The Data Fix with Dr. Mél Hogan Unlearning, with Kane Murdoch
Mar 10, 2025
Kane Murdoch, an integrity officer at Macquarie University and a contract cheating expert, dives deep into the alarming rise of academic dishonesty. He discusses how technology, especially AI, complicates the integrity landscape. The conversation explores covert marketing tactics that lure students into contract cheating and critiques the biases in current plagiarism detection tools. Kane argues for transformative change in educational practices to better support students and uphold academic standards in the face of evolving challenges.
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Large-Scale Cheating Operations
- Kane Murdoch discusses uncovering large-scale contract cheating operations.
- One case involved 170 students paying a third party for coursework.
The Contract Cheating Business Model
- Contract cheating services often target English-speaking universities in less wealthy countries.
- Murdoch argues that undetected contract cheating can snowball throughout a student's education, creating a cycle of avoided learning.
Detecting Cheating Through Data Analysis
- Murdoch's team analyzes LMS logs, including timestamps, clicks, and IP addresses, to detect contract cheating.
- By enriching IP data and analyzing student activity patterns, they identify suspicious behaviors like intense focus on assessments.