Skip to Main Content

Course Sharing

Introduction

Going to college is a great way to expand your knowledge, meet new people, and explore new experiences.

For some, it's a time to find their passion and purpose in life; for others, it's a chance to change directions and take a new path.

Despite the excitement, it's common to experience stress at the same time—you're juggling assignments, readings, and exam preparation for multiple classes while navigating the combined stresses of remote learning, family and work commitments, and social activities.

If you've run out of time on an assignment, or you haven't studied as much as you should have for tomorrow's test, it can be tempting to find a quick solution online. After all, if lots of other people are using a course-sharing website to get answers, it's not really cheating—right?

This module will introduce you to the rising issue of contract cheating in higher education, specifically in the forms of course-sharing and homework help websites. What might seem like a shortcut to make life easier right now can have ongoing and serious consequences for the person who cheats and for the people around them.

Decorative. Woman sitting in front of laptop, holding head in hands. The student looks stressed out and overwhelmed with her work.

What is Contract Cheating?

Contract cheating involves engaging a third party to complete part or all of your work, and then submitting the work as if you completed it yourself. This could be a friend, a family member, a private tutor, or a crowdsourced answer online—if you did not do the work, then it counts as cheating.

Contract cheating can include, but is not limited to:

  • Asking a partner, friend, or family member to write an assignment for you.
  • Hiring someone to write an exam for you.
  • Paying an external "tutoring" company to write an assignment or essay for you.

Most people understand how these forms of contract cheating are wrong—you've hired someone else to complete your work for you.

But contract cheating is more complex than that. With the move to online learning and the ease of looking things up on a search engine, contract cheating also includes:

  • Posting or searching for answers on "help" sites like Chegg, Course Hero, and other similar sites.
  • Sharing answers to assignment questions, exams, and quizzes online, even if they're posted in private group chats.

Infographic. Text reads as follows: Sharing isn't always caring. Why you should avoid course-sharing sites. You could be violating Sheridan's Academic Integrity Policy, copyright law, and SLATE Policy. Sharing or accessing course materials (i.e. slides or exam questions) online is not acceptable. Sharing study material you create for studying purposes is ok. How to succeed withouth the use of course-sharing sites: 1, Ask your professor is previous assignments, tests, and exams can be made available to the class as examples; 2, Ask you professor for help if you are unclear about assignment expectations; 3, Seek help from the Tutoring Centre. Questions? Contact the Academic Integrity Office at aif@sheridancollege.ca . Visit our website for more information at https://central.sheridancollege.ca/academic-integrity-office .

How Do You Spot These Contract Cheating Sites?

This module Introduction will help you identify the two types of contract cheating websites:

We will also discuss the immediate risks and consequences of using these sites to complete your coursework, and how to protect yourself from them.

Connect with us