Students Choose from a Menu of Projects

Students earn consulting fees for projects which they select from a menu of project choices or that they design themselves on topics that are of interest to them but are related to the course. For each project that a student intends to complete, they submit a proposal to be approved by the teacher before they begin work on the project. Once the proposal is approved they may complete the project. The proposal process keeps the teacher in control of what the students are working on and getting credit (paid) for.

Completed projects are submitted to the teacher. Projects that are not of professional quality (work that would earn an "A" in a traditional course) are returned to the student along with notes on what needs to be done to make the project "A" quality work. The student must rework and resubmit the project in order to get "paid" for it. Once a project is "A" quality, the teacher returns it to the student with "Paid $2,000" (or whatever amount was agreed upon in the proposal) written on the cover sheet like a voucher for payment.

Students Build Portfolios of Their Work

Near the end of the semester the student compiles all his/her paid projects into a portfolio that is submitted to the teacher as a summation of the semester's work. In the portfolio are accounting sheets that the student fills out showing what the student earned, both from in-class fees and project fees, and the grade for which that total amount of fees qualifies the student.

The students set their own grade goal and earn their goal grade based on earning fees, so they understand exactly how many dollars in fees they earned and what grade that amount of fees earns -- there is no arguing about grades.