Abstract
Contract cheating happens when students commission someone else to do assessed work for them. While it is already illegal in 18 jurisdictions, others are considering making the provision of contract cheating services illegal. To date, legal approaches to addressing contract cheating have faced little scrutiny in the peer reviewed literature. This article outlines some challenges with the legal approach to combating contract cheating. To this end it examines a segment of the contract cheating market to determine if contractors operate in localities where contract cheating services have been made illegal. The results suggest that contractors operate in plain sight, offering services to and from localities where services are prohibited by law. On the basis of the current challenges with enforcement of legal rules, this article recommends some alternative strategies for addressing contract cheating.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Alexander Amigud
Alexander Amigud is a senior researcher at the Center for the Study of Social Processes. His research interests include: educational governance, ethical issues in technology, and academic integrity.
Phillip Dawson
Phillip Dawson is an associate professor and the Associate Director of the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University. His research interests include assessment, feedback and academic integrity.