> Persuasion by any other name is just a big stick? Don't take that too
> seriously, I'm just typing it because it occurred to me after rereading
> Phyllis's message. It seems like your underlying question is, "if one
> removes certain criteria for grading, and grades on some other criteria,
> how does one motivate students." In other words what you sound like is
> at issue is how to persuade students to accept the criteria you've got in
> mind.
>
> How do I persuade them it depends? I often don't.
I don't think I am able to do it either, and it feels ironic to me that
as a teacher of rhetoric I'm not able to persuade my students to agree
wholeheartedly with my criteria. Well, I think some of them do, but it's
hard to know if it's persuasion or the stick that makes them go along. .
. --Phyllis