Collaboration, collusion, and barter-cheating: an analysis of academic help-seeking behaviors

This study explores the social nature of learning and discusses its implications for student assessment. To this end, we analyzed a sample of unique first-hand accounts of students seeking help with academic work, relying on the grounded theory approach for the identification of incentives for academic support (n = 807), and used time-series analysis (n = 5,637) to identify temporal trends. Our findings demonstrate an overlap in collaboration, collusion, and contact cheating practices and highlight a trade element in peer-relationships. In contrast to outsourcing of academic work to commercial providers, whereby academic support is exchanged for money, students' tend to trade what they have available. The incentives offered in exchange for academic support included food, personal attention, money, alcohol, personal items, and sexual opportunities. The top subjects students sought help with were mathematics, history, and English. When examined on a timeline (2018-2023), the help-seeking behaviors persisted throughout the pandemic-related lockdowns; however, there was a shift toward monetary transactions. We argue that peer community can be considered an economy. Transacting with peers is more accessible, more affordable, and less risky than transacting with commercial providers. Furthermore, when students are partially involved in the production of academic work, it becomes harder to detect.