Investigation into possible plagiarism

Hi Sindy, it's a rubbish situation for all of you and I really feel for you If it were me I would knuckle down and give it my best shot this sitting. I would then submit a mitigating circumstances form too (it doesn't cost anything to submit).

Almost_there is correct in that we don't know how the IFoA will consider mitigating circumstances. I think you're correct that it isn't pragmatic to wait for emails from the IFoA regarding if they will accept this as a mitigating circumstance.

Alas, three weeks is still a good chunk of time - ActEd mock exams are helpful and I found the marker comments really useful so that's good practical preparation. Working through past papers and consolidating any areas you're less confident on will help you on exam day.

I wish you the best of luck - that pass will feel all the sweeter given the adversity you've faced, through no fault of your own.

 

Why exactly can't IFoA make apologies and take responsibility for all the damage they've caused these innocent candidates?

It's worth students learning more about unfair contract terms provisions of the Consumer Rights Act. Do a google search for it and useful resources come up such as this one from the CMA: https://assets.publishing.service.g...ta/file/450440/Unfair_Terms_Main_Guidance.pdf

See for example 2.22:
Openness
2.22 In order to achieve the openness required by good faith, terms should be ‘expressed fully, clearly and legibly, containing no concealed pitfalls or traps. Appropriate prominence should be given to terms which might operate disadvantageously’ to the consumer.
22 Consumers should not be assumed necessarily to be able themselves to identify (particularly in longer contracts) terms which are important, or which may operate to their disadvantage or which would be likely to surprise them, if drawn to their attention.

People shouldn't have to assume or be expected to search for other documents or webpages. It should be made absolutely clear and that's their responsibility. It's not for candidates to make good their failures to clearly state.

Then their documents are not sufficiently clear. Under consumer rights act usually unclear/ambiguous text are resolved in favour of the consumer and deemed unenforceable.

 

There are exam webinar sessions available on the events page of the IFoA website. Hopefully these will be helpful and are pre-recorded to allow those unable to attend to watch the guidance.

 

So I just checked and this session is being run once on 10th September and is fully booked. How can a webinar be fully booked? That's super unhelpful.

 

They have updated the pass rates in the mark schemes following the outcome of the investigation.

https://ibb.co/KjqqHpN


it seems like the amount of people investigated were in the region of 1-200 as anticipated. The overall pass rate is consistent with many previous sittings at 50% and the biggest investigations/appeals were from CB2. CP1 and SP2 had a large amount of investigated students.

 

There's an additional seminar on the 17th DM261.

 

From the student consultative forums meeting there is this comment about plagiarism:

 

New guidance in the FAQs. I am not reassured. You are recommended to write answers in your own words but paraphrasing is not allowed.

Definition of paraphrase - express the meaning of (something written or spoken) using different words, especially to achieve greater clarity.

So contradiction then.

Advice is now:

Will all the IFoA examinations be "open book" and if so what are the rules around plagiarism and collusion?
Updated 03 September 2020

Yes. As part of the development of our online examinations we have made the decision that our assessments will be ‘open book’.

During these examinations you may refer to any materials available to you – printed, electronic, or online but you are not permitted to use e-templates and any electronic files which contain pre-existing calculations.

You are strictly prohibited from copying and pasting, or re-typing content, word for word, from any source or multiple sources. To do so could amount to plagiarism. Such material may be used for reference purposes only. You should not copy verbatim from any materials but should use your own words.

Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. This is improper examination behaviour under our Assessment Regulations.

Experience has shown that during ‘open-book’ assessments you will need to balance your time between referring to available materials and answering the questions. Remember that the examinations will be testing your ability to show understanding of the subject and its application to specific situations. We therefore recommend that you are fully prepared by developing a good understanding of the content of your study modules.

We recognise that answers to some questions in our examinations, such as asking for ‘definitions’ or ‘listing principles’, may have been memorised as part of your revision strategy. These could be identical or very similar to the contents of your learning materials. Examiners and markers will be familiar with these questions, and candidates will not generally be investigated for plagiarism where such similarity is identified. However, if you use direct quotations or paraphrases from your learning materials to answer other questions, you should acknowledge this with a page or line number in the body of your answer, plus author's name and year of publication.

If you are referencing external material then you should remember this should form only a very small fraction of your overall script and it needs to be relevant to the question. Large volumes of reference material will not be seen as your own response to the questions and could also be flagged as plagiarism. Our recommendation is that you answer everything in your own words.

We have sophisticated techniques for detecting plagiarism and collusion between candidates. We will take appropriate action to review candidate submissions and if necessary investigate these further should evidence suggest that potential inappropriate behaviour may have occurred during an examination.

We remind you that as student members of the IFoA you are bound by the Actuaries’ Code and that any finding of inappropriate behaviour during an examination could have serious implications for you and your career.

 

Indeed and what does any of this have to do with determining who should and shouldn't be allowed to practice as a qualified actuary?

 

Are people clear about what would constitute plagiarism for the more mathematical exams going online? Will you be allowed to use mathematical definitions you didn't invent?

 

Uh oh - can't "plagiarise" dy/dx x^n = nx^(n-1) any more - have to work out by taking the limit of a binomial expansion...
What about the times tables - can't be seen to plagiarise those either, have to work it out by repeated adding up.
What - we can't use the arabic numerals - we have to invent our own chicken scratchings to use in Word?
(Sorry (not sorry) for the flippant reductio ad absurdum post)

 

Hi all - Did other people receive the email "Plagiarism Review - September Exams 2020" this morning? Was this a general email sent to everyone?

 

No - not yet at least? I’ll let you know if one comes though later today. What does it say?

 

I know of one person who received this. I haven’t received it though. Anyone who needs any advice on how to respond, please just drop me a message.

 

Dear X
We are writing to advise you that we are about to send out letters to September exam sitters where it has been identified that there may be a possible breach of the Assessment Regulations. We do understand that anyone who receives a letter related to a possible breach of the regulations may find this particularly distressing. We are sorry that these letters are being released close to the results release date. We are doing everything we can to reduce the time taken to investigate, but there are a number of checks that have to be undertaken beforehand and this is the earliest practical opportunity to do so.

The general background is that investigations under the Assessment Regulations cover any breach ranging from plagiarism to collusion or impersonation. The IFoA does not automatically assume that students have broken the regulations if evidence emerges, but invites students to give their perspective.

Identifying possible breaches of regulations can involve the use of software, exam markers highlighting concerns, or whistleblowing. Each has to be considered and reviewed further before any formal notification is sent. This acts as a filter to ensure only potentially material cases are followed up. At any stage in the process investigations can and are dismissed.

To ensure that any student who finds themselves in this position is treated fairly it is important that you are given the opportunity to present your evidence to the Investigation Panel. This Panel will review all of the information available which includes the script and documentation received from the different sources such as software, markers or examiners, and evidence from you. Only then will it determine the outcome. To manage the balance between giving students an appropriate time to reply and bringing the matter to closure, students have a two week period in which to respond.

Whilst we realise that this will not provide comfort to those receiving the letter, the number of candidates found to be potentially in breach of the Assessment Regulations is less than 1% of the total number of candidates sitting examinations. This is a lower number to those sitting in April 2020.

Unlike the April session where all letters were released at the same time we are at a stage where we can release the letters relating to plagiarism this week and the collusion letters will come out a week later.

This means that all letters will be out prior to the exam results being released and those that receive a letter will have their exam result held pending the outcome of the investigation. The investigation will continue over the Christmas and New Year period with all outcomes released before we open for exam booking on 1st February 2021.

This is a complex and time consuming process and we understand the impact that any accusation will have on an individual. It is for this reason that we have a fair, and thorough process, to ensure students who are identified for potential breaches in the Assessment Regulations are identified, but also given the opportunity to respond.

Thank you for your understanding.

 

Does anyone know how they send out the letters? Is it via post or email?

 

It was a PDF attached to an email last time

 

I have only just received this email now. Does this mean I am under investigation? I was one of the students last time who went through this so was extra cautious to be careful this time, so am very upset to possibly be in this situation again.

 

I have just received it there now too. I can’t go through that experience again so I really hope it’s a generic email that everyone receives.

 

Someone just told me they got it and it says “you are receiving this email because you have selected Student Newsletter in your IFoA preferences” at the end