My class has a variety of students that earn a variety of grades - from A all the way down. At the same time, due to the course, the scheduling, and other factors, most of the students in my smaller class all tend to know each other outside of class, and are a fairly tight-knit group. Tight knit in that although they don't necessarily help each other - they do tend to know what each other is making in the class. Because of the technical nature of this course (relating to computer graphics) some students naturally perform well and others do not - the one's that do not - after seeing their grades dip below their peers - seem all-too-willing to just give up. What can be done to keep these students motivated? Perhaps assign a group project? Extra credit to help equalise their grades? I'm not sure.