UK varsities to block Indian sites offering ‘Contract Cheating’
CONTRACT CHEATING HAPPENS WHEN A THIRD PARTY COMPLETES
ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDENTS WHO THEN SUBMIT IT TO AN EDUCATION PROVIDER AS THEIR
OWN
LONDON:
Over 100 websites and internet forums offering assignments to university
students in Britain for a fee — many based in India — are to be blocked on
campus computers and WiFi systems to prevent “contract cheating” — selling
assignments for a fee.
Academics
told Hindustan Times that thousands of students at British universities have
been using Indian expertise in IT as part of “contract cheating”, whereby
course assignments are contracted online for a fee, endangering the quality of
degrees awarded.
The
phenomenon – first reported in academic circles in 2008 by Thomas Lancaster and
Robert Clarke at Birmingham City University – has become more sophisticated
over the years, making it difficult to detect through usual plagiarism
detection software.
“Contract
cheating” happens when a third party completes work for a student who then
submits it to an education provider as their own, where such input is not
permitted.
A
student contracts the third party to provide the assessment, usually a company
or individual using a website to promote themselves.
Such
companies have become known as “essay mills”, even though they supply more than
just essays, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), an independent body tasked
with safeguarding standards and improving the quality of higher education,
said.
New
guidance to be published on Monday by the QAA says the “advertising activity of
essay mills has increased in recent years”.
Lancaster,
now at Staffordshire University, told HT: “We’ve observed a lot of people from
India bidding to complete academic work for students.”
“They
make offers that are very appealing to students from the UK, they’ll do the
assignment for what is a low price for a UK student, but a good living wage for
the worker in India,” he added.
Source | Hindustan Times | 9th October 2017
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @ Knowledge
Repository
Khaitan & Co
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