A Disturbing Case of Misunderstanding: Plagiarism Accusation in an Online Course

In today’s digital learning environment, where clear communication is paramount, one student found themselves entangled in a troubling situation. Let’s dive into this student’s experience navigating an accusation of plagiarism, miscommunication with a professor, and the quest for justice.

The Accusation

Recently, a student enrolled in an online course received an unexpected and vague email from their professor. The message claimed that the student had committed plagiarism, with a threat to escalate the issue to the dean of academics. Confused and concerned, the student sought clarification. The professor alleged that they had uploaded another student’s assignment, complete with the author’s name, leading to allegations of academic dishonesty.

Upon reflection, the student realized that while the professor’s accusation had merit, it stemmed from a simple error. They explained that the course guidelines instructed participants to upload their assignments to a collaborative forum for peer review—an invitation that encouraged students to download and reference others’ work for inspiration. Faced with a complex assignment, the student had downloaded a PDF of a classmate’s work before finishing their own submission.

In haste, the student unintentionally uploaded the wrong document, leading to the controversy. Upon realizing the mix-up, they promptly reached out to the professor, offering a sincere apology and providing evidence of the correct assignment submission. This included a screenshot of the document’s metadata, indicating that it had been created prior to the assignment deadline.

A Subtle Shift

However, the situation escalated when the professor responded by insisting the student would still receive a failing grade. She contended that the student had “crossed a line” by using another’s work as a model. Feeling frustrated but remaining polite, the student countered by quoting the precise language from the course guidelines that encouraged students to refer to each other’s work.

Yet, upon returning to the assignment submission page moments later, the student discovered a shocking development: the sentence encouraging collaboration had vanished. This deletion occurred just minutes after the student’s rebuttal email, raising suspicions about the professor’s motives.

The student speculated that the professor’s actions could be an attempt to erase evidence that contradicted her initial accusations. Seeking clarity on the matter, they wondered if there was a way to access previous versions of the course site to provide proof of the original guidelines.

Seeking Guidance

After conducting some preliminary research, the student found that the course site was not archived