Assessing Contract Cheating Through Auction Sites

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Assessing Contract Cheating Through Auction Sites
A Computing Perspective Thomas Lancaster1,
Robert Clarke2
The Higher Education Academy Information and
Computer Sciences Eighth Annual Conference,
August 28-30, 2007, Southampton, UK

• 1Department of Computing, University of Central
  England in Birmingham, United Kingdom,thomas.lanc
  aster_at_uce.ac.uk
• 2 Department of Computing, University of Central
  England in Birmingham, United Kingdom,robert.clar
  ke_at_uce.ac.uk

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What is contract cheating?

• Students have original work produced for them to
  submit for academic credit.
• Focusing on the use of auction sites (such as
  RentACoder) to solicit Computing solutions.
• Previous studies (e.g. Jenkins and Helmore 2006)
  have shown this outsourcing to be cheap and
  effective.

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Contract cheating exampleHelp! Ive got stuck
DescriptionOK...I'm not a software engineer nor
do I plan to be one (I'm sure glad there are
those of you that are good at it - I am not). I'm
a network/communications design engineer who
needs one more C class before graduation. Can
you help with a homework project? More projects
to follow...(8 total), quick turnaround.Here
is the info from the textbook projectWrite a
program that compares the efficiency of the
bubble and selection sorts. Model the program to
compare the efficiency of the sequential and
binary searches. Declare two arrays int
arr150000, arr250000Fill each array with
the same set of random number in the range from 0
to 999999, and time the execution of the
algorithms. Fill each array with the sequence
1,2,3...50000, and time the algorithms. Then fill
the arrays with the sequence 50,000,
49,999,...2,1 and time the algorithms. Do your
results correspond the Big-O running time?
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The auction process in detail
1. Student posts assignment details onto auction
site as bid request
Coders
20
2. Coders make bids to do the work
50
Student
Auction Site
50
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The auction process in detail
1. Student posts assignment details onto auction
site as bid request
Coders
20
2. Coders make bids to do the work
3. Student selects bid Payment is escrowed
50
Student
4. Selected Coder does assignment
Auction Site
50
5. Student receives solution Payment is released
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The auction process in detail
1. Student posts assignment details onto auction
site
Coders
20
2. Coders make bids to do the work
3. Student selects bid Payment is escrowed
50
Student
4. Selected Coder does assignment
Auction Site
50
5. Student receives solution Payment is released
Student submits original work this will not be
detected using regular anti-plagiarism measures.
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Enhanced Culwin and Lancaster Four-Stage
Plagiarism Detection Process
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Enhanced Culwin and Lancaster Four-Stage
Plagiarism Detection Process
Automated Stage
Stage Requires Human Interpretation
All stages managed by module tutor
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The Clarke and Lancaster Six-Stage Contract
Cheating Detection Process
New Role Detective
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The Clarke and Lancaster Six-Stage Contract
Cheating Detection Process
Tutor publishes assignment specification onto a
central database
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The Clarke and Lancaster Six-Stage Contract
Cheating Detection Process
Detective collects bid requests from auction
sites and identifies possible cheating cases
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The Clarke and Lancaster Six-Stage Contract
Cheating Detection Process
Comparing the bid with assignments database
allows its origin to be attributed and the tutor
to be notified
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The study

• 910 identifiable RentACoder bid requests for
  Computing assignments were collected between
  March 2004 and December 2006 under the
  detective role.
• 50.8 (462 out of 910) were from users in the
  USA.
• 25.4 (231 out of 910) were from users in the UK.

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Extent of use

• 598 unique users were identified.
• Most 50.7 (303 out of 598) had previously made
  between 1 and 3 bid requests.
• Some 2.2 (13 out of 598) had made 60 or more bid
  requests.
• Essentially RentACoder contract cheating consists
  of new users, habitual users and agencies.

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Types of assignment requested

• Internationally these are mainly programming
• 20.3 (185 out of 910) requiring C/C
• 19.8 (180 out of 910) requiring Java
• 19.8 (180 out of 910) other programming
• Within the UK
• 28.9 (52 out of 180) requiring Java
• Other notable groups for database implementation
  and major projects

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Dealing with contract cheating

• A range of approaches are necessary-
• Do not re-use assignments
• Too easy for students to copy from a previous
  year
• Common assignments appear on essay mill sites
• Individualise assignments
• Harder for students to collude,
• Easier to identify which student posted the
  assignment
• Vivas and tests to contribute to marks
• Makes outsourcing a less easy option to pass a
  module
• Provides evidence for non-originality
• Monitor known sites
• And tell students that you are doing so
• Look for trends in the characteristics of
  contract cheating
• Change academic regulations
• Existing regulations only recognise plagiarism
  and collusion
• Types of evidence needed in contract cheating
  cases is different

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Contract cheating is developingPlanning to cheat
in advance
Description DETAILS OF THIS PROJECT ARE
ATTACHED. THIS PROJECT IS TO BE DONE IN SIMPLE
STAGES.Project Write a GPA (Grade Point
Average) calculator in C that will run on the
campus UNIX system. Part 1 Write a technical
(design) document that describes the project as
you understand it. Part 1 is due on September 23
at the beginning of class.Part 2 Revise your
technical document that you turned in to include
the information received during the class on
September 23.Part 3 Documentation within the
program is an essential part of any program.
Write, document, debug and test your program
based on the design you describe in your
technical write-up. The full source of your
program is to be included in your paper as an
appendix. Part 4 Data testing is necessary to
ensure that the program works as designed.
Programs should be carefully tested using typical
and extreme data. Include as the second appendix
to your technical write-up session scripts of
tested programs, and numerical computations
obtained using other means that verify the
correctness. The final project is due September
28 .
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Contract cheating is developingPlanning to
circumvent anti-cheating measures

• VB.net HelpRentacoder Bid Request Id 456292
• I need help with VB.net i will be having a online
  quizz quizz its not a programming or something
  like thatit will be multiple choice questions
  and this online quiz will be 50 MINs and it i
  will start at 9.30 PM please check the time at
  http//www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_US-
  TX.aspx so i will chat from MSN and i will ask
  question with the multiple choice and you answer
  the questionsthe topics will be ( but there
  will be no programming questions like do the
  program or something like that all will be
  multiple choice questions) if you are know about
  all this topic please bid with confident

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Contract Cheating - conclusion

• We are in a technological arms race with
  students who want to cheat.
• We must endeavour to persevere.