[kmak]

I think it's important for students to have critical self-feedback alone. The problem with tests (generally) is that it's feedback for the student (which is good) but also feedback for the teacher, with grades with implications. So basically you have to get everything the first time, and to pace and time that is tricky.

I do like your approach, as it does not penalize you for trying hard, even if you reach deadends, or made some assumptions that can be sniffed out easily by a test. My physics professor did a variation of this sort, where the final consists of all the topics, and your previous test grades gets overwritten by the final if the final grade is higher.