Open book exam tomorrow but the file with the questions are open to everyone already

Question

I was going through the files on canvas of my course, then I saw a file called like Examination_(coursename)_2021 and was like "it's probably the practice". I opened it and it seemed like the actual exam, so I sent a message to course group like is this the actual exam? It seems like it is and they asked me to share it with them, which I did. Then I started thinking I should tell my professor that I have access to the questions. I also checked if other people in my class could find the file which they did. So now I'm kind of lost, obviously, I want to do well on the exam but also I don't feel good about it. Although the exam is tomorrow and it is an open book exam, I feel like I should tell my professor just because now my mind isn't focused on the exam at all, I feel I am morally obligated to tell them. Though I would have to tell everyone in my group that I told the professor which I don't think they would be happy about because I asked them if I should tell the professor and they already said no. Another reason I'm worried is that the professor might be able to see when I first viewed the questions, which was a day before, I'm just so lost about what I should do.

Edit:

I think I will tell my professor. However, now I don't know if I should tell the people in my class or just keep it anonymous. I'm worried that if I don't tell my class, some people will only have prepared for the questions and not for the actual course. I definitely regret sharing the exam with the people in my class now, it would've been much easier to have told my professor, if I hadn't shared the questions with the people in my class.

Edit 2: So I did send an email yesterday and apparently, it was just a past exam from another year. So it's all good. I just completed the actual exam today and feel quite good about it. Thank you to everyone who helped give advice!!

Answer 1

Tell your professor. I don't know whether Canvas keeps logs such as you describe, but it doesn't make any difference. Your feeling of moral obligation is correct. You are obligated to tell your professor.

Here is some general advice. Author John D. MacDonald has one of his characters say, approximately, "In the case of any ethical decision, the thing you least want to do is probably the right choice." (Quoted from memory, which is why it's approximate. I think Benedict De Spinoza wrote something similar.)

Answer 2

It is your unequivocal ethical duty to let the professor know about discovering the exam file. If you knowingly take an exam whose contents you know in advance even though you are not supposed to know them, then you are guilty of cheating, plain and simple. There isn’t any way to make such an action appear morally justified.

Second, your professor also has an ethical duty to act in a way that minimizes the damage from this incident. They must rewrite the exam. And they must announce to the class that the exam has been rewritten so as not to leave students with the false idea that they know the contents of the exam, leading them to not prepare well for a genuine exam. (Some might argue that that would be their problem if they chose not to prepare; however, deliberately leaving them with such an idea is a form of entrapment in my opinion, and itself unethical). So in your email to the professor it might be reasonable to express your concern about the classmates not being told, and suggest that the professor make such an announcement. It should be the professor who announces it, not you, to avoid jeopardizing your relationships with your classmates.

Answer 3

Two things to add to the excellent answer of Bob:

Not only should you tell the prof, but you are in the right to request anonymity.

Your fellow students will likely not be happy and, be aware, that, despite you doing the right thing, there is a high likelihood that will feel that you cheated them. Unfortunately, that's not the desired thing, but that's what typically happens.

You may need to ensure that your post is anonymous if you do not trust faculty to keep your identity as whistleblower confidential.

And, of course, do request that the paper is invalidated, so that students that were not informed about it do not end with a disadvantage.

Answer 4

Many academic ethics problems are reasonably well addressed by the "Golden rule", i.e. treat other people the way you would like to be treated if roles were reversed (sadly, this is sometimes exactly what the maxim in Bob's answer suggests).

If you were the prof. you would probably want to be informed immediately. They would probably not want you to share it with all of your friends as that may well invalidate the whole assessment for every student (meaning you may all have to sit a second exam).

You may want to check whether this violates your universities plagiarism and collusion regulations. Giving material to other students that is likely to improve their performance is likely to be regarded as collusion.

I would recommend letting the prof know exactly what happened immediately so they can do what they can to salvage the situation. Whether you do this anonymously or not is up to you, but next time I would think about the ethics of the situation before acting.

Answer 5

The mainstream opinion here does not generalize well. I agree that it's ethical to tell the professor, and it seems from your words you are not afraid of repercussions.

But for the people in different situations, remember that often no good deed goes unpunished. You can derail your academic career or even get in legal trouble just for discovering security issues.

Do not ever, in any circumstances, access files you shouldn't have access to, even if you just want to help. They can blame you and accuse you of hacking.

It is very risky to help people. If you can report something anonymously, you will avoid lots of potential trouble - but take care that you actually left no identifying trace.