August Members Lunch Box - Contract Cheating: Issues for Australian private providers of higher education

Lunch and learn! Join us for our 'Members Lunch Box - bite sized PD' monthly webinar series, where we will feature a timely topic presented by an expert from the VET sector. These are exclusive sessions open to Velg Training Members, including Individual, Corporate and Sibling Account holders. To view this webinar, scroll down to the Events Resources section.

Webinar recorded on 14 August 2017: Contract Cheating: Issues for Australian private  providers of higher education

Presented by: Tracey Bretag

Numerous cheating scandals have plagued Australian higher education in recent times, and it has become apparent that there is a potentially large and unaddressed problem with students using online essay mills, cheat sites, file sharing sites and ghost writers to complete their assessments. Despite the best efforts of educators to create personalized, sequential, ‘real-world’ assignments, the type of assessment item seems not to prevent it from being able to be outsourced. Like any commodity, assignments can be bought and sold for a price, and even within extreme timelines of hours rather than days. It is time to acknowledge that it is possible, and indeed it is increasingly common, for almost any sort of academic assignment to be contracted out to a paid third party. Reporting on findings from an Australian Office for Learning and Teaching project (Bretag & Harper et al 2017), which included surveys of staff and students from four Non-University Providers of Higher Education (NUHEPs) this presentation challenges the notion that ‘authentic’ assessment is a panacea to current concerns about contract cheating. Instead, assessment design will be presented as one critical component of a many-faceted and holistic approach which requires commitment from all educational stakeholders, to foster a culture of academic integrity.

For more information and resources from the Contract Cheating and Assessment Design Project, go to www.cheatingandassessment.edu.au/resources

This presentation builds on a number of previous conference presentations at ACPET 2016, HERDSA 2017, Universities Australia 2017, and the Contract Cheating and Assessment Symposium (13 April 2017).

What was covered in the webinar:

• The prevalence of contract cheating in higher education
• Issues relevant to non-University Higher Education Providers
• Recommendations for good practice in teaching and learning

Presenters

No Presenters