SMH - Cheating in the HSC - Major Works (1 Viewer)

[Frigid]

relevant, not only for your HSC, but for university assignments:

Vague rules let off HSC cheats - ICAC

TAKE-HOME assignments for HSC students are open to corruption and schools need more help to prevent cheating, the corruption watchdog has warned after an investigation into a tutoring college.

The review by the Independent Commission Against Corruption found that the Board of Studies' definition of a student's "own work" was so arbitrary that students were confused about what constituted plagiarism. It also called on the NSW Government to consider regulating the tutoring industry.

Students suspected of cheating should be required to prove the work was their own and the board should set up a register of misconduct cases and publicise the results, the commission recommended in its report, tabled in Parliament yesterday.

The guidelines on what constituted a student's own work were so inconsistent that the commission was unable to prove the college at the centre of the investigation, Acclaim Education, had violated any cheating policies.

This was despite proof that Acclaim tutors had rewritten parts of students' English assessments and provided them with drafts.

The commission found the college's manager, Rachel Gardener, had made changes to a student's essay the day before it was due. At the end of the document she wrote: "This took me nearly five hours. I fixed before I cut."

The student received 48 out of 50 for her English Extension 2 major work, the commission said.

Ms Gardener had also advised students not to tell their teachers that they were employing external tutors because it could prejudice them. She recommended that if they were confronted, to burst into tears and contact their parents, the commission's investigators were told.

Three-quarters of schools who responded to a survey by the commission reported that they felt inadequately supported by the Board of Studies in situations where they suspected cheating.

One parent, told that his son had cheated in a Business Studies assessment, accused the school of racism. When confronted with proof, "the father pulled out a large bundle of $100 notes and commenced flicking through the notes until he reached a business card that he gave to the teachers," the report said.

The NSW Minister for Education, Carmel Tebbutt, said the board had already changed its procedures since it conducted its own review into the Acclaim case, including a compulsory ethics program and tougher declaration forms for HSC students to fill out on assessments.

The board and the Education Department would consider how to act on the latest recommendations, Ms Tebbutt said.

Mohan Dhall, of the Australian Tutoring Association, a voluntary body with its own code of conduct, said he would be happy to work with the Board of Studies, but more regulation was unnecessary.

Ms Gardener could not be contacted yesterday.

for reference, UNSW policy on plagiarism:

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the presentation of the thoughts or work of another as one’s own.

Examples include:

• direct duplication of the thoughts or work of another, including by copying material, ideas or concepts from a book, article, report or other written document (whether published or unpublished), composition, artwork, design, drawing, circuitry, computer program or software, web site, Internet, other electronic resource, or another person’s assignment without appropriate acknowledgement;

• paraphrasing another person’s work with very minor changes keeping the meaning, form and/or progression of ideas of the original;

• piecing together sections of the work of others into a new whole;

• presenting an assessment item as independent work when it has been produced in whole or part in collusion with other people, for example, another student or a tutor; and

• claiming credit for a proportion a work contributed to a group assessment item that is greater than that actually contributed.

For the purposes of this policy, submitting an assessment item that has already been submitted for academic credit elsewhere may be considered plagiarism.
Knowingly permitting your work to be copied by another student may also be
considered to be plagiarism.

Note that an assessment item produced in oral, not written, form, or involving live
presentation, may similarly contain plagiarised material.

The inclusion of the thoughts or work of another with attribution appropriate to the academic discipline does not amount to plagiarism.

 

[bringbackshred]

Interesting article, but how would one go about proving that their work is not plagarised?

 

[lilkiwicutie89]

relevant, not only for your HSC, but for university assignments:for reference, UNSW policy on plagiarism:

yeah i heard the year 12s 2007 , well teachers are getting iffy on plag. it seems to be much bigger than last year......

 

[Forbidden.]

So my TAKE-HOME IPT Database Project which contained appropriate names as dummy data instead of silly names like "Ben Dover" which is typical of my actions isn't my work ? k

 

[w00dy.]

Plagarism became a somewhat bigger issue in our school last year, only because one class of year 12 students were caught plagarising, as a result many got zero assessment.

since then we now have to fill out a form, sign it, and had it in with any hand in assessments for the sake of saying that we havent plagarised.

which is a good thing in a way, but that doesnt mean people wont continue to plagarise... its just really sad that some people have to sink so low as to plagarise, especially if its another students work.

 

[-pari-]

yeah our school doesn't give us any take-home assignments.

they're all assessments on the day, give or take one or two here or there

-at least thats how it is for my subjects.

 

[pritnep]

Eh? f3nr15 your post makes little to no sense and it's relevance is questionable.

My old school has a similar system to W00dy's with each assessment you had to hand in a cover sheet which was signed by you and the teacher. It acted as an acknowledgement by you that everything was above board and the slip you got back from the teacher was the confirmation that you actually handed it in and on time.

Teachers are pretty clued up these days to how students work\write and produce work and can spot any plagarism from a mile away.

But I think the article is right school especially in the senior years need to get stricter and to explain to students exactly what is and isn't' plagarism and go over it in detail not just a hand out nobody reads. Might be an idea for schools to start using turnitin or similar software too.

 

[Forbidden.]

Eh? f3nr15 your post makes little to no sense and it's relevance is questionable.

My old school has a similar system to W00dy's with each assessment you had to hand in a cover sheet which was signed by you and the teacher. It acted as an acknowledgement by you that everything was above board and the slip you got back from the teacher was the confirmation that you actually handed it in and on time.

Teachers are pretty clued up these days to how students work\write and produce work and can spot any plagarism from a mile away.

But I think the article is right school especially in the senior years need to get stricter and to explain to students exactly what is and isn't' plagarism and go over it in detail not just a hand out nobody reads. Might be an idea for schools to start using turnitin or similar software too.

I'm known for placing fairly inconsistent effort in my work, and if I place consistent effort in validating my resources I will get punished for plagiarism ?

 

[jaaaaay]

interesting post there... hmmm... i guess just do your own work...

 

[iamsickofyear12]

When I did my HSC there were heaps of people that had their tutors do assessments for them. Even if they didn't just write it for them they basically told them exactly what to write. Then they'd write exam responses for them to memorise and regurgitate in exams.

I know one person who had tutors doing his work for every subject and his marks were probably 20 or 30 percent better because of it.

Anyone who thinks this doesn't happen that often has no idea. It's one of the biggest flaws in the HSC and it's going to continue to happen as long as the HSC tests memory and not actual intelligence.

 

[candybink]

what really gets my goat is the inability for anyone to DO anything. I know from close friends how easy it is to get away with cheating, a mate of mine is yet to do an honest PDH assessment, yet it was only recently that he got caught. And all he got was a letter of concern. For people who work hard for honest results, it makes me loose any kind of faith in the system.

 

[James747]

Our school has been getting stricter on plagiarism lately, now we have to sign a cover sheet saying that it all your own work.

Our deputy is also making all of us year 11s do this online quiz called all my own work or something. I don't see much realistic effect in this, though. Ppl will continue to plagiarise anyway.

 

[iamsickofyear12]

The problem is the only real way they can catch you cheating is if you copy from somewhere like the Internet. If you get a tutor to write it for you (which is what most people do now) it's going to be original and the only argument they have is 'you are too stupid to write anything that good'.

 

[candybink]

That's true. And its worse for subjects that involve a major work. Sheets can be signed by students to claim it is their own work, but who really knows? A tutor can easily advise a student to sign for something that isnt their own.

 

[Season]

We don't have take home assessments for this very reason, also everyone got 100% on them so they found them pointless. We have the same thing now except its done as an in-class assessment.

At my school we have to sign a form and put it in www.turnitin.com which is a site that runs your assessment against the entire web and heaps of books so if you have plagerised in the slightest way the engine will pick it up.

 

[dhampoet]

Is it just for major works or for another small assesment as well?

 

[pritnep]

We don't have take home assessments for this very reason, also everyone got 100% on them so they found them pointless. We have the same thing now except its done as an in-class assessment.

At my school we have to sign a form and put it in www.turnitin.com which is a site that runs your assessment against the entire web and heaps of books so if you have plagerised in the slightest way the engine will pick it up.

Well good on your school for using turnitin, it's a step certainly in the right direction.

I think most of the time, teachers can tell when someone has plagiarised. The style of writing isn't there's, and their information doesn't make sense.
However, no matter how strict a school gets on plagiarism, someone will always get away with it.

And that is the major point about plagiarism, everyone knows of at least one person who has gotten anyway with it at one point or another. The system is a little flawed and systems like turnitin need to be used to at least act as some sort of deterrent.

It's also the reason why 1st year uni students are often done for plagiarising because they don't know any better and haven't been cracked down on so hard in the HSC so they think they can get away with it.

Is it just for major works or for another small assesment as well?

Well the article is talking about major works but plagiarism effects all work right across the board.

 

[the-1-n-only-me]

i dunno about all the other schools but a bunch of plagiarism posters went up in every room (i think) at my school. as far as i know its not a common thing, and i havent heard of anyone in our grade getting 0 for plagiarism.

The thing that worries me is that my eng teacher once said that he can identify the writing styles of each student and get a good idea of whether they're cheating or not. That's true to an extent, but with the fact that everyone's preparing for the hsc and perfecting their styles and whatever, will we get screwed over for the suspicion of plagiarism? because as far as i know.. its pretty hard to prove that you didnt cheat... any thoughts?

 

[bringbackshred]

A couple of deadshits in my Software class all copied each other's assignments last year. Pretty funny.

 

[candybink]

i dunno about all the other schools but a bunch of plagiarism posters went up in every room (i think) at my school. as far as i know its not a common thing, and i havent heard of anyone in our grade getting 0 for plagiarism.

The thing that worries me is that my eng teacher once said that he can identify the writing styles of each student and get a good idea of whether they're cheating or not. That's true to an extent, but with the fact that everyone's preparing for the hsc and perfecting their styles and whatever, will we get screwed over for the suspicion of plagiarism? because as far as i know.. its pretty hard to prove that you didnt cheat... any thoughts?

What happened to innocent until proven guilty. I thought we were all worried about cheats getting away with it, not non cheats getting in trouble