Hawkes Learning’s homework lessons are broken into a 3-step learning mode: Learn, Practice and Certify.
Certify is designed to ensure students truly know the material.
Built on the principles of Mastery Learning, Certify challenges students to demonstrate a defined level of proficiency before moving forward. During each Certify attempt, tutoring aids are removed, encouraging independent problem-solving and reinforcing genuine understanding. This intentional structure promotes confidence, accountability, and long-term retention, helping students build a strong foundation they can rely on both inside and outside the classroom.
This mastery-based approach mirrors the conditions students face on proctored exams, making Certify a powerful preparation tool. By requiring students to work independently—without access to tutoring aids—Certify helps them practice recalling concepts, applying problem-solving strategies, and managing confidence under pressure. Because students must reach a defined level of proficiency before progressing, gaps in understanding are identified and corrected early, not discovered on exam day. The result is deeper retention, reduced test anxiety, and exam performance that reflects true understanding rather than short-term memorization.
Ash from University of Charleston
Certify has helped me feel more ready for exams by giving me practice, but also by bridging the gap between Practice mode and the exam. Certify offers lower stakes than an exam, allowing for multiple retries and allowing you to miss a few problems and still complete it (due to the mastery approach).
This can help improve my confidence before an exam and reduce my test anxiety. Certify also holds you accountable to completing practice questions without learning aids which you won't have on an exam.
Ty'Nia from University of Arkansas
Certify has helped me feel more ready for exams, because once you Certify, that means you've learned to the point of mastery.
Hannah from Prairie View A&M University
Going through Certify has helped me know the processes and have the understanding needed to complete the problems on the Exams. In my Calculus 1 course, some of the exam problems were similar to those in Certify and having completed them in Certify allowed me to be successful in completing them on my exam.
Calliope from Guilford College
It [Certify] allowed me to assess my weak spots even if I had shown mastery, and this was very helpful when reviewing for tests. Certify built confidence in my literacy of a subject and that translated well to my confidence on exams when I saw similar problems. Redoing Certifications later also allowed me to prep in a test-like setting.
Rishi from University of North Carolina-Charlotte
Certify gives me a way to use my own knowledge to complete problems. When I do Certify, I try to do all the problems without getting one wrong. If I get one wrong, I start over so I can be more motivated to take my time and do the problems.
Trenton from Prairie View A&M University
It [Certify] has made me feel like I was taking a quiz. Since I had to actually learn it to even get a grade for the assignment, it helped me prepare for the questions I would see in the exam environment.
Sabrina from SUNY - Old Westbury
Certify has helped me feel more ready for exams because the mastery approach pushes me to fully understand the material rather than just complete assignments. Since I have to consistently demonstrate accuracy, it encourages me to review concepts, fix mistakes, and truly learn the content before moving on. For example, when preparing for exams, I noticed that Certify helped me identify weak areas that I might have overlooked. If I struggled to reach mastery on certain topics, I would go back to Practice, use Explain Error, and repeat problems until I felt confident. This process made my studying more focused and effective instead of reviewing everything equally.
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