A friend sent me a link to an article about Chinese students being dealt with at Wollongong University for paying someone to write their essays. I am not surprised.
It was something that I learned was rife in China when I was there in 2009 and 2010. I have a DVD about Chairman Mao where he says that cheating is ok, and it seems that it is hard for people to stop it, though I doubt if the Chinese are the only ones that do it.
I recall some incidents when I was there. I failed a student who had not turned up at class, done no homework, and had not attended the mid semester and end of semester tests. I was called to the head of the faculty and asked to explain the zero mark. Despite explaining that I didn’t even know the student as he had never attended class, and refusing to alter my marks, I was told in a begging sort of way that “he was a good student and his father was very generous to the university.” I feel sure the marks would have been altered – and not by me!
I was also asked to “read” an assignment supposedly done by a senior member of staff for an English language qualification. I read it and thought it all absurd as I understood little of it. I was also sure he didn’t do it. It was an email – someone had torn off the top – the to and from sections. There were a couple of pages about the English letter “double u” – which of course I don’t think we would use that to describe “w”. He was not impressed with my report.
The article about Wollongong University is here
And it is not just happening in Australia – I suspect it is a world wide problem with Chinese nationals and others. ((Note this was only published in the last 24 hours)
