At SA, Firstly, the weekly midterm exams were formative sessions with each test having 10 — 20 questions, followed by a short pep-talk, and a feedback session. The feedback session worked to immediately address misconceptions and doubts, while the pep-talk encouraged metacognition in students by urging them to use failure as stepping stones to correct misconceptions or study practices. Students were given the message that they should not pass early judgments on their abilities, but should continue to work hard to learn. Secondly, the weekly mid-terms were comprehensive exams that were closely aligned with the finals. At least 60% of the questions in these exams required higher level thinking skills based on Bloom’s taxonomy. Each formative exam tested material introduced during the week as well as previously covered concepts – although identical problems were never repeated; new questions were framed to give students practice on the same concepts and skills tested previously. And lastly, the creative grading system emphasized the importance of the weekly exams, while also allowing for success despite early failures. This system of weekly tests coupled with the novel grading scheme transforms mid-term exams into learning experiences.
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