Contract Cheating and Academic Misconduct in Examinations and Tests - HEA STEM Conference 2016

1#contractcheating #HEASTEM16
Contract Cheating and Academic
Misconduct in Examinations and
Tests
Dr. Thomas Lancaster and Robert Clarke
HEA STEM Conference 2016
Thursday 28 January, 2016

Background

Our Role in Student Cheating and
Academic Integrity Research
Dr. Thomas Lancaster
Senior Lecturer in Computing at BCU
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education
Academy
PhD “Effective And Efficient Plagiarism
Detection”
Programme Leader BSc Computer Science
Robert Clarke
Educational Consultant at SCL
Visiting Lecturer/Former Principal Lecturer
30 Years Experience Teaching at BCU
Has collected more than 30,000 attempts by
students worldwide to outsource their work

Contract Cheating
Working Definition
Contract cheating occurs when a student pays (or
uses) a third party to complete assessed work for
academic credit
This has most often been observed with students
using technology to pay others to do their
assessments (e.g. through an online essay mill or by
hiring a ghostwriter)

Underlying Questions
Are students using contract cheating to aid their
exam results?
How does this feed into the changing landscape
of student cheating?
What measures, as academics, should we be
taking when such cheating is possible?

Is Exam Cheating A Problem?

Backlash From The Australian
Cheating Scandal (2014/15)
Average level of cheating in multiple
choice tests of 5% (worse in tiered
rooms, such as lecture theatres)
Identified computer security issues
where exam papers and questions
had been stolen and then shared
using social media
Found students using toilet breaks to
search the Internet for solutions

SAT Tests Cancelled In China
“The College Board has cancelled college entrance
exams on Saturday in China and Macau after the
company learned that many of the applicants might
have seen the exam paper for the upcoming SAT.
The now-cancelled Scholastic Aptitude Test was to
be held at over 45 testing centers across mainland
China and Macau.”
Macau Daily Times – 25 January 2016
http://macaudailytimes.com.mo/44793.html

“Student Cheating Crisis”
The Times – Saturday January 2, 2016
From UK university cheating figures for the
past 3 years:
“At least five cases of impersonation were
recorded, when students arranged for
someone to sit exams on their behalf.”
Other common offenses:
Starting exam early/finishing writing late
Smuggled in notes
Copying from other students
Long toilet breaks
An incident where “…student did not use the
most convenient toilet”

Is Paying Someone To Sit Your
Exam Contract Cheating?

Classified Ad On Seattle Craigslist
The Atlantic – March 18 2014
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/catching-a-cheater-online/284461
Are you good with college level math? I need a taller college
aged brunette female student to take a math placement test
for me in person as I am out of state currently. If you believe
that you can be of help please respond to this ad and let me
know your math qualifications. Must know college level math.
Willing to pay a neg fee. This could turn into more work in the
near future if interested. Serious inquiries only as I need this
done ASAP! Thank you!
The student communicated to with a local professor in a “sting”
operation.
The college would not promise to refuse the student entry.

University of York
“A highly intelligent former City banker who suffers from
Asperger's syndrome and an economics student have been
given suspended jail sentences for cheating in university
exams.
Jerome Drean, 34, and Elnar Askerov, 23, each received
sentences of nine months' imprisonment suspended for two
years after Drean was paid £20,000 for posing as Askerov, a
student at York University, using a fake identity card.”
The Independent – 1 March 2008

More Common Than You Might
Think?
“TWO other cheats were caught on the same day and at the same exam as
Jerome Drean and Enlar Askerov.
Qiu Shi Zhang, 23, who was supposed to sit the economics finance exam, got
his friend Xin Zhang, 24, no relation, to stand in for him at the University of
York.
But vigilant staff spotted that Xin Zhang was very different from the picture on
the ID card he carried and both were arrested.
Qiu Shi Zhang, of Hickleton Court, Garrowby Way, Heslington, admitted aiding
and abetting fraud and Xin Zhang, who was studying marketing at
Birmingham University last May, admitted fraud.
Each was ordered to do 100 hours' community work and pay £35.”
The York Press (not dated)

Technology-Aided Exam
Contract Cheating

Freelancer.com
Unlike many services used by students to cheat,
the requests made on Freelancer can be
observed.
These are some test and exam related examples
seen on Freelancer.

Re-work Exam as Coursework
I study MSc Management and Finance and I have 2
referrals which are Accounting&Economics and
Operation . Therefore, I have to re-work both exams as
an assignment to achieve an overall pass at
cammendation . I have the questions and I need the
answers for all of them , the deadline for all referral
work is in the 9th of December 2015.
Freelancer 8920932
Dec 2015 UK
£22

“Seen exam” paper
There will be exam on The Medieval History during 2 hour
and half, I need an academic essay about the topic that
instructor will provide. I need to essay in 2 hours.
As instructor writes,
You will have a choice of 8 questions of which you will have
to answer 1. These questions will require critical analysis to
answer just like the assignment questions.
Freelancer 9134309
Dec 2015 Azerbaijan
€62

Time-limited Question
Android Question
This is a timelimited question given as an assignment. It should be answered
in a very detailed manner.
Question:
What is an intent? Is it possible to update/upgrade an app without using an
intent? What are other possibilities or possible scenarious of updating an app
without using intent? Implement a very short and simple app which will try to
update itself without using an intent. In which situation does a good app
update itself in this possible scenario?
Freelancer 8931083
Nov 2015 USA
$30

Multi-choice Questions
Accounting Homework
There are 4 multiple choice question on my
accounting lab. I will give the details
Freelancer 9114582
Dec 2015 USA $39

Skype or Facebook to help me
Mathematics Exam
You should have whats App or skype or facebook to help me
Integration
Calculus
Infinity
Here is final exam past papers
Freelancer 6010360
May 2014 Malaysia
$23

Take-home Exam
Final exam
Economic Development
Fall Semester 2015
This is a take home exam. Your work should be your own.
Do NOT consult members of the class in writing your
exam. Please include a cover page with the following
information: Final Exam, Fall Semester 2015, course
number (EC 4600), and your name. Number the pages
and staple them together in chronological order.
Freelancer 9060406
Dec 2015 USA $50

Open-book Exam
This is an open book exam therefore there is no word limit,
it will consist of 2 questions Financial & Non-Financial
Analysis of Annual Report of Tallow Oil of year ended 2012.
In Financial Analysis we need to calculate ratios e.g
Performance Ratios, Investment Ratios, Financing Ratios
and Liquidity Ratios and do an analysis how each Ratio is
effecting the company's performance and if there is
anything important mentioned in the balance sheet ( max
1000 words)
Freelancer 9060406
Aug 2014 UK
$50

On-line Exam
ASCI 309 Aerodynamics: Final Exam
All questions have equal weight
Show ALL work for partial credit consideration
Include UNITS
Enter answers and show work in space provided
Show any additional work in the extra space provided
Save Your Completed Exam Answer Sheet Using the File
Format “lastname_FE”
Submit Using the Assignment Upload Tool in Blackboard
Freelancer 6566633
Oct 2014 USA $61

Test for a Job Entry
Numerical Reasoning Test for a Job Entry
These numerical reasoning tests contain questions that test your
knowledge of Ratios, Percentage Increase/Decrease, Cost and
Sales Analysis, Rates and Trends, and Currency Conversions.
Use a calculator. The tests are not negatively marked but
accuracy is essential so try not to rush or guess. Practice makes
perfect.
Freelancer 8880460
Nov 2015 UK
$45

Online Exam
Exam on operation management
Here are the log-in instructions:
1.) go to www.mymanagementlab.com
2.) the username is: Anberlin10
the password is: Password28
3.)Click on the link that says "Operations Management" on the left side of the screen.
4.)From there, you can click "assignments" and then "take a test"
I am looking to have weeks 1,2,3,4,5 exams being completed. Like I said in the initial post, if
these work out I may be interested in paying additional to have some quizzes completed.
The exams that you will be taking are NOT on a time limit, and you can take them as many times
as you wish. I am only requesting an 80% or above. Anything above 80% would be greatly
appreciated. Please message me if you still have questions. Thank you for taking on this project.
U only need to do five exams
Freelancer 1326059
Dec 2011 Bangladesh $50
Pearson
Education

Trends To Avoid
Exams taken home, or taken in an unsupervised
manner
Exams taken on computers with external
communicated available
Student self-invigilation
Using a previous exam as a coursework
Reusing exam questions

Other Exam Challenges

Online Classes? You’re Covered!
Services will take entire online classes and MOOCS for students

Access To Exam Archives
Should the availability of these services really represent a
problem?
I'm the academic chairman of my fraternity, and
I'm looking to start a test bank for our chapter. The
only issue is, I'm not sure how to run it. Should I
do it in paper, or online, available to everyone, or
to a select few people, etc. If anyone can tell me
how they run theirs that'd be much appreciated!
https://www.reddit.com/r/GreekLife/comments/2hiz1p/how_is_your_organiations_te
st_bank_run

Technology
24kupi Invisible Watch
Smart watch screen appears blank unless special glasses are worn
Screenshot grabbed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYxGHChOh8I

Popular “Exam Help” In India
Underwear with built-in mobile technology
Miniature earpiece hidden inside ear
Skin coloured bean shape microphone
http://www.earsort.in/bluetooth-underwear-earpiece.html

Gumtree Australia
Classified advert from June 2015
Reported in An Approach to Minimising Academic
Misconduct and Plagiarism at the University of
Sydney

Selected Recommendations
Ensure that students understand the benefits of
completing their own work and exams (there are future
exams in industrial/employability settings)
All exams should be closely invigilated, with student
identities confirmed
Technology, including phones and watches, removed from
use during examination. Mobile signals block
Consider individualised exam papers to prevent copying
More exams taken on computers, screen monitored

The Future?
Drones flown over Chinese test centres during
university entrance exams to detect radio signals
http://time.com/3914087/china-drones-cheating-exams

Further Resources

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.

For More Information
General Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_cheating
http://contractcheating.com
Contract Cheating Special Interest Group (supported by the Higher
Education Academy):
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-
bin/webadmin?A0=CONTRACTCHEATING
Slides Available At:
http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster

Our 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
Robert Clarke
Email: robert.clarke@bcu.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-clarke-96712a16

Contract Cheating and Academic Misconduct in Examinations and Tests - HEA STEM Conference 2016

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