Is there really anything new? And if there is, what is it? Because it certainly isn't any of the things listed in this series!

Now
There has been a lot in the British news recently about the problems of plagiarism, and in particular the fact that students are buying essays from people via the internet.See, for example, Publish and be damned, New software to catch online coursework cheats and Software to spot internet exam cheats.

Then
Back in 1982 I was earning a bit of money by doing private tuition. I use the term "bit" deliberately: it paid a pittance, but if you did enough hours the money mounted up. The rate was approximately £10 per hour, or around $18.50 at today's exchange rate.

I was contacted by the agency who provided me with clients to meet with someone who wanted private tuition. On our first meeting, which was in a railway station (which alone should have set alarm bells ringing but I was young and naive), he showed me a past exam paper with 2 essay questions highlighted and said, "Can you help me with these?". I said that of course I could, to which he responded, "Excellent. I'll pay you £100, when will you be able to give them to me by?"

Me: Sorry, let me just clarify. You would like me to draft some essay plans for these questions, and then we'll go through them together, right?

Him: No, I want you to write the essays.

Me: I don't understand. What will you do?

Him: Hand the essays in for my assignments.

Me: Ah. Well I'm sorry, I don't do that. You'll have to find someone else.

I contacted the agency the next day to tell them what had happened. Such was that person's dishonesty that he had beaten me to it, and told the agency that I had told him that for £100 I would write his essays for him! Unfortunately, the agency took the view that the customer is always right and told me they didn't want someone like me on their books. Being young and naive I didn't start legal proceedings against them. Fortunately, this was one occasion when mud did not stick.

So, what can we learn from this?

1. Nothing has changed, except perhaps speed and the likelihood of greater anonymity. Some students are willing to cheat, and some tutors are willing to demean themselves by accommodating them. The internet  hasn't caused this behaviour.

2. I am not even convinced that the issue is any more difficult to solve than it ever was. And, in fact, it has always been dead easy to deal with. Perhaps I have missed some subtle point, but why is software required to detect plagiarism?

If someone you're teaching suddenly develops a completely different writing style, shows a grasp of incredibly difficult concepts and suddenly demonstrates amazing and heretofore hidden erudition, shouldn't that make you raise an eyebrow or two?

A particularly good way of finding out if someone knows what they've written about is to ask them to talk about it. All of a sudden that is being hailed as a breakthrough as well.

But even apart from knowing your students well enough to be able to spot changes in their writing, and asking them to explain their essays, surely the tutor ought to know what the subject's authorities say? The first time I set an essay, in Economics, to a group of 17 year-olds, most of them used a book to help them. Some of them had tried to be clever and copy great swathes of text from a somewhat obscure book on the subject.

Unfortunately for them, I was familiar with all of the main books, even the obscure ones, so when I gave the essays back I simply said to the whole class:

"Those essays were really good. I was very impressed. In fact, I have always been impressed by the authors you've borrowed from. But to save both you and me time in future, I suggest that instead of copying out several pages you simply refer me to the text itself, and I'll mark that instead of your essay; or, if it's easier for you, just give me a photocopy of the relevant pages and that will save you having to write anything at all."

OK, I laid it on with a trowel, but the point was made. I gave them some instruction and practice in how to summarise and paraphrase, and the importance of attribution, and the essays I received started to become much better.

So, if that approach will no longer work because of the number of so-called self-styled "experts" on every subject under the sun courtesy of both the ease with which anyone can publish anything virtually instantaneously, combined with the fact that some people appear to be willing to believe that having an opinion is the same as having an expert opinion, then teachers have only themselves to blame if they can no longer detect cheating going on under their noses.

I don't wish to make this post too long, so I'll post the next Now/Then tomorrow.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.