University of Southern Maine
Independent Study from the Ohio Math Journal
Hawkes students averaged 83 on quizzes and 81 on the final exam, compared with 74 and 72 for students using paper-and-pencil homework.
Mastery Learning
Clear Goals. Real Accountability. Meaningful Progress.
A true mastery-based approach shifts education from a race against the clock to a supportive learning path built around each student.
Students keep working with immediate feedback and personalized guidance until they can show they understand the material on their own, gaining real skills and confidence along the way.
Hawkes' mastery-based system is built on three pillars:
1. Effectiveness
Scaffolded practice, interactive tutorials, and error-specific feedback help students build skills that stick beyond the homework.
2. Engagement
Adaptive review and dynamic content keeps learners motivated, confident, and puts them in charge of their own progress.
3. Efficiency
Everything lives in one place, from learning to course management, so students can focus on mastery and instructors can focus on teaching—not navigating technology.
A Clear Path to Mastery:
Learn, Practice, Certify
Hawkes Learning structures mastery learning through a clear progression of Learn, Practice, and Certify, ensuring students build understanding before they are assessed and demonstrate mastery independently when it counts.
LEARN introduces course content through a structured, multimedia-rich digital text with videos, examples, and interactive skill checks aligned to course objectives.
PRACTICE is a low-stakes space to apply what they've learned, with step-by-step tutorials, error-specific feedback, and targeted review that builds understanding and confidence.
CERTIFY is the graded assessment. Learning aids are removed and students show mastery at a defined proficiency level, so results reflect true understanding.
Mastery Learning in Action
Learning Without Limits
Students get unlimited practice attempts, without penalty, to build and demonstrate their understanding.
Support that Motivates
Structured practice, interactive step-by-step tutorials, and immediate error-specific feedback support learning, build confidence, and reinforce understanding.
Efficiency at Scale
Instructors can set course- and lesson-level objectives, track progress, and recognize achievement and persistence—without added complexity.
Results That Speak for Themselves
From higher pass rates to stronger student confidence, see how institutions are putting mastery learning to work.
Arkansas State University
After adopting Hawkes, College Algebra completion rose from 60% to 80%, and DFW rates fell 18 to 26% across three algebra courses.
Neosho County Community College
General Psychology grades rose from a low B average to a mid-A average, and drop rates nearly disappeared along with student reports of test anxiety related to General Psychology courses.
East Carolina University
Across three Spring 2026 statistics sections, students averaged 86.67% in the course and 93.12% on homework, with students who earned an A averaging 99.57% on homework.
Seminole State College
After moving to corequisite math pathways with Hawkes courseware, the share of students completing college-level math in one semester averaged 73% per term. All surveyed lab students said the corequisite course helped them succeed.
South College
Year over year, the number of students passing rose 20% in Statistics and 21% in College Algebra. Students who passed averaged about 30 minutes a day in Learn, Practice, and Certify.
Genesee Community College
The share of Basic Math students scoring 80 to 100% on the final exam rose from 33% to 69%. In Introductory Algebra it rose from 34% to 63%.
Your Questions About Mastery Learning, Answered
What is a mastery-based approach?
A mastery-based approach means students keep learning and practicing a skill until they can show they understand it on their own.
In practice, that looks like:
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Clear goals: students know what they're working toward and what proficiency looks like.
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Supported practice: low-stakes practice with immediate feedback, guided help, and targeted review.
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Independent proof: students demonstrate what they know on their own, without learning aids, at a defined level of proficiency.
- Another chance, with support: if a student doesn't reach proficiency, they return to targeted practice and try again.
How is mastery learning different from traditional homework?
Traditional approaches often move everyone forward on a fixed schedule, even when gaps in understanding remain. Mastery learning adapts feedback and guidance to each student, so they can work at their own pace and fill those gaps before moving on.
How does mastery learning work at Hawkes Learning?
Hawkes Learning guides students through a clear three-step path: Learn, Practice, and Certify. Each step has a job, so students build understanding first and then show what they know on their own.
Learn: students start with a structured, multimedia-rich lesson, including concept builders, animations, instructional videos, and interactive skill checks aligned to course objectives.
Practice: a low-stakes space to apply what they've learned. Algorithmically generated problems, step-by-step tutorials, and error-specific feedback help students build understanding and confidence, and they can focus on the areas where they need the most work.
Certify: the graded step. Learning aids are removed, and students demonstrate mastery independently at a defined proficiency level.
If a student doesn't pass Certify, adaptive Practice focuses on their immediate needs before they try again.
What happens if a student doesn't pass Certify?
If a student doesn't pass Certify, support is built right in. They're taken back to Practice to focus on what they need most, given access to adaptive learning aids, and then they take another shot at Certify.
How does Hawkes make mastery learning simple for instructors?
Hawkes brings your course materials together in one platform. Learn, Practice, and Certify are built in, and grading connects directly to homework and assessments, so mastery is simple to implement. Plus, a dedicated support specialist helps with course setup and fine-tuning to help you reach your course goals each term, and human representatives are available by phone during business hours, so you're never doing it alone.