Mastery Learning
Focus
The rate that students learn varies widely, but all learning that is provided with the time necessary and appropriate learning conditions can enable students to achieve higher levels of learning.
Background Information
Common practice of teaching was that most teachers would designate what concepts and skills they wanted the students to learn and divide them into smaller units. Then the teacher would instruct the unit and then assess student learning. Benjamin S. Bloom of the University of Chicago felt that the majority of the student population did not learn effectively this way. After evaluation of student learning, Bloom decided that formative assessment should be included at several different points of the instructional process and this would help identify any learning difficulties and institute remediation if needed. Formative assessment along with systematic correction of individual learning difficulties, could provide students with more appropriate quality instruction and the ability to truly master concepts and learning goals.
Instruction
A typical Kindergarten-1st grade classroom teacher's day may look something like this:
- After giving initial instruction, the teacher will give a formative assessment based on the unit's learning goals.
- After evaluating the individual students feedback, the teacher will match the "corrective" activities for students with the "individualized" activities that the student will be able to use as additional resources in order to master only the concept or skill or skill they have not yet mastered.
- The teacher will give feedback from the formative assessment to the students and the corrective plan for the student to complete.
- After the student complete their corrective plan, the teacher will give them a second formative assessment that covers the skills from the first assessment but poses slightly different problems/questions. This serves to verify the corrective plan was successful and offers a second chance to motivate students.
- If students perform well on the first assessment, enrichment activities will follow to broaden their learning experiences
Possible Good and Bad Characteristics
Good
Bad
- The fact that the teachers plan 1-2 weeks and have formative assessments that allow the teacher to see if students need enrichment or a corrective plan.
- May improve student confidence in learning situations, school attendance, and engagement in class activities.
Bad
- This style of teaching could lead to tracking.
- Corrective activities for some students may hold up other students progress.
Similarities and Differences
Similarities
Differences
PK-4
- Same method of instruction for all grades.
Differences
PK-4
- May not need to implement corrective plan because learning objectives are new to most students.
- Basic resources for corrective plan.
- Enrichment material may be limited due to limited students being young.
- More elaborate resources for corrective plan.
- Corrective activities may impede students progress so they are not on track with the rest of the class.
- Formative assessment may be lengthy due to amount of material covered.
Citations
Guskey, T. (2009). Mastery learning. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article
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