Grappling with online cheating

SINGAPORE: The introduction of project work in schools and the mushrooming of more cheat sites raises the question: Will online cheating spread to secondary and primary schools?

The emergence of websites which encourage students to cheat by passing off downloaded work as their own means an extra problem for teachers setting project work.

Project work is set to play a greater part in student assessment here, so online cheating and plagiarism may be matters teachers have to grapple with increasingly.

It has happened already at university level. Last November, lecturers at Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore were surprised to find that students had been ordering term papers from online paper mills.

The problem may filter down to the school level.

By the end of this year, all primary schools, secondary schools and junior colleges will have implemented the program on project work.

The projects, however, will be carried out in school and supervised by teachers. This is to reduce the chance of students getting others to do the work for them or plagiarizing.

Yet some project work, or coursework, in government-aided and independent schools is still being done outside the classroom. Students set projects in school can still access the websites to cheat at home.

In Britain earlier this month, one such website, www.revise.it, was criticized for its explicit tips on how to cheat.

This is a particular problem for the country where public exams in almost all subjects can have an element of project work, or coursework, depending on the school's syllabus.

At the A levels and General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exam stages - the equivalent of O levels - this coursework, usually done at home by the student, often accounts for at least 25 percent of the final marks.

In Singapore, this is not yet a concern since project work does not form part of the assessment for A or O levels. However, it will form part of the university admissions criteria in 2003.

In Britain, teachers are often faced with doubts about the authorship of coursework, particularly since it is usually done at home.

The irony is that the British websites, which were criticized for encouraging cheating, started out as sites meant to help students in their revision.

This was in fact the way these websites got teachers from reputable schools to contribute articles.

One of them is Gavin Richards, 24, assistant director of music at the Perse School, who contributed a short piece last spring on how best to write answers for GCSE music exams.

He was surprised to find that the creators of www.revise.it had started an essay lab with tips on how to cheat, and had written to the founders to raise his objections.

But today, some websites include tips to help students cheat, such as advice to add some spelling mistakes and grammatical errors to make their essays more authentic, and planning with friends so they do not end up handing in the same essays.

Teachers say their best defense against cheats is a sound knowledge of the quality of work their students are capable of. When a C-grade student hands in an A-grade piece of work, teachers should see through this easily.

However, students who use the cheating tips to make their work look authentic may not get caught so easily.

Vice-principal of CHIJ St Nicholas Girls in Singapore, Chan Wan Mui, said students must be able to explain to teachers during the project and to visitors at an open-house exhibition afterwards how they did their research.

The checks would ensure students could not plagiarize without their lack of research being evident, she said.

Such checks can curb cheating, but teachers say students determined to do so will take the risk.

The biggest deterrence: a failing mark, or worse, if found out. Or better still, a community of Net-savvy, vigilant teachers.

-- The Straits Times