Mastery learning
Mastery learning is an educational approach that focuses on adapting instruction to meet the unique needs of each student, facilitating deeper and more effective learning. This method operates on the premise that all students can achieve mastery of the material given adequate time and support. Key to this approach is the use of pre-assessments to gauge each student's understanding before instruction begins, allowing teachers to tailor materials and teaching methods accordingly. Students engage with the material until they reach a specified level of mastery, typically quantified as 80% proficiency, before moving on to new topics.
Developed by American educator Benjamin S. Bloom in the 1960s, mastery learning emerged in a context of educational reform aimed at addressing inequalities and improving access to quality education for all students. The approach not only assists those who require more time but also offers enrichment opportunities for quicker learners to delve deeper into subjects. While mastery learning has demonstrated positive impacts on student motivation and achievement, challenges exist, including the increased demands it places on teachers and the potential costs of implementation. However, advancements in technology, such as adaptive learning software, have been proposed as solutions to streamline this process and reduce the burden on educators.
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Mastery learning
Mastery learning is an educational method that emphasizes customizing instruction to each student to facilitate more complete learning. It is based on the belief that all students can master classroom material given sufficient time and support. Instead of presenting the subject material once and allowing all students the same amount of time to learn it, the teacher assesses what each student already knows about the topic at hand and then provides material to help each student reach proficiency. Students continue to work on a topic until an assessment indicates that they have achieved an appropriate level of mastery. Receiving feedback and working in supportive teams are often part of the mastery learning environment.
Background
American educator Benjamin S. Bloom created the mastery learning concept in the 1960s. During that time, the civil rights movement was gaining steam in the United States, which led to efforts to banish inequities in many areas, including education. The period gave rise to the Head Start program for disadvantaged preschoolers. It also saw various legal actions to ensure support services for those with economic and educational disadvantages and to give everyone equal access to education and equal opportunities to succeed.
In this atmosphere, Bloom proposed that part of the reason for differences in academic achievement was the way materials were presented to students. In the traditional classroom, teachers lectured on a topic, provided some opportunities for practice and activities that supported the material being taught, and then assessed the students with a test before moving to the next topic. This method gave all students the same amount of time to master the material and provided all students with the same instructional methods. Bloom suggested that a more individualized approach would help students achieve better results. He named his approach mastery learning.
The concept of mastery learning is most closely associated with Bloom and some of his students, but aspects of it actually were promoted in ancient Greece. In addition, Carleton Washburne initiated an experimental program in schools in Winnetka, Illinois, in the 1920s. During his early education, Washburne had been exposed to teaching methods that allowed students to learn math through hands-on means, such as measuring cooking ingredients and using other student-focused teaching methods. When he became the superintendent of schools in Winnetka, Washburne instituted a similar learning process that allowed student-driven mastery of subjects. It became known as the Winnetka Plan. Other educators attempted similar efforts. They used extra tutoring and restructured class material to help students who did not grasp it the first time. These efforts were not adopted in many schools, however, and eventually most educators returned to the traditional method of teach and test.
American psychologist John B. Carroll receives some credit for influencing the concept of mastery learning. Carroll believed that all students had aptitude for learning but that some needed more time to achieve mastery. His perception of student mastery was that if students were not learning, the teacher needed to change the approach and present the material in a different way that made it more accessible to students.
Overview
One hallmark of mastery learning is a pre-assessment conducted before a topic is taught. A pre-assessment helps the teacher identify each student's point on the learning curve so that teaching materials and methods can be individualized for students. After this assessment, the teacher may still lecture on the material. However, additional resources customized for each student's or group's understanding of the material, will follow the lecture. For instance, the teacher may spend one-on-one time with a student to explain the topic in a way and at a rate the student can grasp, while other students may work in small groups on activities that provide alternate ways of learning the material.
As the learning process continues, the teacher will offer frequent feedback, helping each student see where he or she is making progress and where he or she needs more work. The teacher also will use additional assessments or tests to determine when a student has achieved mastery. Generally, students do not stop working on learning a specific lesson until they have achieved at least 80 percent mastery of the material. The emphasis is on mastery rather than on completing a lesson within a set time frame.
In addition to helping students who may require more time to achieve mastery, mastery learning is beneficial to students who grasp the material more quickly. When the teacher identifies through the pre-assessment or a later assessment that a student has mastered the material, the teacher can provide enrichment materials that give the student an opportunity to dive deeper into a topic or move ahead to more advanced material. This curbs the student boredom and frustration that can result in a classroom where all students are taught at the same pace.
The mastery learning approach prevents situations in which teachers teach to the quickest learners while leaving those who have equal aptitude but need more time behind. Repeated studies have shown that mastery learning has positive effects on learning outcomes because students are not allowed to give up on learning any of the classroom material. It increases student motivation because students see greater success and are not made to feel bad because they have a different learning style. Mastery learning makes it easier for students to achieve as they progress through the grades because learning is cumulative and mastery learning ensures that each student has a sufficient grasp on a topic before moving ahead.
Some concerns about mastery learning have been raised. It can be difficult and/or expensive to implement, and it requires much more work from teachers to customize learning in this way. Proponents say that new technology, including computer programs that integrate with textbooks and other materials, minimize implementation issues and decrease the amount of extra work required of teachers. Such programs are designed with multiple levels of assessment that provide teachers with reports on each student's progress based on completed computer exercises. Computerized systems allow teachers to put different students to work on a range of exercises at one time and free teachers to spend one-on-one time with students who need more assistance.
Bibliography
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