Could trying to prove myself after being accused of academic dishonesty cause me to get a more severe penalty if I don't do well? I have been accused of cheating on my math final. I did not cheat. There was no &quot;trial&quot; and the only evidence is that (1) my hands were out of the frame, and (2) my work &quot;looked like a machine did it.&quot; The professor gave me a zero on the final, which gave me a D in the course.
Now she is offering me the chance to let her watch as I work through (previously unseen) problems. I guess I can &quot;prove&quot; I didn't cheat by getting the questions right and formatting my work in the same way as I did on the test. My concern is that, even though I am innocent, I could still &quot;fail&quot; this exercise in her judgment. If this were to happen, is it likely that I could receive a more severe penalty than I have now? Like if I don't &quot;pass the test&quot; in front of the department head, will I still have a D and 0 on the final? Or will something worse happen?
More details....
Here is a timeline of the events:

I got an email from my professor saying because my hands were not in the frame (it was a remote test), I violated the testing environment and am getting a 0 on the final. Additionally, it appeared my answers were copied from a &quot;commonly used math website&quot; so she is failing me in the course.
I emailed her back and asked to meet. Because that is the process at my school.
I met with her, she didn't say what evidence she had against me, said she already filed the report and that I will be getting a letter from the office of student conduct.
She also said I can talk to the department head. She decided not to fail me because she found that I haven't ever cheated in her class before but the issue was with the supporting work so I had to take the 0 on the final.
I got the letter, they said they won't file any sanctions against me and that it will say on the report &quot;For Information Only&quot; but I can get an academic penalty. I did. Which I can appeal.
Met with the department head, again didn't really provide any evidence other than that it looked like a &quot;machine&quot; did my work for me.
The department head offered this opportunity to work through a set of random problems and &quot;prove&quot; I didn't cheat. I am trying to decide whether to accept this offer.
If I &quot;fail&quot; to prove I didn't cheat, I do not plan to pursue it further (not that I would have many options left in any case).

Update: I took the &quot;test&quot; with the department head. She is recommending that my grade not be changed :/
I appreciate everyone's comments and concerns!
It is unlikely that the sanction will be increased if you protest your innocence. But you don't say whether you did actually cheat in some way. If you did, then you should probably accept it and move on.
But if you didn't then, to me, the &quot;evidence&quot; seems a bit circumstantial. If it were me and I was innocent, then I would protest vigorously to whoever would listen.
The &quot;infraction&quot; is likely in your file in case there is a repeat accusation. But, in most places, it won't follow you after graduation - and it would be improper if it did.