What training should be put into place for teaching staff in our institutions? This presentation, delivered for the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), is aimed at people running staff development sessions and provides pointers for training areas to consider based on the QAA Contract Cheating Guidance.

1. Combatting Contract
Cheating: Training Staff
in Your Institution
Dr Thomas Lancaster
http://thomaslancaster.co.uk
Webinar presented for the Quality Assurance Agency
(QAA) on Thursday 29 October, 2020

2. Dr Thomas
Lancaster
Twitter - @DrLancaster @QAAtweets #contractcheating
• Published the first research
paper referring to contract
cheating in 2006 (with the late
Robert Clarke)
• Computer Scientist at Imperial
College London
• Academic integrity researcher
• Member of the QAA Academic
Integrity Advisory Group

3. Training The Trainers?
This session is inspired by the
“Training and information for
staff” section in the latest QAA
guidance
Enhanced by my experience as a
practitioner in this area, with
examples for consideration
included

4. https://www.slideshare.net/thomaslancaster
Feel free to use my seminars and research talks for
inspiration – or invite me to help

5. What To Teach

6. Staff Development
“Designing
assessments
to avoid
plagiarism”
“How to use
Turnitin”
“Teaching
students
about
academic
misconduct”

7. Missing Areas
Academic
Integrity
Contract
Cheating
There are many exceptions

8. Missing Areas
Academic
Integrity
Contract
Cheating
Embed this into all training

9. Missing Areas
Academic
Integrity
Contract
Cheating
Recommend designated training

10. What Should Staff Know (Basics)?
What is contract cheating?
Why does addressing contract cheating matter?
How do contract cheating services operate?
What are the internal and external drivers
behind contract cheating?
Why do students choose to cheat? Why do
students decide not to cheat?

11. What Should Staff Know (Practice)?
What should students be taught about contract
cheating?
How can assessments be designed to reduce the risk
of contract cheating – whilst still complying to
principles of good assessment design?
How can contract cheating be detected?

12. What Should Staff Know About (Local)?
What is happening in the local geographical area and in
the institution surrounding contract cheating?
How is contract cheating considered in the teaching and
learning strategy and in the academic regulations?
What is the institutional process if contract cheating is
suspected?
What is the institutional process for support if a student is
being blackmailed?
What support is available locally (for both staff
and students)?

13. Starting Point

14. Contract Cheating – Staff Experiences
Have never heard of
contract cheating
Have heard of
contract cheating, but
do not think this a
major problem
Proficient at addressing
contract cheating at
various levels (locally,
internationally,
disciplinary)
Beginner Expert
Target

15. A Shared Understanding
Getting staff to share their experiences
of contract cheating works well
This will happen whether you allow time for this
or not

16. Contract Cheating Basics
Contract Cheating – A third party
completes assessed work for a student
Various nuances surround whether work needs to be submitted or not or whether payment
has to be exchanged – refer to local policies and regulations
Our aim is to ensure that the correct
student is being fairly assessed against
work they have personally completed

17. The Contract Cheating Industry
The contract cheating industry is
aggressive and deceptive
If students cheat once and get away with it, this can become a
habit Why is this?
Some students and groups are especially vulnerable to
approaches by contract cheating companies

18. “Sophisticated” Customer
Development Methods

19. Contract Cheating Industry
“Bread And Butter”
• Unsupervised
written/mathematical/
statistical assessments
(particularly those at an
introductory level)
• Dissertations

20. Assessment Design

21. Compromise
Assessment to
promote
learning
Assessment to
ensure
integrity
Balanced, varied and engaging assessment holds the key

22. It is very hard to find a single
assessment method that is
immune to contract cheating
and academic misconduct

23. Assessment Ideas To Consider
(Not An Exhaustive List)
Promote deeper learning
Benefit future student employability
Assess what students can do (not what they can write about)
Allow for practical demonstrations of learning
Face-to-face where possible
Mix of controlled and uncontrolled assessments
Provide sufficient time for students to complete the work (so they
do not feel pressurised to engage a contract cheating provider)
Avoid overassessment

24. Assessment Types To Consider
(Not An Exhaustive List)
Oral presentations and vivas
Practical authentic assessments
Group and peer assessments
Narrated video assessments
Personalised and contextually specific assessments
Placements
Unseen exams (where appropriate and as part of a
balanced assessment diet)

25. Contract
Cheating
Detection

26. Identify The Signs Of Contract Cheating
Perfect layout and formatting
Superficial content
Old or modified references
Unusual information in document
properties
Knowledge local students would not
have
Fabricated data
… and many more such examples
Phill Dawson and Wendy Sutherland-Smith
recommend getting staff to review assignments
purchased from contract cheating services and to
construct a shared list of identifiers
Dawson, P. and Sutherland-Smith, W., 2019. Can training improve marker
accuracy at detecting contract cheating? A multi-disciplinary pre-post
study. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(5), pp.715-725.

27. Technology To Support Detection
Contract cheating detection technology is emerging and can be
useful, but staff still have to be trained how to use it
“What percentage
of plagiarism is
acceptable?”

28. Teaching Students

29. Classroom Activity Ideas
Get students to examine a sample essay and
assess its quality
Ask students to review a contract cheating service
website and see if the claims made hold up
Ask students to engage in a discussion about
integrity
Engage with events such as the International
Day of Action against Contract Cheating

30. Integrity – A Positive Emphasis
What To Do
What Not To Do
The main focus
• The benefits of completing work
• How to avoid the wrong type of support
Unavoidable, but not the focus
• The risks of engaging with contract
cheating services (exposure of personal
information, extortion, poor quality work)
• The consequences of proven misconduct

31. Developing Networks

32. Support And Resources
The QAA recommends that
institutions create a designated post
for academic integrity, leading
developments across the institution
and liaising with the sector
Dr Robin Crockett
University of Northampton

33. Continued Staff Development
Ensure that staff are kept up to date with academic regulations
surrounding assessment
Remind staff of their responsibility to uphold academic standards
and integrity
Encourage staff to actively look for contract cheating
Ensure that the policies to follow when contract cheating is
suspected are clear and widely known about

34. Troubleshooting

35. Typical Staff Comments
“I’ve been using
this type of
assessment for
years and never
found anyone
cheating”
“If we tell students
about contract
cheating, they’ll all
start doing it”
“I don’t have to
worry about
contract cheating. I
use Turnitin”
“I’ve been
suspicious about
student work
before, but no one
listens to me”

36. Final Remarks
Ignoring contract cheating is a risk – the
reputational damage to academic institutions can
be huge
Contract cheating staff development is still in its
infancy – the opportunity exists to shape the field
To move forward, sharing practice outside our own
universities will become essential

37. Connect With Me
My Email: thomas@thomaslancaster.co.uk
My Website: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk
My Blog: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog
My LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster
My Twitter: @DrLancaster
Slide Archive:
http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster