ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author open by adding a few other testimonials and then consider why specs grading increases student motivation. He also examine other opportunities for adding motivational enhancements to a specs-graded course. There are five relevant theories of motivation that apply to students: self-efficacy, expectancy-value of goal achievement, goal orientation, self-determination, and goal setting. Consistent with goal-setting theory, it even lets students select the workload and grade they wish to pursue. Some faculty have experimented with letting students choose the percentage weight for each assignment and test—in other words, letting them determine the distribution of points across assignments and tests—within certain limits. Hiller and Hietapelto advocate allowing students to select their own learning goals or outcomes. Students can then choose from among additional outcomes. In Leff’s area, one major performance goal is writing a minimal number of lines of code.
