Navigating Academic Integrity: A Case Study on Plagiarism Accusations
In the realm of online education, communication can sometimes lead to misunderstandings. Recently, I found myself entangled in a situation that not only questioned my integrity but also revealed some perplexing actions from my professor. Let me share my experience and the steps I took to rectify the matter, as well as insights for anyone who might find themselves in a similar predicament.
The Incident
Just a few days ago, I received a concerning email from my professor claiming I submitted a plagiarized assignment. She indicated that I had uploaded another student’s work under her name, which led to a potential referral to the dean of academics at my university. The situation escalated quickly, and when I inquired for clarification, she reiterated the accusation without further explanation.
Admittedly, I did download another student’s assignment as a reference while I was crafting my own work, as the instructions encouraged us to engage with peers’ ideas. The submission guidelines stated, “Post your assignment here so everyone can view your ideas,” which I misinterpreted as a call for collaborative learning. Unfortunately, when the final moment came to submit, I accidentally uploaded her PDF instead of my own—an honest mistake, but one that carried significant consequences.
Taking Action
After realizing the mix-up, I promptly emailed my professor to apologize and clarified the misunderstanding. I provided my actual assignment as proof, along with metadata to support my claim that I had completed my work on time. I even included instructions on how she could verify the metadata herself. However, my efforts fell short when I received another email stating that I would still receive a zero because I had “crossed a line” by downloading another student’s work.
Feeling frustrated, I composed a carefully worded response highlighting the submission guidelines I had quoted earlier. The irony of the situation was further compounded when I checked the submission page for the assignment only to discover that the crucial sentence I had cited had been removed shortly after sending my email. It appeared as if my professor had deleted it to obscure the very guideline that supported my case.
Seeking Evidence
In my quest for clarity and proof, I wondered if there was any way to access previous versions of the assignment submission page. I looked into options for rolling back the site to a version from only a few hours prior, but unfortunately, the Wayback Machine had not archived it. Given that the submission forum was hosted on Moodle, I explored
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