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The use of essay mills is a big problem (¡°Make trouble for the essay mills¡±, Opinion, 1 September), and the sector as a whole seems to be in denial.

It¡¯s becoming a minor epidemic at my institution, especially with international taught master¡¯s students and dissertations. It is time-consuming and resource-intensive to pursue custom written work through misconduct panels ¨C and the sanctions are far too weak to provide a deterrent. Exams are part of the answer, but coursework has real value in many disciplines and is arguably (if correctly designed) a better driver and test of student learning.

The key question here is: Why hasn¡¯t there been stronger action against essay mills from the government, the Quality Assurance Agency and universities? Or perhaps we shouldn¡¯t ask.

sceptic_academic
Via timeshighereducation.com

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