Some reflections on on-line tutoring and plagiarism

In 1995 the authors developed and implemented an online tutoring system for first year engineering dynamics. This involved a set of problems with diagnostic feedback and a sub-set of problems that earned credit. Initially the system was very effective but over the years the degree of plagiarism has increased. This paper is concerned with describing the history of events, describing remedies that were put in place, examining their outcomes and suggesting ways forward. In particular the issue of why students choose to cheat and not spend the time mastering a topic is discussed.