Students cheating in assessment tasks is a global issue of increasing concern (Lancaster & Clarke, 2016). In one form, contract cheating, students outsource their assignments/exams to someone else to complete, then submit the work as their own. In the Australian context, contract cheating has been the topic of media outrage and regulator investigations (TEQSA, 2015), and has led to students being expelled from university (Jacks, 2016) and degrees being revoked from students.
The issue centres around ethics, and the fact that students who buy bespoke assignments from third party providers or have third parties complete assignments for them and submit this product as their own, destabilise the primary aims of learning critical skills in a particular discipline. It also disguises the extent to which students have attained (or not attained) the graduate skills and competencies confirmed by the university degree awarded, which is of critical importance for future employment. This presentation discusses various forms of cheating, research as to why students cheat and specifically whether contract cheating can be detected at the point of marking or deterred.