Frequent self-assessment
For assessment to be effective, it should be consistent and also frequent enough for individuals to continue to see how they are achieving the learning objectives or where they may need to study more.
Self-assessment is most effective when there is appropriate automated feedback and also enough flexibility to be able to return to areas where there are gaps in skills or knowledge. The assessment does not necessarily have to be adaptive per se, but with frequent self-assessment one can diagnose potential problems early on in the learning process and can avoid painful and demotivating failures later.