U.K. Prepares to Drop Hammer on Contract Cheating

Plus, Iowa community college adds anti-plagiarism tools. Plus, press coverage of new cheating report.

Issue 114

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U.K. Seeking Big Sanctions Against Cheating Profiteers

The U.K. has finally approved legislation banning contract cheating and advertising cheating services in England and parts of Wales (see Issue 113).

And, according to news coverage, the government has already asked Internet providers to remove ads for cheating companies and is preparing an even more significant action - asking credit card companies to block payments to cheating providers.

From The Times ($) regarding the credit card requests:

The government will tell Mastercard and Visa to stop taking payments for essay-cheat websites, which were criminalised yesterday to protect degree standards.

The article says PayPal has already agreed to block payments.

And from Times Higher Ed on the request to drop ads:

The Westminster government has written to internet search providers asking them to remove advertising for essay mills after legislation making contract cheating illegal became law.

The request letter is here. And it says, in part:

We are aware that high numbers of essay mills have used your platform to promote their services to students in the past, paying for advertising to promote their companies. Essay mills are now illegal entities, and you should not carry their advertising. It is no longer a moral question; you will be facilitating an illegal activity. I ask you to do everything in your power to prevent the advertising these unscrupulous practices.

So, two things.

One, this is nothing short of spectacular.

If successful, blocking payments and ads - especially “search” listings - will really cripple the ability of cheating companies to do their bad business there. As we’ve seen repeatedly, these cheating sellers spend millions to reach students with confusing and often outright false ads claiming that buying academic work is not cheating, that being a student is stressful, that shortcuts are the new way of doing things.

Two, this is well short of spectacular.

For reasons I don’t understand, even though the new law makes it illegal to “provide, arrange or advertise…cheating services for financial gain to students,” the government’s requests seem only selectively targeted at essay providers. That’s just one part of “cheating services.”

It’s a mystery why U.K. leaders, armed with ambition under this new ban, appear to be doing just half the job. Hammering essay mills is good but if cheating companies such as Chegg and Course Hero and Quizlet can continue to sell answers and written work for profit, all you’ve really done is ban their competitors.

Seems very, very odd to me.

Iowa Community College Adds Anti-Plagiarism Software, U.K. Educator to Keep Proctoring Company

Two little news blurbs to share about education institutions adding or keeping anti-cheating tools.

The Times-Citizen reports ($) that Ellsworth Community College (Iowa) has signed a deal with Copyleaks for its plagiarism detection software. The reported price tag is $4,000 a year.

I infer, based on this reporting, that Ellsworth was not using a plagiarism detection system previously, which is pretty shocking.

Meanwhile, the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) (U.K.) announced it will keep its exam proctoring service, Proctorio, calling it a “huge success.”

Interestingly, the NCTJ announcement says their most recent round of exams, which were proctored, featured about a 10% drop in passing grades. The NCTJ was not concerned, saying:

figures indicate that pass rates have “simply reverted to pre-pandemic standards”

So you’re saying that when you proctor online exams the grades drop and revert to pre-pandemic levels? Interesting.

Kansas Police May Add Academic Cheating to Definition of Unprofessional Conduct

News in Kansas is that the board responsible for certifying police officers is asking for changes in some definitions, making it easier, they say, to sanction or not hire some candidates.

Among the requested changes is:

Academic misconduct during basic training, including cheating on tests and plagiarism, would also be added to the definition [of unprofessional conduct]

Only during basic training? Seems as though cheating on exams would be unprofessional conduct, no matter where or when it occurred.

Press Covers ProctorU’s New Data

Last week, remote exam proctoring company ProctorU released new data on the rates of misconduct they observed in 2021 (see Issue 112).

The report has picked up some deserved press attention. Here are a few of the stories:

• Times Higher Ed, which continues to do outstanding coverage of academic integrity, headlined: “Levels of cheating in online exams soaring, say invigilators” Inside Higher Ed, reprinted the THE story.

• University Business, ran “How cheating on online exams may be eroding higher ed’s future credibility”

• The best coverage is probably in The Epoch Times, which headlined, “Academic Cheating Surged 13-Fold During Pandemic, Study Shows”

More Examples of Cheating in India

Two quick cheating items out of India.

• This Times of India story says 300 examinees have been busted trying to cheat and includes some examples, with photos, of cheating attempts such as nail art and fake tattoos.

• This Tribune India story says seven examinees have been arrested for trying to cheat an exam at MLSM College at Sundernagar. Yes, arrested.