Request for Clarification: Can Canvas Quiz Logs Be Used as Sole Evidence of Cheating?

Question

My name is Karla Patricia Herrera Espitia, I´m from Mexico and I´m a student at Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara. I´am writing to respectfully request technical clarification regarding the intended use and limitations of Canvas Quiz Logs.Recently, a large group of students at my university were informed that our ordinary exam grades were annulled because Canvas allegedly registered multiple exits and re-entries from the quiz page during the exam. As a consequence, students are being required to take an extraordinary exam, and the situation has been described as an academic dishonesty matter, and many students are at risk of losing scholarships - financial support that allows us to continue our studies, losing that support could mean that some of us would no longer be able to continue studying .The concern is that this determination appears to rely primarily, or exclusively, on Canvas Quiz Log activity. However, according to Instructure’s own documentation, Quiz Logs are designed to help investigate possible problems during a quiz and gain insight into quiz activity, but they are not intended to validate academic integrity or identify cheating.Because of this, I would like to respectfully ask for clarification on the following points:

* Are Canvas Quiz Logs intended to be used as the sole evidence to determine whether a student cheated during a quiz?
* Can events such as “stopped viewing the Canvas quiz-taking page,” exits, re-entries, network changes, internet interruptions, browser focus changes, or page reloads occur for technical reasons unrelated to academic dishonesty?
* Does Instructure recommend that institutions use Canvas Quiz Logs only as one piece of contextual information, rather than as conclusive evidence of cheating?
* Is there any official documentation or statement from Instructure that explains the limitations of Quiz Logs in academic integrity investigations?
* Could you provide any written clarification that I may share with my university so that the situation can be reviewed fairly and in accordance with Canvas’s intended use?

I want to clarify that I am not asking Canvas/Instructure to intervene in my university’s academic decision. I am only requesting technical guidance regarding the appropriate interpretation and limitations of Canvas Quiz Logs, especially in high-stakes academic decisions.This matter is extremely important because the university’s decision may affect students’ academic standing, scholarships, and progression in the program. I would greatly appreciate any official guidance or documentation you can provide.Thank you for your time and support.

I am sending this request to this general contact forum because I was unable to identify a more specific support address for student inquiries. If this is not the appropriate department, I would appreciate it if you could forward my message or indicate the correct contact channel.

paul_fynn · Answer

Hi @KARLA_PATRICIA1825 ,

Thank you for raising an important question. I can only offer you an opinion based on my experience.

Clearly institutions are increasingly challenged by authenticity of student submissions, and we know that there are  methods for accessing outside materials and support when an assessment is supposed to be closed book. It is not surprising that institutions are taking all reasonable steps to protect your interests as a degree holder and their reputation. In most countries they are legally obliged to do so.

As a learning technologist I have frequent discussions with our Academic Integrity investigators with regards to following up on what may at first glance appear to be an example of cheating based on the Canvas logs.

To go through a number of points

* Instructure's advice on quizzes and quiz moderation logs used to make it clear that the student access data should not be used as evidence of student malpractice, I'm not sure it is still there.
* The interpretation of quiz access data is highly nuanced* The time shown in some displays of Canvas Analytics data is your local time, in others it is Zulu time (Co-ordinated Universal Time or UCT) - in the UK we have a one hour difference between Zulu time and UCT. An uninformed user may not appreciate that.
* In addition to showing different times, different displays may carry different granularities of data ie more or less detailed..
* The detailed quiz access logs indicate that in App based access to the quizzes, up to a dozen handshaking processes can be recorded within the first second of access - before the user has got as far as the first quiz question
* There is no clear transparency as to how the systems will behave, and what records will be generated,  when innocent server switching, page reloading etc takes place, as @adam_c_voyton has identified. This is compounded when mobile data access results in connections dropped and restored, and there is an interplay between that and Canvas logging protocols
* New quizzes operate via API, and there may be lags in user access data feeding back into Canvas, and a different set of data may appear a few minutes apart

I am sure that other contributors will be able to add further to this list.

In terms of what should happen next, for those students who believe they are innocent of any wrongdoing, I can only offer an opinion - you need to seek your own academic advice.

* I would recommend as a starting point, an informal approach to your Course or School management, identifying your concerns and providing evidence that contributors have shared here. It may be helpful to include your student union or support services.
* You may be advised by your School to go through your formal institution appeal processes, and whilst you may want help with this, in my view you shouldn't need a lawyer !
* Depending on your local regulations, you may also be entitled to make what is called in Europe a 'data subject access request' to see all data the institution holds, including your quiz access logs. However, the institution may have an exemption for these purposes.
* You may have recourse to a national ombudsman or independent reviewer - again in my view this shouldn't need a lawyer, but you may want help
* In my view consideration of legal action should be a last resort

Certainly you are right to take this extremely seriously.

Good luck !

NoeGudino69445547 · Answer

I am a lawyer in Mexico, whit the reform of the new Amparo law, universities are considered responsable authorities and can be sued in court as responsible for the harm they cause to third parties.

NoeGudino69445547 · Answer

All universities have a disciplinary and academic council that can open an investigation and request a review. If the university does not issue a favorable ruling, they can file an appeal in the district court before a federal judge. It is highly they will obtain a favorable ruling due to insufficient evidence. In court, the standard of proof is very high, and, if the university only offers evidence from Canvas, that will not be enough to prove the alleged misconduct fro which they have been sanctioned.