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Contract Cheating: Why should I be concerned?

Contract cheating (also known as ghostwriting) happens when someone else writes the paper on behalf of the student, and the student submits the same in his/her name. 

This can be a personal favor where a parent, sibling, friend or a relative writes the paper (a very well known scenario) or in some cases, it is written for a fee by certain organizations, typically known as essay mills. These organizations have been deemed illegal in several countries like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The term “contract cheating” while being quite “well known” globally, may not be very familiar in the education sector in India. 

So how much should we be concerned about this “menace”? A lot, actually, as contract cheating defeats the very purpose of learning. This concern does not have to do with the grades that students will secure (which is irrelevant when someone else is writing the paper anyway!) or with the original thinking or writing (because it can be original writing but certainly not from the student who is submitting it in his/her name). 

For this reason, contract cheating undermines the very objective of learning. And it can have some very serious and far-reaching implications particularly when these students take up a job that will need them to apply this “learning”. 

Imagine being treated by a doctor who had his papers written by someone else to pass the examination that qualified him to practice medicine? Or would you want to be on an airplane where the pilot gained his qualification through academic misconduct? Even for the students, it can severely impact their personal and professional lives as there have been several (known) instances where students engaging with essay mills have been blackmailed going forward.

Take a look at some real cases:

These are a couple of instances where contract cheating has been reported and this is equally prevalent in the South Asian countries as well. The “business of contract cheating” operates like a service industry and an easy access to the internet enables this practice to grow bigger and reach wider. 

Now that we have some context about contract cheating, let’s take a step back and understand the “why” behind this. The reasons why someone would engage in contract cheating is essentially systemic which stems from the very high costs of higher education to a student not being ready for higher education itself. For students coming from secondary curricula that focus on rote learning and not so much on original thinking, it may be a big challenge to adapt to the requirements/expectations from higher education institutions. And the fact that education is now more accessible to all learners (which includes those coming from under-priviledged backgrounds and mid-career switches), there is often a desperation for students to complete their course that may lead them to indulge in academic dishonesty.

While the systemic causes are much broader (and beyond our control), educators can play a very big role in making a difference. To start with, taking a punitive approach may not help. It is important to understand the “real” issue behind students’ “fear” towards education and try to ease the same. Imparting learning in a formative environment will enable students to better understand their opportunities for improvement so they can work towards resolving them effectively. 

The formative cycles where students have the opportunity to draft-receive feedback-revise can help develop the “growth mindset” in students. This is also in line with Dr.Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindset where she has mentioned “When students believe they can get smarter, they understand that effort makes them stronger. Therefore they put in extra time and effort, and that leads to higher achievement.” This approach can help strengthen (in students) the essential skills like paraphrasing, providing citations,etc (lack of which often leads to inadvertent plagiarism) towards achieving the goals of academic integrity and excellence.

It is critical to reinforce the value of academic honesty at every level of education and also equip students to learn with integrity. Some of the pointers could be:

  • Enable them to think and write original from the beginning (school onwards)

  • Enable them to work in groups and give credit to all contributors

  • Acknowledge that all students (in the same class and subject) may not be learning at the same pace and assess accordingly

  • Set clear expectations (and repeat at regular intervals) on the expectations from students (at the broader level of learning and even at the assessment levels by sharing the rubrics with them beforehand)

  • Guide them to take decisions and make the right choices that will enable them to pursue a learning path they will enjoy

  • Give students access to tools/technology to check for similarity as otherwise they are likely to resort to unfair means to access the same (which often leads to bigger trouble!)

  • Together, re-visit the joys of learning and ensure every student is at ease at the level they are learning

While we acknowledge that the issue of “contract cheating” may go beyond the realms of academic integrity only, we can certainly make a difference if the society, educators and students (across the globe) can make the concerted effort to curb this menace.

(ref: https://www.turnitin.com/blog/what-is-contract-cheating-why-does-it-matter)

2 replies

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    • sgurwe
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Very informative article. 

    • Chaitali_Sharma
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Very insightful and helps understand the root-cause of the issue

Content aside

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