A recent study by the Atlantic (2016) [1] stated that “cheating is omnipresent in American higher education”. The International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) reports that about 68 percent of undergraduate students surveyed admit to cheating on tests or in written work. While similar studies have not been conducted in Ireland, anecdotal evidence would indicate that Irish colleges are not immune from similar cheating incidents. An Irish Times report (May, 2016) [2] reported that there have been about 1,000 cases of students in Ireland being disciplined for plagiarism since 2010 which is less than 0.1% of the third level student population. It goes on to state that ‘the real number is likely to be significantly higher given that several universities - UCD, UCC, Maynooth University and the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown – did not provide figures.’
Academic tools such as Turnitin or Urkund are examples of technological solutions used to identify plagiarism primarily for written essay type reports. However, a simple Google search identifies a myriad of ways to ‘defeat’ Turnitin. In Mar 2017, it was reported that the Department of Education is planning to introduce laws in Ireland to prosecute “essay mill” companies who offer to write students’ assignments in exchange for money. [3]
This presentation will review the various online tools and resources that students can use to assist them with their college courses. This can range from maths apps to paying someone to take your complete degree course. It will also identify strategies to identify and prevent students cheating when taking assignments or quizzes.
Even without online proctoring or other more advanced technological solutions, the research indicates that a significant deterrent to any form of cheating (on-campus or online) is the Institute / University having a clear student academic integrity policy, penalties, and enforcement which all students are made aware of.
"It conveys a message of respect to the majority of students who follow appropriate scholarly practices as well as penalizing those students who don’t." [4].
[1] Atlantic, 20th Apr, 2016. How to Stop Cheating in College. https://www.theatlantic.com/ed...
[2] Irish Times, 17th May, 2016. Essays for sale: a new wave of plagiarism http://www.irishtimes.com/news...
[3] Irish Times, 12th Mar, 2017. Plan to prosecute firms who offer paid-for essays to students http://www.irishtimes.com/news...
[4] Academic Integrity, An Instructor’s Guide, Carleton University, Canada. https://carleton.ca/studentaff...
Topics: Global challenges in Higher & Further Education , Topics: TEL Policy & Strategy
