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Dozens of Deakin students nabbed, amid crackdown on contract cheating

Universities are injecting resources into a crackdown on contract cheating, with a rise in dodgy companies using sinister tactics to lure students to pay big bucks for assignments.

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UNIVERSITIES are injecting resources into a crackdown on contract cheating, with a rise in dodgy companies using sinister tactics to lure students to pay big bucks for assignments.

In 2020, 58 Deakin students were found to have contract cheated, with penalties ranging from exclusion (permanent or temporary) in 11 instances, to the student receiving zero marks for their unit or assessment task, and with more cases still to be assessed.

Deakin University centre for research in assessment and digital learning Professor Phillip Dawson said sinister blackmailing tactics used by contract cheating companies could cost students their degrees.

“Research out of Curtin University shows students can be blackmailed by these sites. You think you’ve passed your task and everything’s OK … but then the cheating site comes to you for money and threatens to tell your university,” Prof Dawson said.

In a recent study conducted by Curtin University, almost 90 per cent of students claimed not to have been aware of the risk of blackmail.

The research also provided examples of contract cheating services threatening students by saying: “We’ll let your university know that you didn’t do those assignments, and they’ll take your qualification away, so pay us more money.”

Prof Dawson said Deakin’s researchers had bought assignments from contract cheating websites, with markers spotting examples of cheating 60 per cent of the time.

“We’ve been able to train them to spot it about 80 per cent of the time, which makes it an incredibly risky thing to do.

“We’ve also looked at if these assignments pass when we give them to markers and most of the time they don’t pass, it’s not good quality work that you’re buying.”

A report by the nation’s universities watchdog also found that contract cheating was a persistent problem.

“Contract cheating services are becoming increasingly sophisticated and adept at ­embedding themselves in a provider’s operating and learning management systems,” a compliance report by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency said.

The agency can now apply for a court injunction to try to shut down academic cheating websites.

Liz Johnson, Deakin’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Education, said the university was investing in new and innovative ways of monitoring and detecting contract cheating.

“We actively investigate reports of potential breaches and work closely with students and student groups to support and promote academic integrity, including through compulsory modules all students must complete,” she said.

Originally published as Dozens of Deakin students nabbed, amid crackdown on contract cheating

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/geelong/dozens-of-deakin-students-nabbed-amid-crackdown-on-contract-cheating/news-story/5fb8606a96f9e22c637a5decf194ea9a