diff --git a/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_html_render.py b/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_html_render.py
index c4925603c8..dc7b555035 100644
--- a/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_html_render.py
+++ b/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_html_render.py
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ class CapaHtmlRenderTest(unittest.TestCase):
         rendered_html = etree.XML(problem.get_html())
 
         # expect the javascript is still present in the rendered html
-        self.assertTrue("<script type=\"text/javascript\">function(){}</script>" in etree.tostring(rendered_html))
+        self.assertIn("<script type=\"text/javascript\">function(){}</script>", etree.tostring(rendered_html))
 
     def test_render_response_xml(self):
         # Generate some XML for a string response
diff --git a/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_input_templates.py b/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_input_templates.py
index 6d33f60dc1..c20dc28d9c 100644
--- a/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_input_templates.py
+++ b/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_input_templates.py
@@ -105,8 +105,7 @@ class TemplateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         If no elements are found, the assertion fails.
         """
         element_list = xml_root.xpath(xpath)
-        self.assertTrue(len(element_list) > 0,
-                        "Could not find element at '%s'" % str(xpath))
+        self.assertGreater(len(element_list), 0, "Could not find element at '%s'" % str(xpath))
 
         if exact:
             self.assertEqual(text, element_list[0].text)
diff --git a/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_inputtypes.py b/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_inputtypes.py
index 649f6692b9..edc336246e 100644
--- a/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_inputtypes.py
+++ b/common/lib/capa/capa/tests/test_inputtypes.py
@@ -555,8 +555,8 @@ class MatlabTest(unittest.TestCase):
         response = self.the_input.handle_ajax("plot", data)
         self.assertFalse(response['success'])
         self.assertEqual(response['message'], error_message)
-        self.assertTrue('queuekey' not in self.the_input.input_state)
-        self.assertTrue('queuestate' not in self.the_input.input_state)
+        self.assertNotIn('queuekey', self.the_input.input_state)
+        self.assertNotIn('queuestate', self.the_input.input_state)
 
     @patch('capa.inputtypes.time.time', return_value=10)
     def test_ungraded_response_success(self, time):
@@ -594,7 +594,7 @@ class MatlabTest(unittest.TestCase):
         the_input.ungraded_response(queue_msg, 'abc')
         self.assertEqual(input_state['queuekey'], queuekey)
         self.assertEqual(input_state['queuestate'], 'queued')
-        self.assertFalse('queue_msg' in input_state)
+        self.assertNotIn('queue_msg', input_state)
 
     @patch('capa.inputtypes.time.time', return_value=20)
     def test_matlab_response_timeout_not_exceeded(self, time):
@@ -1076,7 +1076,7 @@ class ChemicalEquationTest(unittest.TestCase):
             )
 
         self.assertIn('error', response)
-        self.assertTrue("Couldn't parse formula" in response['error'])
+        self.assertIn("Couldn't parse formula", response['error'])
 
     @patch('capa.inputtypes.log')
     def test_ajax_other_err(self, mock_log):
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_capa_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_capa_module.py
index fc7b8af2c3..354629cbd7 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_capa_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_capa_module.py
@@ -449,15 +449,14 @@ class CapaModuleTest(unittest.TestCase):
         # and that we get the same values back
         for key in result.keys():
             original_key = "input_" + key
-            self.assertTrue(original_key in valid_get_dict,
-                            "Output dict should have key %s" % original_key)
+            self.assertIn(original_key, valid_get_dict, "Output dict should have key %s" % original_key)
             self.assertEqual(valid_get_dict[original_key], result[key])
 
         # Valid GET param dict with list keys
         # Each tuple represents a single parameter in the query string
         valid_get_dict = MultiDict((('input_2[]', 'test1'), ('input_2[]', 'test2')))
         result = CapaModule.make_dict_of_responses(valid_get_dict)
-        self.assertTrue('2' in result)
+        self.assertIn('2', result)
         self.assertEqual(['test1', 'test2'], result['2'])
 
         # If we use [] at the end of a key name, we should always
@@ -730,7 +729,7 @@ class CapaModuleTest(unittest.TestCase):
             result = module.check_problem(get_request_dict)
 
         # Expect an AJAX alert message in 'success'
-        self.assertTrue(error_msg in result['success'])
+        self.assertIn(error_msg, result['success'])
 
     def test_check_problem_error_nonascii(self):
 
@@ -781,10 +780,10 @@ class CapaModuleTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 result = module.check_problem(get_request_dict)
 
             # Expect an AJAX alert message in 'success'
-            self.assertTrue('test error' in result['success'])
+            self.assertIn('test error', result['success'])
 
             # We DO include traceback information for staff users
-            self.assertTrue('Traceback' in result['success'])
+            self.assertIn('Traceback', result['success'])
 
             # Expect that the number of attempts is NOT incremented
             self.assertEqual(module.attempts, 1)
@@ -806,7 +805,7 @@ class CapaModuleTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertTrue('success' in result and result['success'])
 
         # Expect that the problem HTML is retrieved
-        self.assertTrue('html' in result)
+        self.assertIn('html', result)
         self.assertEqual(result['html'], "<div>Test HTML</div>")
 
         # Expect that the problem was reset
@@ -852,7 +851,7 @@ class CapaModuleTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(result['success'], 'correct')
 
         # Expect that we get no HTML
-        self.assertFalse('contents' in result)
+        self.assertNotIn('contents', result)
 
         # Expect that the number of attempts is not incremented
         self.assertEqual(module.attempts, 1)
@@ -1263,7 +1262,7 @@ class CapaModuleTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(bool(context['save_button']), show_save_button)
 
         # Assert that the encapsulated html contains the original html
-        self.assertTrue(html in html_encapsulated)
+        self.assertIn(html, html_encapsulated)
 
     demand_xml = """
         <problem>
@@ -1355,7 +1354,7 @@ class CapaModuleTest(unittest.TestCase):
         # Check the rendering context
         render_args, _ = module.system.render_template.call_args
         context = render_args[1]
-        self.assertTrue("error" in context['problem']['html'])
+        self.assertIn("error", context['problem']['html'])
 
         # Expect that the module has created a new dummy problem with the error
         self.assertNotEqual(original_problem, module.lcp)
@@ -1385,7 +1384,7 @@ class CapaModuleTest(unittest.TestCase):
         # Check the rendering context
         render_args, _ = module.system.render_template.call_args
         context = render_args[1]
-        self.assertTrue(error_msg in context['problem']['html'])
+        self.assertIn(error_msg, context['problem']['html'])
 
     @ddt.data(
         'false',
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_combined_open_ended.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_combined_open_ended.py
index 1c880ab1dd..b172cb15b1 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_combined_open_ended.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_combined_open_ended.py
@@ -365,9 +365,9 @@ class OpenEndedModuleTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_latest_post_assessment(self):
         self.update_score_single()
         assessment = self.openendedmodule.latest_post_assessment(self.test_system)
-        self.assertFalse(assessment == '')
+        self.assertNotEqual(assessment, '')
         # check for errors
-        self.assertFalse('errors' in assessment)
+        self.assertNotIn('errors', assessment)
 
     def test_update_score_single(self):
         self.update_score_single()
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_crowdsource_hinter.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_crowdsource_hinter.py
index ade4597a78..02c670595d 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_crowdsource_hinter.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_crowdsource_hinter.py
@@ -554,9 +554,9 @@ class CrowdsourceHinterTest(unittest.TestCase):
         mock_module.get_hint = fake_get_hint
         json_in = {'problem_name': '42.5'}
         out = json.loads(mock_module.handle_ajax('get_hint', json_in))['contents']
-        self.assertTrue('This is the best hint.' in out)
-        self.assertTrue('A random hint' in out)
-        self.assertTrue('Another random hint' in out)
+        self.assertIn('This is the best hint.', out)
+        self.assertIn('A random hint', out)
+        self.assertIn('Another random hint', out)
 
     def test_template_feedback(self):
         """
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py
index 1cb42b8d43..a061780477 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py
@@ -225,18 +225,18 @@ class ImportTestCase(BaseCourseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(course_xml.attrib['unicorn'], unicorn_color)
 
         # the course and org tags should be _only_ in the pointer
-        self.assertTrue('course' not in course_xml.attrib)
-        self.assertTrue('org' not in course_xml.attrib)
+        self.assertNotIn('course', course_xml.attrib)
+        self.assertNotIn('org', course_xml.attrib)
 
         # did we successfully strip the url_name from the definition contents?
-        self.assertTrue('url_name' not in course_xml.attrib)
+        self.assertNotIn('url_name', course_xml.attrib)
 
         # Does the chapter tag now have a due attribute?
         # hardcoded path to child
         with descriptor.runtime.export_fs.open('chapter/ch.xml') as f:
             chapter_xml = etree.fromstring(f.read())
         self.assertEqual(chapter_xml.tag, 'chapter')
-        self.assertFalse('due' in chapter_xml.attrib)
+        self.assertNotIn('due', chapter_xml.attrib)
 
     def test_metadata_import_export(self):
         """Two checks:
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_progress.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_progress.py
index e882d719d6..185b783808 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_progress.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_progress.py
@@ -127,12 +127,12 @@ class ProgressTest(unittest.TestCase):
         prg1 = Progress(1, 2)
         prg2 = Progress(2, 4)
         prg3 = Progress(1, 2)
-        self.assertTrue(prg1 == prg3)
-        self.assertFalse(prg1 == prg2)
+        self.assertEqual(prg1, prg3)
+        self.assertNotEqual(prg1, prg2)
 
         # Check != while we're at it
-        self.assertTrue(prg1 != prg2)
-        self.assertFalse(prg1 != prg3)
+        self.assertNotEqual(prg1, prg2)
+        self.assertEqual(prg1,  prg3)
 
 
 class ModuleProgressTest(unittest.TestCase):
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_self_assessment.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_self_assessment.py
index 0d64009911..4db75a61c3 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_self_assessment.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_self_assessment.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class SelfAssessmentTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_get_html(self):
         html = self.module.get_html(self.module.system)
-        self.assertTrue("This is sample prompt text" in html)
+        self.assertIn("This is sample prompt text", html)
 
     def test_self_assessment_flow(self):
         responses = {'assessment': '0', 'score_list[]': ['0', '0']}
diff --git a/openedx/core/djangoapps/credit/tests/test_api.py b/openedx/core/djangoapps/credit/tests/test_api.py
index 1750893840..9a46289ed9 100644
--- a/openedx/core/djangoapps/credit/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/openedx/core/djangoapps/credit/tests/test_api.py
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@ class CreditProviderIntegrationApiTests(CreditApiTestBase):
         # Validate the timestamp
         self.assertIn('timestamp', parameters)
         parsed_date = from_timestamp(parameters['timestamp'])
-        self.assertTrue(parsed_date < datetime.datetime.now(pytz.UTC))
+        self.assertLess(parsed_date, datetime.datetime.now(pytz.UTC))
 
         # Validate course information
         self.assertEqual(parameters['course_org'], self.course_key.org)
diff --git a/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_api.py b/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_api.py
index 534f7626ab..7c6bc230fe 100644
--- a/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_api.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ class TestAccountApi(UserSettingsEventTestMixin, TestCase):
 
         # With default configuration settings, email is not shared with other (non-staff) users.
         account_settings = get_account_settings(self.default_request, self.different_user.username)
-        self.assertFalse("email" in account_settings)
+        self.assertNotIn("email", account_settings)
 
         account_settings = get_account_settings(
             self.default_request,