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As per a recent survey, it has been found that the number of students indulging in contract cheating methods or asking someone else to write their college essays for many is increasing significantly. Check the details of the study below.
According to a recent case study, at least one out of every seven students take external help on the monetary basis for the college essays. This number essentially represents about 31 million students across the globe, the report highlighted. The percentage of students asking others for help is growing rapidly. This study is based on the findings of a research team that analyzed 71 survey samples and a total of 65 studies (from the late 1970s) while covering a total of 54,515 applicants. The study has been published in a journal titled 'Frontiers in Education' and the concept has been termed as contract cheating. These essay mills are currently legal in the UK but are banned in the US and New Zealand, while other countries are still working on the legislation.
Phil Newton, who is a Professor at the Swansea University in the UK and is also a co-author of the journal elaborated that the education system and legislation need to come together to tackle essay mills and instill among students the need for academic integrity with an objective to promote learning and at the same time reduce instances of contract cheating.
The study also highlights the fact that since the products of these essay-mills are hard to differentiate, it becomes all the more difficult to take measures to avoid the contract cheating. Moreover, this study is also based on the responses received in the questionnaires which were put forward to students asking them if they had ever paid someone for writing their essays.
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According to the report, contract cheating was self-reported by about 3.5% of students and is increasing significantly with time. For the data from 2014 to the present, 15.7% of students admitted on paying someone else to write their college essays.
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For a fact, one must also understand that the students who engage in contract cheating methods are unlikely to volunteer for such surveys about cheating, pointed the research conclusion.
With inputs from Indian Express
