Contract cheating: a survey of Australian university students

Recent Australian media scandals suggest that university students are increasingly outsourcing their assessments to third parties – a behaviour known as ‘contract cheating’. This paper reports on findings from a large survey of students from eight Australian universities (n = 14,086) which sought to explore students’ experiences with and attitudes towards contract cheating, and the contextual factors that may influence this behaviour. A spectrum of seven outsourcing behaviours were investigated, and three significant variables were found to be associated with contract cheating: dissatisfaction with the teaching and learning environment, a perception that there are ‘lots of opportunities to cheat’, and speaking a Language Other than English (LOTE) at home. To minimise contract cheating, our evidence suggests that universities need to support the development of teaching and learning environments which nurture strong student–teacher relationships, reduce opportunities to cheat through curriculum and assessment design, and address the well-recognised language and learning needs of LOTE students.No Full Tex

Engaging students and faculty : examining and overcoming the barriers

Academic integrity breaches are a multifaceted and complex problem. Much of the literature on academic integrity in higher education has focused on students and their behaviors, with a view to understanding why and how often students commit transgressions. As more is learned about the prevalence of breaches and the associated contributing factors, educators have turned their concerns to other elements within academic integrity systems such as policies, processes, learning and teaching, and the roles and responsibilities of other members in the university academic integrity community. This chapter argues that stand-alone, ad hoc academic integrity interventions in higher education are unlikely to engender lasting and meaningful change at institutions. Structural and behavioral barriers to engagement in academic integrity faced by both students and faculty are addressed. A community-consultative model is presented, as a means of overcoming these barriers.28 page(s

From policy to practice - bridging the gap : a collection of talks presented at the 6APCEI

273 page(s

A Theory of change for student-led academic integrity

Breaches in academic integrity are a pervasive and enduring international concern to the overall quality of higher education. Despite students being the group most affected by academic integrity policies, organisational culture is such that students tend to be passive recipients of change initiatives, rather than the drivers. To deliver a paradigm change, a theory of change framework was designed, implemented and applied to explore the viability of a student-led academic integrity society. To achieve this, a national research project involving three stages of data collection (surveys, interviews and focus groups) was conducted to obtain the perspectives of students and student representatives. The key outcome of the project has been the recent launch of an academic integrity student society, a novel initiative outside the United States of America. The theory of change framework presented here seeks to offer guidance to other institutions contemplating the viability of student-led change to academic integrity and the establishment of academic integrity student societies, in particular.18 page(s

A systematic review and meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging measurement of structural volumes in posttraumatic stress disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition associated with mild to moderate cognitive impairment and with a prevalence rate of up to 22% in veterans. This systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis explore volumetric differences of three key structural brain regions (hippocampus, amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)), all of which have been implicated in dysfunction of both salience network (SN) and default mode network (DMN) in PTSD sufferers. A literature search was conducted in Embase, Medline, PubMed and PsycINFO in May 2013. Fifty-nine volumetric analyses from 44 articles were examined and included (36 hippocampus, 14 amygdala and nine ACC) with n=846 PTSD participants, n=520 healthy controls (HCs) and n=624 traumatised controls (TCs). Nine statistical tests were performed for each of the three regions of interest (ROIs), measuring volume differences in PTSD subjects, healthy and traumatised controls. Hippocampal volume was reduced in subjects with PTSD, with a greater reduction in the left hippocampus. A medium effect size reduction was found in bilateral amygdala volume when compared with findings in healthy controls; however, no significant differences in amygdala volume between PTSD subjects and trauma-exposed controls were found. Significant volume reductions were found bilaterally in the ACC. While often well matched with their respective control groups, the samples of PTSD subjects composed from the source studies used in the meta-analyses are limited in their homogeneity. The current findings of reduced hippocampal volume in subjects with PTSD are consistent with the existing literature. Amygdala volumes did not show significant reductions in PTSD subjects when compared with volumes in trauma-exposed controls—congruous with reported symptoms of hypervigilance and increased propensity in acquisition of conditioned fear memories—but a significant reduction was found in the combined left and right hemisphere volume analysis when compared with healthy controls. Bilateral volume reductions in the ACC may underpin the attentional deficits and inabilities to modulate emotions that are characteristically associated with PTSD patients.33 page(s

Academic integrity : bottom up

International studies show improved efficacy of top-down approaches to academic integrity when supplemented with appropriate student driven counterparts, such as honour councils. We surveyed 5538 students across four Australian higher education institutions to gauge their level of interest for a possible student society devoted to academic integrity, and learn how they would like it to function. Despite much student scepticism towards its feasibility, more than quarter of those surveyed expressed willingness to be involved in such a society, and provided their opinion on its possible roles and activities.18 page(s

Contract cheating and assessment design: Exploring the relationship

This paper reports on findings from a large Australian research project that explored the relationship between contract cheating and assessment design. Using survey responses from 14,086 students and 1147 educators at eight universities, a multivariate analysis examined the influence of a range of factors on the likelihood that different assessment types would prompt considerations of contract cheating in students. Perceptions of likelihood were highest among students who speak a language other than English at home. Perceptions of likelihood were also higher among students who reported there to be lots of opportunities to cheat, and amongst students who were dissatisfied with the teaching and learning environment. Perceptions of likelihood for certain assessment types were also higher in commerce and engineering than in any other discipline. Overall, four assessment types were perceived by students to be the least likely to be outsourced, however these are also the least likely to be set by educators. The analysis indicates that educators are more likely to use these assessment tasks when they report positively on organisational support for teaching and learning

Contract cheating: A survey of Australian university students

Recent Australian media scandals suggest that university students are increasingly outsourcing their assessments to third parties – a behaviour known as ‘contract cheating’. This paper reports on findings from a large survey of students from eight Australian universities (n = 14,086) which sought to explore students’ experiences with and attitudes towards contract cheating, and the contextual factors that may influence this behaviour. A spectrum of seven outsourcing behaviours were investigated, and three significant variables were found to be associated with contract cheating: dissatisfaction with the teaching and learning environment, a perception that there are ‘lots of opportunities to cheat’, and speaking a Language Other than English (LOTE) at home. To minimise contract cheating, our evidence suggests that universities need to support the development of teaching and learning environments which nurture strong student–teacher relationships, reduce opportunities to cheat through curriculum and assessment design, and address the well-recognised language and learning needs of LOTE students