If the entire grade rides on one final product, you have created both the temptation and the blind spot. Spread the credit across the process: a proposal, a draft, peer review, a revision, and a short reflection can each carry points. The final product still matters, but it is the end of a visible path rather than a single high-stakes drop.

This rebalancing reduces the incentive to shortcut, because no single submission is worth gambling on, and it gives you many small windows into genuine engagement. It also models good practice, since real work in most fields happens in drafts and revisions rather than one inspired sitting.