Cheats 'named and shamed'

2004-02-22 22:05

Christi Naude

Pietermaritzburg - Student cheats are to be named and shamed on all the campuses of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in an attempt to stamp out the increasing number of cases of plagiarism.

The Pietermaritzburg campus already has a wall of shame on department notice boards where the names of cheaters are published, and this will now be extended, said UKZN spokesman Professor Dasrath Chetty.

In addition to their names being made public, disgraced students are also reminded that the penalty will be inserted on their student records.

While the names of all offenders are made public at UKZN, the Durban Institute of Technology (DIT) prefer to only publish the names of students who are expelled or suspended - usually not applicable in the case of a first offender in a test of exam cheating.

Exam and test cheating is still the most popular offence but plagiarism is becoming a major headache - the result of the availability of material on the Internet.

Complicating the habit of verbatim downloads from internet sources in assignments, is that the use of the copied material, could either have been an opportunity to spend more time with friends or was used by sheer ignorance of a student who did not know how to use referential material.

Some lecturers use software to catch out student text poachers. The software examines sentence structure, vocabulary, phrases and syntax, with each analysis showing the particular style of each writer.

"The onus has now been put on lecturers to play the watchdog," said Professor Rob Pennefather, proctor on the Pietermaritzburg campus.

This includes informing students of what is acceptable and checking the Internet for copied material. A very common form of plagiarism is submitting other students' essays.

Crib notes

But crib notes in tests and exams have been the downfall of all the latest public notice candidates at the UKZN. Students use endless imagination to hide notes in toilets or bring them into into exam rooms.

"The effort and time to write those minute notes on tiny pieces of papers or storing them in programmable calculators is amazing," a UKZN lecturer said.

At DIT 22 students were charged and found guilty of cheating in examinations and testst last year. While the number at UKZN could not be obtained for all the campuses, it seems to be close to that figure.

Penalties depends on the category of cheating at the UKZN. It ranges from exclusion for one or two semesters to expulsion and or a fine of up to R1 500.

However, the most painful price for cheating lies in that blot on the student record. According to Dr Elmarie Liebenberg of MIE - an independent company that verifies 12000 qualifications monthly - employers don't prefer cheaters - especially in the tight job market.

- The Witness