= Good deeds policy =

For any course that I teach, there is a good deeds policy.  It is very simple.

  * Students who try hard (e.g. working hard, being curious and not being afraid to show uncertainty while being open and thoughtful) will get noticed.
  * Students who contribute much (e.g. leading discussions) will get noticed.

There are many concrete ways one gets noticed.

  * Classroom discussions.
  * Office hour discussions.
  * On-line discussions.

For the last one, the new forum system that I have installed has a ''vote'' feature, which I expect will help me notice good deeds more easily (and more objectively?) in the forum discussions.  I will vote positively if a student shows more than casual effort.  I believe other students will vote positively when they see good deeds by students.  However, it is not possible to vote negatively, unless you have accrued a lot of reputation points -- so I hope we don't worry about any negative vote for the most part.

I hope students will feel comfortable enough to contribute freely.  There is nothing to lose.  I don't have any bad deeds policy!  So far in my teaching, I did not need any such thing.  <<color("For instance, I feel that I have given enough clues to the ''work energy'' theorem question on the forum site.  I'd be really happy if a student provides a good answer.  My giving an answer is really not meaningful at all, because, really, you are the one!")>>

What is the benefit of getting noticed?  It may be of crucial help, if your grade ends up near a grade boundary.