Notice that if you buy into the signaling theory of education this behavior is instantly explained. The primary purpose of college is achieved by the time you get an offer letter. "We certify that you have a high enough IQ and conscientiousness to get into our school." Spiffy, job guaranteed! Now you get four years to find yourself and drink a lot. But for some reason you are constantly beset by atheist monks who think you should be praying more.

That may be true for some, but not for me. Not only was I paying most of the tuition bill, I selected classes based on what I though was knowledge I needed for the career I wanted. An "easy A" didn't figure into it.

I wasn't interested in paying lots of money for nothing. I also wasn't interested in attending a university known for easy grading.

Quoting article: "There's an intriguing exception to the pattern: Classes full of highly skilled students do give highly skilled teachers high marks. Perhaps the smartest kids do see the benefit of being pushed."

Maybe you are in that "highly skilled" group. Unfortunately, average student have different behavior.

I don't know if that necessary corresponds to being highly skilled or not.

But I like being pushed hard in a class - it brings out the best in me. Easy A's just engender boredom and contempt.

I remember once being pushed to enter an athletic competition where the field was not so good. "It'll be an easy win for you" I was told. That made me completely uninterested. I entered one where I was told "You'll be in way over your head." and I was. I came in last - but there was never a more satisfying one to me, because it was my best job ever, and just being on the field with those other excellent competitors was exciting.

An analogy would be just qualifying for the Olympic team, even if you have no hope of getting a gold.

Same here; I was referring to the majority of students for whom "getting out of here with high grades" is their motivation.

On HN, I imagine a significant number of us here are sufficiently motivated to learning even without anyone to remind them of its importance.

> students for whom "getting out of here with high grades" is their motivation

What a sad way to live, and I wouldn't hire one of them, either.

I found the course catalog at college to be exciting reading, and was frustrated to be only able to take a small fraction of what was available.

I remember several "aha!" moments where suddenly I understood something that had always baffled me, and felt like I'd been given the keys to the universe.