> I don't think the impulse to invest so much time and technique in this "investigation" should be encouraged
It resulted in a large amount of the students finally engaging with the material and ultimately caring about the course, though. I don't believe it is healthy to expect that of a professor, but it seemed to work out here.
Maybe that's true only because the author posted this, though. Hopefully the course changes that the author made will encourage future students to actually spend time on the course. If that's true, does it point towards a deeper solution with making courses more engaging? Not that students cheating are the professor's fault, of course. Nonetheless...
It resulted in a large amount of the students finally engaging with the material and ultimately caring about the course, though. I don't believe it is healthy to expect that of a professor, but it seemed to work out here.