Survey: 37% of Students Say Their Schools Didn't Try to Stop Cheating
Plus, a West Virginia columnist goes off on cheating. Plus, Chegg is giving away money too.
Issue 141
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New Survey: 37% of U.K. College Students Say Their Schools Took “No Measures to Stop Cheating”
Our friends at Alpha Academic Appeals (AAA) in England have released a new survey of college students, published in WonkHE - which is really quite good, by the way.
AAA is a law firm that represents students accused of academic misconduct and its lead barrister, Daniel Sokol, has been quite vocal on the subject of academic integrity - see Issue 16 or Issue 135. The survey covered 900 students and took place in June and July of this year.
Much of it confirms what we’ve seen already - that cheating is a problem:
16% of respondents admitted to cheating in online assessments this academic year
That’s focused on online assessments, which we know to have higher rates of misconduct. But it’s also limited to “this academic year.” And since we also know that self-reported misconduct tends to under-count it, we should probably think of the 16% as being at least 16%. And finally, that is still roughly one in six who admit to cheating.
I’ll share these two stats together:
52% of respondents knew people who had cheated in online assessments this academic year.
79% of respondents believed it was easier to cheat online than in exam halls (707/900), with 42% saying that they would be less likely to cheat in an exam hall (378/900).
Since researchers and journalists are increasingly using the “personally know” or “have seen” cheating as a stand in for the real number - and it may be - the 52% finding feels highly problematic.
The 79% - we’ve seen that before. Repeatedly.
But the stat that jumped off the page from the survey was:
37% of respondents reported that their university took no measures to stop cheating in online assessments (334/900).
It’s possible that the students simply do not know what their schools are doing or, not doing, to stop misconduct. But if it’s true that more than one in three students encountered “no measures to stop cheating in online assessments,” that’s a legitimate scandal. Or at least it should be.
More Evidence of Essay Mills and Contract Cheaters Extorting Students
The dangers of cheating extend beyond dishonesty and meaningless credentials as cheating providers continue to threaten and extort students who use their services.
It’s real. In Issue 48, I reported on a student at a PAC-10 school who was extorted by an essay writer, including some of their e-mail exchanges.
And a few days ago, The Times (U.K.) reported on the problem with the headline and subhead:
Scottish students blackmailed after buying essays
Strangers paid to write coursework demand money for silence
I apologize for not being able to share more from that article but it requires a subscription. I tried to subscribe but The Times, it seems, does not like my credit cards. So, what I know is limited.
Here is this though:
A new study by the Scottish Centre for Crime & Justice Research discovered that cheating students who resort to paying third parties to produce essays and dissertations on their behalf are in turn facing cash demands from the agents as the price for keeping silent.
West Virginia Columnist: “Academic Cheating is on the rise in American schools”
John Blankenship, a columnist at a local paper in West Virginia, wrote a column recently on academic cheating.
He stuffed the article full of stats about academic misconduct. It’s a column, so he did not provide links or footnotes. And I have not taken the time to search for his points to be able to provide sources or context. At the same time, I don’t know why the author would misrepresent them and, for that matter, none of them seem manifestly out of place to me.
So, knowing that I am essentially repeating some stuff I found on the Internet, here are few of the points and statistics raised by Blankenship:
Did you know that 7 out of 10 high school students have cheated at least once in the past year? Did you know that 50 percent of those students have cheated more than twice?
I feel like I kind did know that, generally. But it’s important information to share.
Blankenship continues:
Ten percent of Harvard’s incoming first-year class recently admitted to cheating on exams prior to heading to the Ivy League Institution, and another 42 percent admitted to cheating on a homework assignment or problem set, the university’s newspaper, The Crimson, reported recently.
Not sure I did know that. But I am not surprised.
He goes on:
A recent survey found that one-third of all students admitted to cheating on an examination, one-half admitted cheating on a class assignment, two-thirds admitted to cheating at least once during their college career, and two-thirds have seen classmates cheat on exams or assignments.
Yes. But tell me more.
And he does:
While about 20 percent of college students admitted to cheating in high school during the 1940’s, today between 75 and 98 percent of college students surveyed each year report having cheated in high school.
And:
In most cases cheaters do not get caught. If caught, they seldom are punished severely, if at all.
I see you Mr. John Blankenship of West Virginia. I really do.
Chegg.org Giving Away Money Too
In the last Issue, we covered Course Hero giving away $100,000 in “grants” to teachers.
But Course Hero is not the only cheating enabler giving away cash. Chegg.org - the “impact, advocacy, and research arm of Chegg” - is giving away $100,000 in a “Global Student Prize.” They just announced the 50 finalists in a slick video:
I know what you’re thinking - Chegg has a research arm?
It does. And it makes me wonder - why would they bother doing actual research when they can just Chegg it?
Anyway, I mention the giveaway to showcase again that those who sell illicit academic products and services are eager to clean their images. They are out there, every day, spending money to appear to be the good guys.