<p>Does the nature of the open curriculum, c/nc, etc. tend to hurt students who are not the hardcore self-motivating types?</p>
<p>Though I’m not sure what you mean by a “self-motivating type,” I would like to point out that the motivation the new curriculum requires involves curriculum choice, not the choice to work or not. Finding the motivation to do the work will be an issue, to the extent that it is an issue at all, no matter where you are (in school, work, family, etc).</p>
<p>That said, the new curriculum may demand motivation, but it also inpsires it. Because everyone in class has chosen to be there, the student participation is dynamic and contagious.</p>
<p>One of the many fond memories I have of Brown is of going to the English department one early Monday morning, hours before the office opened, to register for a Shakespeare class, only to find a long line of students already there, as if waiting for tickets to a rock concert. The line kept growing throughout the morning. The desire to study Shakespeare demonstrated by that line further heightened my own desire, making me realize how precious this education was and how lucky I was to have it. </p>
<p>Although I don’t think the new curriculum is for everyone (what is?), it does offer a lesson that anyone can and should learn: education requires an active search.</p>