Dartmouth Medical School Catches Some Students Cheating on Online Tests – and Erroneously Accuses Others

Dartmouth Medical School has accused 17 students of cheating while taking tests online. Seven of the cases have already been dismissed after the school admitted the students might not have cheated at all. In the past year, many students have had to take exams remotely, as in-person classes have been canceled due to rules implemented in response to the Chinese coronavirus.

Dartmouth has been reviewing students’ online activity on Canvas — a web-based learning management system — to retroactively track students’ activity during remote exams without their knowledge, according to a report by the New York Times.

The report added that independent technology experts say the medical school may have overstepped by using certain online activity data to try to pinpoint cheating, which led to some erroneous accusations.

One of the 17 students, Sirey Zhang, received an email from administrators at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine informing him that he had been accused of cheating.

The email said that after a review of the student’s online activity on Canvas during three remote exams, data suggested he had looked up course material related to one question during each test, which is a violation of the honor code and could lead to expulsion.

Zhang said he had not cheated, but after the school’s student affairs office suggested he would have a better outcome if he expressed remorse and pleaded guilty, he said he felt he had little choice but to agree, according to the New York Times.

The student now reportedly faces suspension and a misconduct mark on his academic record that could derail his dream of becoming a pediatrician.

“What has happened to me in the last month, despite not cheating, has resulted in one of the most terrifying, isolating experiences of my life,” said Zhang, who has filed an appeal.

The report added that the cheating allegations have sparked an on-campus protest, letters of concern to school administrators from more than two dozen faculty members, and complaints of unfair treatment from the school’s student government.

Overall, Dartmouth’s attempt to root out cheating in the wake of protocols implemented in response to the Wuhan virus provides an interesting case study of how universities might now be relying on technology that normalizes student tracking.

“If other schools follow the precedent that Dartmouth is setting here, any student can be accused based on the flimsiest technical evidence,” said Cooper Quintin, senior staff technologist at the digital rights organization, Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Seven of the 17 accused students have already had their cases dismissed, according to the New York Times.

In one of those cases, administrators said, “automated Canvas processes are likely to have created the data that was seen rather than deliberate activity by the user,” according to a school email.

The 10 other students have been expelled, suspended, or received course failures and unprofessional-conduct marks on their records. Nine students — including Zhang — pleaded guilty, and some have filed appeals.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.