[ARCHIVED] Copy and Paste on Exam Response?

[robert_smith]

I'm a new faculty still learning how to work canvas. 

Recently, a student of mine submitted an open-ended quiz response in a different font. The exams are proctored, but I admit that the students are not monitored very well. I suspect this is from copy and pasting, but I do not want to conclude that the student was referring to outside resources without evidence. For all I know, they could have copied text inside the exam page and pasted it into the response, altering the font in the process. 

What can I figure out what the student did copy and paste? I'm familiar with the "activity logging," but that doesn't supply much evidence since it can be dismissed as inactivity.

Even if the student did cheat, does canvas supply enough information to make a case against the student? 

Thank you!

[rmurchshafer · Accepted solution]

Hi Robert,

That is a tough question.  Logs do provide some information which can help corroborate what might have happened, but rarely can they tell the full story.  As you've pointed it, a log can show they left the exam page, but it can't tell you what they did outside of that page or if they pasted an answer, and something like inactivity can produce a false positive.  

The other font is suspicious, and if you combine that with the activity log it could help support that suspicion, but as an Admin that is exactly what I'd tell a teacher and let them know it's up to them if they want to actually accuse a student of cheating. 

Rick