularly look at the implications for Distance
Learning courses)
The focus is on:
Understanding the contract cheating processes and the people involved
Measuring the extent of contract cheating formed from available research
data
Helping Computing educators to address the upcoming challenges of
contract cheating (including our big challenge)
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3
4. Who Are We?
Dr. Thomas Lancaster
Robert Clarke
Senior Lecturer in Computing
PhD “Effective And Efficient
Plagiarism Detection”
Programme Leader Computer Science
Educational Consultant
Visiting Lecturer/Principal Lecturer
30 Years Experience Teaching At BCU
19,000 Attempts at Contract Cheating
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4
5. Does The Sector Care About
Contract Cheating?
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5
6. Contract Cheating
Contract cheating occurs when a student has
original work produced for them, which they
then submit for academic credit
Since this is original work, it will not be detected as plagiarised
when running student submissions through Turnitin
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6
7. Typical Contract Cheating
Through Essay Mills
If you thinking, "I just need someone to write my
essay?" ProfEssays.com is the right choice if you want to get the
best grade for your assignment. We strive to be the best partner
for your academic career. Try our services – buy your essay now!
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7
8. “Essay Mills: University
Course Work To Order”
Times Higher Education
10 October 2013
“The damage contract cheating can
inflict on society is clear. Graduates
emerge from university with huge
(and in some disciplines, potentially
dangerous) gaps in their learning
and knowledge.”
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/essay-mills-university-coursework-to-order/3/2007934.article
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8
9. A Nuclear
Engineer?
this a assignment for do shielding for fast reactor i need
the materials, shape, attenuation coefficient and size of
the shielding and dose analysis around the reactor. this
for health physics or nuclear engineering
Do you want to
live within 5 miles
of this person?
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9
10. Freedom Of Information
Act Request
Times Higher Education asked UK universities for
details of students disciplined for handing in custom
essays
29 students disciplined in 2011-2012
30 students disciplined in 2012-2013
“More than half” of 59 from outside the UK
13 students out of 59 expelled
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10
11. How Do Universities React
To Contract Cheating?
“In one case at Newcastle University, for example, an
international student suspected of handing in work purchased
from the site Essays.uk.com was given a ‘final written warning’
but no other punishment.”
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/inthemedia
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11
12. Need To Balance
These Interests…
Teaching
Staff
Admin
Staff
Students
Professional
Bodies
The Politics
Software
Providers
Media
Government
Agencies
Detectives
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12
13. The Questions
Do universities always want to know about
contract cheating?
Do universities always make it possible for
detectives to tell them about contract cheating?
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13
14. The Traceable Type Of
Contract Cheating
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14
16. Agency Sites Can Be
Used To Find
Legitimate Workers
http://www.freelancer.com
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16
17. Contract Cheating
Using Agency Sites
1. Student posts assignment details
onto agency site
Workers
2. Workers make bids to do the work
3. Student selects bid
Payment is escrowed
$50
Student
Agency Site
4. Selected Worker does assignment
5. Student receives solution
Payment is released to Worker
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17
18. Explicit Agency Sites For
Student Assignments
If you don't understand your assignment or
don't have enough time to complete it, let our
tutors take care of the work for you.
@MyBCU
Post your homework for free and wait for answers
from teachers. Most likely, more than one teacher
will answer your question. You will be able to see a
preview of the answers and purchase the one that
seems the best for you.
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18
19. Traceable Sites Provide
Detectives With Access To
Assignment Details
Project
Status
Budget
range
Student
alias
Details
other
postings
Selected
worker
@MyBCU
Agreed
price
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19
20. Postings By A Typical
Student
Student
"davidwood91“
posted 5
OPENGL
assignments
Mar-Apr 2013
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20
21. Postings By A Less
Typical “Student”
Title
Paid
Coder
Date
Teaching Methods -- Literacy & Elementary Reading
$85 USD
Mar 18, 13
Teaching Methods--Literacy & Elementary Reading
$100 USD
geologistt
remnyakovav
w
Competency Exam Task
$175 USD
sdk2788
Jan 21, 12
Formal and informal assessment techniques for evaluating
$90 USD
sdk2788
Jan 5, 12
Bias in Testing
$90 USD
sdk2788
Dec 18, 11
Teaching Writing in the classroom
$60 USD
sdk2788
Nov 21, 11
Classroom Social Enviorment
$60 USD
sdk2788
Nov 14, 11
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT - Management Systems
$65 USD
sdk2788
Oct 6, 11
Classroom Management; Routines
$60 USD
sdk2788
Sep 9, 11
Experiential Learning
Setting & Communicating Expectations In the classroom
Essay
$50 USD
MrSir
Apr 19, 11
$35 USD
MrSir
Mar 4, 11
Legal Rights of Students with Disabilities essay
$50 USD
MrSir
Feb 10, 11
Human development and learning, short essay
$30 USD
hotline69
Feb 7, 11
Cognitive development, a compare & contrast essay
$40 USD
sdk2788
Jan 31, 11
@MyBCU
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Mar 4, 13
“pennykw” posted
27 items from Jan
2011 to Mar 2013
Either one student
posting all his/her
assignments or an
Intermediary
Contractor
specialising in
education courses at
WGU (Western
Governors
University)
#contractcheating
21
22. Not All Contract
Cheating Is Traceable…
Friends and family
“Will you help me – you’ve studied this before?”
Assignment Writing Services Advertised On The
Internet
“How much will my essay cost?”
Private Tutors
“Can you come, teach me and help me to write this
write this for me?”
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22
23. Breakdown Of Contract
Cheating Attempts By Agency
Postings by Agency Mar 2005 – Jun
2013
Total of 18,729 detected items
Freelancer (+
previously vWorker)
FREELANCER
10558
VWORKER
5468
GETACODER
1289
ESSAYBAY
725
SCRIPTLANCE
216
OTHER
vWorker
294
LIVEPERSON
105
TRANSTUTORS
has “no homework”policy
but closed auctions
Kasamba (Liveperson)
45
ODESK
29
0
main sites examined
easy to search
give most details of users
tracking sub-contractors
“tutorial” site
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
Number of
postings
Student Of Fortune +
Transtutors
sells HW solutions
Clarke, R. and Lancaster, T. (2013), Commercial Aspects Of Contract Cheating, ITiCSE 2013, Canterbury, United Kingdom
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23
24. Postings On Freelancer
(January 2007 to June 2013)
5000000
Incorporation of
vWorker postings
4500000
Project ID (sequence)
4000000
3500000
Incorporation of
ScriptLance postings
3000000
2500000
2000000
1500000
Incorporation of
LimeExchange
postings
1000000
Items below trend
line not detected
when first posted
500000
0
Jan, 07
Jan, 08
Jan, 09
Jan, 10
Jan, 11
Jan, 12
Jan, 13
Date Posting Detected
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24
25. The Extent And Value Of
Contract Cheating
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25
26. First Contract Cheating Study
On RentACoder
Number of cases of Contract Cheating by Country where the source was identified
(912 cases from Mar 04 to Oct 06)
Country
nCases
%
USA
459
50%
United Kingdom
239
26%
Australia
101
11%
Canada
61
7%
Other
34
4%
Turkey
18
2%
Total
912
100%
Clarke, R. and Lancaster, T. (2006), Eliminating the Successor to Plagiarism? Identifying the Usage of Contract Cheating Sites, in
Proceedings of 2nd International Plagiarism Conference, Gateshead, United Kingdom
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26
27. The RentACoder
Findings
The “average” student posts 4-7 assignments
Students were not getting detected
They must have been getting “value for money”
Source mostly courses in English language
Mostly USA, UK, Australia
Other countries run courses in English
Turkey shows up because material is easily Googled
Small number of high number of postings
Identifies “contractors” who do post work for others
Usually work from different colleges and subjects
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27
28. Study Of Computing
Assignments On RentACoder
(910 cases from Mar 04 to Dec 06)
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
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28
29. Computing Findings
Programming in C++/Java most common type
Reflects the types of assignments Computing academics post
(40%)
32 “Major projects” were detected
Only 3.5% overall in this survey
But 9.5% (22 out of 231) bid requests from UK
Average number of postings per student down from
smaller sample
Because detectives are spotting more first-time offenders?
More students seemingly starting to use agency sites
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29
30. EssayBay Study
(627 cases in 5 months)
Postings by UCAS Subject Category
N Business & Admin studies
L Social Studies
V Hist & Philosophical studies
B Subjects allied to Medicine
X Education
C Biological Sciences
Q Linguistics, Classics & related
G Mathematical & Comp Sci
M Law
H Engineering
K Architecture,Build & Plan
F Physical Sciences
W Creative Arts & Design
P Mass Comms and Documentation
R European Langs, Lit & related
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2012), Dealing with Contract Cheating: A Question of Attribution, 1 st HEA STEM Conference
April 2012, London, United Kingdom
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30
31. Level Of EssayBay
Work
Postings by level
Undergraduate
Masters
GCSE A/A2
High Sch
PhD
Advanced Placement
GNVQ
PhD ?
International Bacc
0
@MyBCU
50
100
150
200
250
www.facebook.com/birminghamcityuniversity
300
350
400
#contractcheating
450
500
31
32. EssayBay Findings
First study of an auction site dedicated to enabling contract
cheating
Rentacoder (now vWorker) 85% legitimate work
EssayBay ceased fully functioning in Aug 2010, but has been replaced by
other similar sites
Shows wide range of subjects involved
Maths & Computing only 5%
Business Studies main category (25%)
Everything from “anthropology to theology”
Range of levels of work
Difficult to verify (mostly self-reported by student)
Significant number at Masters level (21%)
Some PhD requests – mostly research proposals
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32
33. EssayBay
Analysis By Source Institution
USA
UK
CAN
AUS
76%
Unknown
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Only 24% of postings traced back to their originating institutions
“Attributability” of assignments found to be a key factor
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33
34. The Detective Role
Most attribution requires lots of “legwork”
No current automated solution
Occasional success using Turnitin to scan
assignment briefs
But this depends on enough information having been
obtained within Turnitin to aid in attribution
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34
35. An Estimate Of The
Detective Success
Assignments
Posted
Source
Attributed
Student
Identified
1 in 3 postings
detected
@MyBCU
1 in 3
attributed
1 in 27
cheaters
dealt with
1 in 3
students found
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35
36. Business studies #
06724 (not traced)
Take Home Exam
An Innocent Abroad: Fred Bailey in Tokyo Case
Study Analysis based on Cross Cultural Management
view point (using Hofstede's Cultural Indices and
MBI Frame work)
Google finds about 181,000 results
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36
37. Intermediary Contractors
And Frequent Workers
Study (2013)
Worker
Jobs
Value USD
sdk2788
21
5,195
raiseq
9
2,126
writingspirit
6
1,146
hotline69
5
424
saeedyasir
3
1,134
waqar21081974
3
419
dmjuma
3
245
writer048
2
628
jnk87
2
449
swiftcult22
2
196
PixelBrains
1
471
noureenpenwalla
1
314
Balistap40
1
68
Totals
59
12,814
Intermediary Contractors
agree, for a fee, to complete
multiple assignments for
multiple students.
Frequent Workers specialise in
undertaking student
assignments.
Contractor “cjylondon” made
59 postings between March
and July 2011, and largely used
the same workers
Clarke, R. and Lancaster, T. (2013), Commercial Aspects Of Contract Cheating, ITiCSE 2013, Canterbury, United Kingdom
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37
38. Typical Range Of Postings
By An Intermediary
Contractor
cjylondon on Freelancer
Based on a sample of 59
postings made March to
June 2011
Total value of 12,814 USD
Average 217 USD
Included assignments
attributed to 18 different
UK universities.
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38
39. Typical Frequent Worker
Activities
Assignments Completed By “sdk2788” Apr
– May 2013
Title
Academic Writing - Literature Short Answer Questions
Academic Writing - Book Report
Technical writing
Quality System in IT
10 Page Paper with References
IT MGMT Task 3
IT MGMT Task 1
Strategic Information Systems
The transition and influence of market economy in Russia
Casablanca Essay
English Literature
comparative essay
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
PESTEL analysis
Research paper - Marketing Mix Analysis
answer the questions in essay style
OIL, OPEC and World Economies
Writing a financial report
Global shifts have occurred in recent years fuelled partly by the
Land Economic Essay -1500 Words - Harvard Referencing
@MyBCU
Employer
hatcher
hatcher
richardgush
Thush73
awj118
Tguitari
Tguitari
munishluther
Alihan777
hatcher
caro155347
greenpaint
hatcher
munishluther
jale007bond
jus91
ustesol
TheMelt
Alihan777
Sunnitro
Average
www.facebook.com/birminghamcityuniversity
Value USD
105
62
435
204
310
50
50
280
471
125
132
110
187
70
130
107
185
181
129
100
171
#contractcheating
39
40. The “Untraceable” Side Of
Contract Cheating Can
Sometimes Be Seen…
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40
41. The Cast Of Players
Student
Essay Mill
Site
@MyBCU
Agency Site
Intermediary
Contractor
www.facebook.com/birminghamcityuniversity
Worker
The student may
“outsource” the work
direct to the agency or
indirectly through a
essay-mill site or
intermediary contractor
#contractcheating
41
42. Contractor Links To
Essay-Mill Sites
Posting and details on Freelancer
Entry on Facebook
Essay-Mill Site
If your college or university teacher gives you an
assignment or project which is difficult to
solve, then come on our board of experts. Our team
of qualified and professional people provides all
kind of solution of any topic
@MyBCU
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#contractcheating
42
43. Contractor To Essay
Mill Site Link
http://www.anavasis.gr/
@MyBCU
Thank you and welcome to the Site
The Student Tuition Anabasis.
Briefly provide support
Theses all levels and thematic fields
Student work within the semester with the
possibility to cover the work of all directions
Statistical Analysis - Statistical Studies
Translations from and into over 50 languages
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43
44. Contractor Example
Postings
The work is your one of our customers who is a
student, so it is a student work
Abstract: The thesis includes a study of the IEEE
802.11n standard on the operation at the physical
level and MAC layer of wireless local area
networks ... in MATLAB.
The below is a project for one of our
customers. The student needs the coding part
of his dissertation
Dissertaion title : Optimal Investment Planning
for Distributed Generation in a Competitive
Electricity Market
@MyBCU
We are an educational company and want
the below project for one of our clients
During this course, you will develop an
information portal on a topic of your choice
based on focused crawling technology.
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44
45. What Does This Mean For
Online Universities?
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45
46. “A Quick Trawl”
These examples based on a quick 30 minute
trawl of common contract cheating sites and
essay mills on Thursday 17 October 2013
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46
52. Online Universities
Frequently found on “contract cheating” sites
Examples of multiple (10+) posting by one person
Often difficult to find contact details
Material found on Brainmass + StudentOfFortune
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52
53. Addressing The Challenges
For Online And Face-To-Face
Universities
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53
54. Common Sources
The same material is used by several colleges
Exercises from text books
Online tests associated with text books
Open Educational Resources
Stock answers likely on Brainmass, Chegg etc
Essay spinning reduces Turnitin matches
Searches find multiple hits
Need to “individualise” assignments
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54
55. Further Technology
Assistance Needed
Putting assignment briefs on Turnitin
Helps “detectives” – like Bob
Warns academics if stock answers are available
May spot assignments on “contract cheating” sites
Often small percentages (1%) may be significant
Need to be able to recognise names of CC sites in the text
Watermark or tag assignment briefs
Identify source and student
Use modified PDF generator
Add feature to VLE (e.g. Moodle)
@MyBCU
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55
56. The Big Challenge?
MOOCs
From our experience we expect to find:
Multiple hits from Google, which will foil attribution
attempts
courses with the same names and codes
Same common phrases
Rise in “bespoke” assignment writers
Specialising in particular courses
Rise in stock solutions being offered
Rise in the use of Essay Spinning
Increased difficulties in finding contact information (email)
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56
59. Upcoming Introductory
Workshop
Contract Cheating Within The Computing
Discipline Workshop
Workshop provided by Higher Education Academy
STEM Funding
Thursday 13 March 2014
Birmingham City University
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2013/13_March_Computing_Contract_Birmingham
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#contractcheating
59
60. Our Contact Details
Thomas Lancaster
Email: thomas.lancaster@bcu.ac.uk
Website: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk
Twitter: @DrLancaster
Robert Clarke
Email: robert.clarke@bcu.ac.uk
@MyBCU
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60