assignment writing service

assignment writing service

The Ethics and Implications of Using Assignment Writing Services in Higher Education

1. Introduction to Assignment Writing Services

Assignment writing services are increasingly popular because they are a solution to a common academic problem. Students find help through these services for many reasons, including heavy workloads, multiple assignments given in a short period of time, or they are overwhelmed by the amount of study or research required. Stress is also a common reason; students may be dealing with family obligations and parental responsibilities, or they have to be present in an employment situation. Because of this, they might find it hard to complete all their assessed written tasks, and therefore might use an assignment writing service in order to buy back some precious time. Many students also use these paper writing/selling sites when they are plagued by writer’s block: they might know what they want to argue in their written assignment, but can’t quite get their ideas going or in the right direction. Some students have paid for high-quality model essays which they then rewrite or paraphrase for their assignments. Would you consider using an assignment writing service in the aforementioned academic situation? Or, do you believe it is academically dishonest and wrong?

Many higher education students are familiar with the term ‘assignment writing services’ or ‘paper writing services’. These services are platforms where freelance writers offer their skills, experience, and availability to assist someone else with a particular written task or project. The client using the service can provide the assignment details and make an agreement with the writer about the terms, such as the length of the written piece, the deadline for the finished copy, and whether there might be a style guide required for in-text citations, bibliographies, and quotations. Other details that might be specified include the chosen references, or whether the writer has to find journal articles or peer-reviewed sources. Students will often pay more for these additional services should they have limited access to university, college libraries, or online databases.

2. Ethical Considerations in Using Assignment Writing Services

Student ethics: The key focus for this section of relevance is the ethics of individual students using assignment writing services and the implications for future academic practice. This focuses on discussions of academic integrity and notions of personal responsibility. In addition, this section could contain a summary of student viewpoints towards these services; given current research suggests the use of these services in student assignments is justified when assessed by need. This is a less well-written text; however, it should contain a fundamental theoretical grounding, exploring themes of autonomy and academic integrity.

Institutional ethics: Institutions are often the more visible participant in this debate, and they are frequently bothered by a sense of liability. Moreover, institutions are interested in the internationalization of the student experience and models which allow more language support and a view of ‘best practice studying’ could be viewed positively.

Educator ethics: There is relatively little written about the ethics for educators in this position, but the ethical question – of how we helpfully guide students to assess an element of a qualification to be assessed by outsourcing rather than internal effort – is fundamental to the position. Is it fair for educators to ask students to outsource work, a condition they have likely not met, and if so, how should they then treat this when it comes to formal assessment?

In the twenty-first century, higher education students and staff increasingly find themselves at the intersection with external bodies offering, or advertising, the provision of assignments. Compassing a range of activities, writing and proofreading, software design and psychological guidance, many of these services offer academic literacies and study services that many universities would consider to form a significant learning outcome for the students they assess. Here we will attempt to explore the ethics of using such services and classify them according to the main actors involved: educators, institutions, and students themselves.

3. Impact of Assignment Writing Services on Academic Integrity

The use of assignment writing services externally does, what McMurtrie calls, hollowing out effects. It diminishes the integrity of academic work and hence the quality of the degree or qualification in the mind of the employer and of society in general. This loss of academic values also undermines the interaction between the students, the teachers, and the broader curriculum itself. There is the very tangible impact on the ability of management to protect the value of their qualification. More specifically, the use of assignment writing services has an impact on the true learning that the student experience at university should, and can, provide. Academic credentials have the important function of serving as instruments of information about what candidates know; their use is seriously challenged if they are acquired through cheating.

The use of assignment-writing services by students is widespread in higher education. Research carried out by The Quality Assurance Agency in the UK has shown that up to 61% of students have used the services of assignment writing companies either through self-submitting, providing prepared responses, or actually participating in the writing of known assignments. Over half of the students had requested changes to assignments even though they claimed to have written the assignments themselves. Our case study of marketing students at a New Zealand university, a high-cost education environment, has shown that around 10% of students used the services of assignment writing companies.

4. Strategies for Promoting Academic Honesty in Higher Education

The strategies presented in this section are merely a starting point, rooted in ethical anchoring against assignment writing services and contract cheating. Other possible approaches may include the construction of plagiarism-detecting algorithms, national policy initiatives and interventions, and educational outreach to conceptualize and support personal and educational integrity. Whatever strategies may be pursued, it is vital not mere to identify the problem, but also to propose constructive solutions to help address these increasingly insidious, complex, and ethically fatiguing challenges. This document is intended to share with you, the interested reader, a brief menu of possible ways educators might work, whether individually or collaboratively, toward creating a more honest educational environment. The fundamentals of these positions, therefore, must remain focused on helping to maintain this integral, ethical standard of fairness for all parties involved, as defined and outlined in documents such as Clemson’s own statement on academic integrity. Consequently, this document will not dwell on other ways of promoting student success, as doing so would be beyond its parameters and primary focus.

Academic honesty is a perpetual responsibility for all members of the higher education community. This is true especially in light of the current era of contract cheating and the consequent implications for the ethical integrity of the learning environment for educators, students, staff, and administrators alike. What are some of the proactive strategies educational institutions might implement as part of their larger effort to build and maintain a culture of academic integrity?