Grade targets and teaching innovations

This paper develops a simple model of student choice to explain why some te aching innovations have only a negligible effect on mean student performanc e. Teaching innovations are defined as small changes in pedagogy that enabl e students to more quickly convert time to knowledge. In modeling student b ehavior it is assumed that some students are more interested in their level of performance or in minimizing their effort than in mastering a subject. The model demonstrates that if students set grade targets, some students ch oose to learn less and the change in mean student achievement will tend to be small. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.