Many students are motivated by grades or degrees. They see it as their reward for performing successfully in a course. Unfortunately, grades and degrees aren’t the product we are looking for as instructors. We see learning as the product. Here’s an interesting article about an instructor who removed grades from her class which resulted in more learning by her students.
About simoncrothers
I am an Australian who moved to British Columbia, Canada with my family in 1998. After completing my undergraduate degree in mathematics and computing science at Simon Fraser University, I moved back to Australia for several years. During this time I completed a Masters in Computational Mathematics and began my teaching career in mathematics at the University of New South Wales. In 2010, I moved back to Canada and taught computer science at Douglas College for three years. I am currently regular faculty in the Computer Business Systems department at KPU. I have also taught some courses in the Business and Quantitative Methods department at KPU.
In my spare time I like to spend time with my wife Jami, who I met in Australia, our three year old daughter Lillian, and our newly born son Aiden. I also like to indulge in the occasional video game and I am involved in various self-employed web development projects.
Reflections of a Business Quantitative Methods Instructor 