CBS News Reports on Contract Cheating in Africa

Plus, it's students who take advantage of essay mills. Plus, teachers cheat too.

Issue 43

CBS Goes to Kenya to Cover Essay Mills

CBS News and CBS News This Morning ran a national segment (YouTube link) on American students using essay services in Africa.

Like the coverage by NBC in March - see Issue 15 - the big news is the big news, not the topic. While a national TV audience for cheating is a big deal, if you pay attention to academic integrity, even casually, American students hiring essay writers in Africa isn’t news at all. For example, CBS said:

A CBS News investigation found an industry in Kenya that thrives on American students who pay to cheat.

Still, for the visibility, CBS got an entire premise wrong. They report that:

The Kenyans advertise their services on reputable websites with hip names like ‘ace my homework’ and ‘essay Jedi.’ These are legitimate platforms offering academic assistance like tutoring but some students use them to pay writers who will do anything for them from an urgent essay to an entire college degree.

CBS thinking sites such as “ace my homework” are legitimate sites offering actual tutoring is laughable. I mean, seriously. Like all the best cheating companies, they just call it tutoring. Students are not abusing these services, fraud and cheating are their designed and exclusive purpose.

The report interviews two paid writers who show off their ability to access student courses and do their online assignments, using online course credentials. One school is clearly Florida International University. Another certainty looks like it’s Mercy College in NY.

CBS did interview David Rettinger of Mary Washington University, and an established source on academic integrity, who said,

I think the state of cheating at colleges and universities is serious and getting more serious.

I think he’s right.

Teachers Cheat Too

A teacher in Manchester (UK) was caught fixing math answers for fifth graders. Yet, according to “a decision maker,” the instructor will not be barred from teaching in the future.

She said: ”A prohibition order would also clearly deprive the public of his contribution to the profession for the period that it is in force.

Meanwhile, in Florida, the Lake City Reporter has a story of a “cheating scandal” in which an assistant principal reportedly changed student grades and broke test security measures. That story is behind a paywall and I did not want to subscribe the Lake City newspaper to read it.

But apparently it happened.

It’s the Students Who Take Advantage of Paid Essay Writers

A newspaper in Wales has an odd story about paid essay writers. The details aren’t groundbreaking - students are paying people to write papers for them and increasingly so during the pandemic.

I’m sharing it because of this bit:

Students engage in essay mills where they can download pre-made academic papers or have them write it on their behalf and then present it as their own, for a fee. However, [the founder of an essay service] emphasized that ‘legitimate essay writing services must not be confused with essay mills, since these agencies exist solely as a source of model papers and students themselves must decide what to do with them once the paper has been turned over to them.’

Still, the issue remains. Because while essay writing services stick to their terms of service and codes of conduct, the problem often lies with students who take advantage of these services for varying reasons.

Sure. Paid essay writers are beacons of ethics and students are misusing websites such as “Ihatewritingessays.com”

In the next “The Cheat Sheet” - we look once again at those who joined the speaking program of academic fraud provider Course Hero. Plus, I may finally get to that series on assessment in Times Higher Ed. Plus, we will see if FIU has any comment about that CBS News report.

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