I recently read the New York Times article 'Why Flunking Exams Is Actually A Good Thing' by Benedict Carey.  A pretty insightful read.  Found things I was doing, things I had done, and things I plan to do. Carey proposed having a pre-course exam could be helpful.  He stated: A test can be an intro to what students should learn instead of a final judgement on what they did not. I thought maybe a pre-course exam for my math classes but definitely multiple choice (probably use a Google Form).  If not for the whole course, at least for each unit.…