Professor fired after giving all his students A-pluses

Here's an unusual story from Canada. A University of Ottawa professor has been fired for protesting the school's grading system by giving all his students an A+. Here's the justification that the professor made, quoted in the National Post story

Prof. Rancourt explained the unusual approach by saying he hoped the automatic grades would take the pressure off students in his fourth-year class and free them instead to concentrate on understanding the concepts he taught.

"If you want people who are responsible and know their stuff, you want independent thinkers. The only way to catalyze the development of an independent thinker is to give him or her freedom," he told the Ottawa Citizen after his suspension in December. "You can't use a carrot-and-stick, bang-them-on-the-head approach, and say 'you regurgitate this on Monday.' You've got to give them the freedom to follow that natural ability to learn."

But another professor expressed an opposing view, saying:

grading performs an important function in the current system.

"Grades are a motivator to make students work harder. Some are going to learn for the love of it, but most will do the very minimum to get by," he said. "I think he's being very idealistic if he thinks a free A+ will maximize his students' proficiency in physics."

What do you think of this professor's unorthodox approach with his university students? Are college students mature enough to learn for learning's sake? Or do you think it's naive to believe that college students don't need grades as a motivator to work hard, particularly for the mandated classes outside of their major?