OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Students cheat for any variety of reasons, but, in many cases, sheer desperation and fear of failing drives them to hire someone else to write their essay, do their homework, or take their exam. Researchers estimate that 8 percent of students engage third-party individuals or services to complete their work, which is a practice called “contract cheating”. On October 17, colleges and universities will draw attention to this problem as instructors, students, and administrators pledge to #DefeatTheCheat and #ExcelWithIntegrity during the 3rd Annual International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating. Click to Tweet.
The goal of International Day of Action is to unite educational institutions around the world to put an end to the contract cheating industry. It’s an initiative founded by the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI), whose mission is to support higher education institutions in cultivating cultures of integrity. “Educational institutions, students, citizens and governments must take a stand against the contract cheating industry,” says Dr. Tricia Bertram Gallant, ICAI Board Member. “And as educators, we must work diligently to ensure that we are facilitating and assessing learning rather than cheating. It is our ethical obligation to our students and the world.”
Turnitin is a leading provider of academic integrity solutions and believes in a balance of human interactions, policies, and technology supports to protect the value of a college degree and the institutions awarding them. “As part of our ongoing effort to bring attention and urgency around the rising threat of contract cheating, Turnitin is once again supporting the International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating,” said Turnitin CEO Chris Caren. “Turnitin is committed to providing the most effective educational tools to protect intellectual property, safeguard institutional reputations, and promote academic integrity so that degrees continue to have meaning.”
Institutions and individuals are encouraged to get involved in the International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating by signing the pledge to raise awareness and drive action about this issue; by publicly declaring their opposition with whiteboard messages that can be shared via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using #defeatthecheat and #excelwithintegrity; and by hosting events that will engage and inform students, faculty, staff, and leaders about the threat of contract cheating.
Turnitin, which is a sponsor of ICAI’s International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating, encourages institutions to register their #DefeatTheCheat and #ExcelWithIntegrity activities early at academicintegrity.org/day-against-contract-cheating/ and to join the Facebook event.
About Turnitin
Turnitin is your partner in education with integrity. Turnitin’s originality checking and authorship investigation services ensure academic integrity, promote critical thinking, and help students improve their authentic writing. Turnitin provides instructors with the tools to prevent plagiarism, engage students in the writing process, and provide personalized feedback. More than 30 million students at 15,000 institutions in 140 countries use Turnitin, and over one billion student papers have been submitted since the company’s founding. Turnitin is headquartered in Oakland, Calif., with international offices in Newcastle, U.K., Utrecht, Netherlands, Melbourne, Australia, Seoul, Korea and throughout Latin America. @Turnitin
For the media - Read commentaries from Bill Loller of Turnitin in EdScoop and MDR Education. Additional assets, ICAI’s press release about this event, sources, and background data available here. Executives and academics are available for interviews and commentary.
