Something about this has me a bit bothered. Idk exactly what, but I'll reflect on it, try to convey it better, but to brainstorm: this way of building trust with students still makes grades/evaluations a prominent character in the class. Isn't the broad idea that "grades distract students from sincere learning", so we should make them as small a feature of the class as possible? We should make grades part of the "backend" of the class. But you've still gotta build trust with students, and transparent grading can be a big part of that to the extrinsically motivated students.
Reflecting on what I've done non-deliberately in past classes, I usually build trust with students through a mutual dislike of the bureaucracy of education, and make it clear that I don'y *want* to assign them grades: the university asks me to assign them grades, and I'm stuck doing so. I think that feeling of "stuckness" resonates with students and works towards building trust.
Mike, I'd say you've found something that works well and should stick with it. :) My advice here is based on what works for me. I wouldn't say that I'm leaning in to extrinsic motivation, though. Instead, I'm trying to *reduce* the anxiety students have when they know there will be grades, but don't understand how they work.
I agree that students usually need a lot of help to understand, partially due to the fact that they think it's "too good to be true!" I use this assignment a few times throughout the semester in my SBG intro bio: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dnV2VJmXJty4KffzUlly2jO1wlA5qc_L0A9Ab1Blfa0/edit?usp=sharing
Something about this has me a bit bothered. Idk exactly what, but I'll reflect on it, try to convey it better, but to brainstorm: this way of building trust with students still makes grades/evaluations a prominent character in the class. Isn't the broad idea that "grades distract students from sincere learning", so we should make them as small a feature of the class as possible? We should make grades part of the "backend" of the class. But you've still gotta build trust with students, and transparent grading can be a big part of that to the extrinsically motivated students.
Reflecting on what I've done non-deliberately in past classes, I usually build trust with students through a mutual dislike of the bureaucracy of education, and make it clear that I don'y *want* to assign them grades: the university asks me to assign them grades, and I'm stuck doing so. I think that feeling of "stuckness" resonates with students and works towards building trust.
Mike, I'd say you've found something that works well and should stick with it. :) My advice here is based on what works for me. I wouldn't say that I'm leaning in to extrinsic motivation, though. Instead, I'm trying to *reduce* the anxiety students have when they know there will be grades, but don't understand how they work.