Copying, cheating rife at unis
Harriet Alexander, November 20, 2006
UNIVERSITIES in NSW are facing an explosion in the number of students caught plagiarising assignments and cheating in exams, with law students the worst offenders at one big institution.
Figures obtained by the Herald under freedom of information laws show some of the state's most highly regarded universities have recorded the most incidents of student misconduct. The University of Technology, Sydney recorded 362 last year, and the University of Wollongong recorded 134. It is estimated almost 3500 students have been caught plagiarising or cheating across eight universities since 2001.
Wollongong, which has compiled an analysis of misconduct over the past five years, has found its law students were among the most likely to commit plagiarism in essays and assignments. Postgraduate international students and those studying commerce were most likely to cheat in exams, the analysis found. Domestic and foreign students were equally likely to cheat.
The University of Sydney, whose figures are available on its website, uncovered at least 446 incidences of academic dishonesty last year. The University of NSW has not provided data on its performance.
Last year a student at UTS offered an exam co-ordinator $300 for an advance copy of the exam, used a mobile phone during the exam and stole an exam booklet. The student was excluded from the university for 12 months.
In 2001, the university says, another student submitted a near-perfect test before the test had been issued.
Wollongong has recorded cases of students hiding exam cheat notes in dictionaries and pencil cases, and writing them on their skin. One student ate the evidence when challenged.
It is difficult to establish a total number of plagiarism cases across all universities because collection methods vary. But a conservative estimate is 3336 cases between Sydney, Macquarie, UTS, the University of Western Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, Charles Sturt and Southern Cross.
At Macquarie University, 408 plagiarism cases have been uncovered since 2001. The university noted a serious problem as far back as 2002, when a working party reported: "Our impression is that plagiarism is rife and very little of it is detected!"
Universities say most cases involve quoting verbatim from textbook or internet sources, and submitting assignments identical to those of other students.
The punishments include warnings, zero assessment marks, failing the unit or, in rare cases, suspension or expulsion. After being caught, many students withdraw from the unit of study to escape punishment, the science faculty at Sydney University observed in an internal audit this year.
The University of Wollongong noted a sharp increase in plagiarism. This was partly the result of better detection and partly due to increased awareness, said Professor Rob Castle, a deputy vice chancellor of the university.
"It's always been a problem and I think as technology changes it's becoming more of a problem."
Sydney University's faculty of business and economics, which noted 85 incidences of misconduct in 2005, up from 29 the year before, said the most likely offenders were undergraduates, international students and full-fee payers. The faculty has started using Safe Assignment, software designed to pick up plagiarism.
The University of NSW and University of New England have not yet responded to the freedom of information request.
