Self-Reported Impacts of a Low-Risk Testing System on Student Experiences and Learning Objectives.

We explore the effects of a novel exam framing, which we refer to as “Low-Risk Testing,'' on student experiences and learning objectives in an Intermediate Mathematical Methods physics class. Student responses were obtained through recorded and transcribed interviews during and after the semester. Participants' self-reported experiences revealed common themes of Anxiety, Alignment with course materials, Time, and Metacognition. Students reported significant benefits to their anxiety from the Low-Risk Testing system, as well as significant benefits from the broader Alignment of the exam sequence with other integrated course components. This study can be used to refine pedagogical practices in physics to optimize student performance and retention.