Investigation into possible plagiarism

If it turns out that students have been materially misled that their fees must still remain same level as there is no cost saving going online due to needing to address plagiarism... then what?

 

The IFOA has updated the plagiarism conditions further including examples. I have to ask, how do I know when I'm paraphrasing?? Are they serious about referencing the core reading when stating a definition in a time sensitive exam?

 

We've gone from referencing being prohibited to mixed messages to allowed with less than three weeks before exams start.

 

Has anyone else read the latest mail from Matthew Tenant? I am now very confused around the plagiarism element of these exams. It now says even if you are paraphrasing something/writing something in your own words (Which is what I would classify anyone is doing when answering something using any ideas from core reading) this needs to be reference now too? How is this realistic to do for a 3:15 hour exam?

 

I am also completely lost and unsure of what is and isn't permitted with 3 weeks to go. His email confused me further!

 

Page 12 of the "Examinations Handbook" seems to say its advised to "use your own words". This is what I did for Septemeber 2020.. But now if you are asked a question that you know relates to a certain chapter/section of a chapter, even if you are answering off the top of your head (but using ideas you learned from this chapter) are you expected to reference? The lack of clarity is worrying

 

I'd also appreciate some guidance on this.

On the Plagiarism page, it states:
"For example, it could be as simple as IFoA SA7 Core Reading 2020, Unit 2, Page13, Paragraph 3.4"

What if you can't remember where you learnt something within the core reading? In my opinion that reference example is incredibly specific but they consider it simple. Considering these exams are time pressured, should I be spending time in an exam finding the exact paragraph on the exact page within the exact unit?

Really rough that they released this information just before a 4 day weekend where lots of students will be doing prep, and (hopefully for their sake!) the Acted tutors are also having some time off.

 

This latest guidance is vague and very poorly timed.

I agree that "For example, it could be as simple as IFoA SA7 Core Reading 2020, Unit 2, Page13, Paragraph 3.4" is not at all simple!

I have spoken to a number of students now and we are really disappointed with the IFoA's last minute updates yet again. Why can't they make changes like this to the September sitting rather than the sitting which is less than 3 weeks away? We are all now practising past papers, we have already written our notes - how can we be expected in this timeframe to go back over all of these and include sources for anything that is slightly too similar to wording used elsewhere? We certainly won't have time to do this in the 3 hour 15 minutes we are usually given for exams! If they want us to include references, considering an essay / coursework type format would be more appropriate than a time-pressured exam. They have not even clarified to what extent quotes and references can be used - can 100% of my script be answers that are referenced?

And yet again, the update comes last thing before a weekend, so students can't even contact them and get a response back in a reasonable time. This is what happened when they released the first set of plagiarism letters back in July, so seems one-way communication is their preferred method.

The IFoA should focus their resource on setting questions to suit the new open book format, not policing / disciplining students because the IFoA haven't properly adapted exam papers in time and have no idea how to mark them. They just can't say no to our money. Exams should have been cancelled if they could not adapt in time to the change of circumstances.

 

"For example, it could be as simple as IFoA SA7 Core Reading 2020, Unit 2, Page13, Paragraph 3.4"

is too much.. how are we expected to make detailed reference such as the above with limited time??

 

Does this mean that if you write word for word from that acted notes, and then just reference it and it's allowed?

If for instance a question comes up that was asked in 2011 or 2001, is it acceptable to literally type out word for word the answer in the examiner report and than just stat where it's taken from?

Like others have said the email from the IFoA creates more uncertainty for students. I have no idea what i'm suppose to do now

 

From here: https://www.actuaries.org.uk/studyi...-regulations/inappropriate-conduct/plagiarism
It states:

However, it then goes on to say that it's okay to learn something off and include this if you reference it....

So it appears that it is acceptable that if you are asked to define something that's in the notes - that you can type out the answer and get full marks as long as you reference it.

But if a question comes up that came up in 2010 - can we copy the answer and reference it, or does that not demonstrate that we have a genuine understanding?

Questions that are not answered are:
What happens if you don't reference it? Many students will not know where they picked up definitions as they are in their own notes.

What happens if you give the wrong reference, or if your not using 2021 notes for instance?

Finally is a student now allowed to use the copy/paste functionality and then just reference the page in the notes? This will save so much time than typing it out?

 

Incredibly frustrating and confusing. Stress we do not need less than 2 weeks from exams starting!! Really beggars belief that having now had over a year to put together some guidelines on online exams the institute are still so unclear on what's required.

 

I mean we should not really expect anything else from a money-hungry organisation.....they are an absolute joke!

Would anyone of you be able to answer exactly how I can answer the following question without it being labelled as plagiarism? If the Acted tutors are reading this, we could really use some direction here...

Define the term Captive ?
List advantages and disadvantages of setting up a captive ?

These were the questions that they accused me of plagiarising in the September sitting - can anyone tell me how I answer them (or similar ones) in the future without going through this joke of a process again.

I would greatly appreciate any advice or plan of action that you guys have come up with for this upcoming sitting.

 

Sadly, I have to agree, I really feel for all students currently preparing for exams.

 

Plagiarism is also being discussed on reddit.

Indeed, this sounds so absurd.

 

The IFoA's Member Pledge (https://www.actuaries.org.uk/about-us/our-member-pledge) includes (the bold emphasis is mine):
"The IFoA works continually to improve the membership experience through consultation and partnership. IFoA employees treat all members with respect in each interaction and always strive to be fair, transparent and reasonable."

I've previously mentioned my concerns that the IFoA has been behaving in a "do as I say, not as I do" manner (see https://improveifoa.wordpress.com/2...lling-its-members-to-do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do/). Sadly, this just reinforces that impression:

How is changing the guidance so close to exams "consultation", or "fair, transparent and reasonable"? Does the IFoA member pledge really mean anything significant in practice?
How is the current guidance in line with principle 6 of the Actuaries' Code, the need to communicate clearly?
As someone else has pointed out, isn't this yet another example of the IFoA altering the terms of its agreement with members part way through a subscription year?

 

https://www.actuaries.org.uk/documents/ifoa-qualifications-complaints-policy

I wonder if pursuing this avenue might be of value - really poor that apparently conflicting advice on such an important issue is being issued so close to the exam.

 

Altering terms late in the day after people have paid their exam (& subscription) fees (also known as entering into a contract)...

Doubt it, given the past performance of IFoA complaints handling. Group complaints made externally would be more effective.

 

The conflicting advice was actually issued months ago. They have now changed the assessment regulations and removed the conflict. However, now we have unreasonable referencing expectations. "Simple" references that are about as complex as referencing gets and the issue of how to reference when personal notes do not have such detailed references of where they were collated from.

 

Some of the handbook was copied from the Assessment Regulations ie the paragraph saying referencing was prohibited. This paragraph no longer appears in the Assessment Regulations.

There is still an issue with the word "paraphrase". This means "write in different words" so writing in your own words does not remove the requirement to reference.