MASTERY
LEARNING
Presented By: Orio & Lugsanay
MASTERY LEARNING
Mastery learning, introduced by Benjamin Bloom in 1968, is
an instructional strategy emphasizing the achievement of
mastery (e.g., 90% on a test) in prerequisite knowledge
before progressing to new material.
Students undergo a cycle of learning, assessment, and
additional support until mastery is achieved.
Unlike traditional teaching models, mastery learning focuses
on individualized pace and support, ensuring all students
reach the same level of mastery.
Responsibility for student failure shifts to instructional
methods rather than student ability, highlighting the need for
varied instructional strategies and sufficient time for learning.
Mastery learning employs group-based, individualized
teaching and learning strategies to ensure all students reach
a high level of understanding given sufficient time.
MOTIVATION
01 The motivation for mastery
learning comes from trying to
reduce achievement gaps for
students in average school
classrooms. During the 1960s
John B. Carroll and Benjamin S.
Bloom pointed out that, if students
are normally distributed with
respect to aptitude for a subject
and if they are provided uniform
instruction (in terms of quality
and learning time), then
achievement level at completion of
the subject is also expected to be
normally distributed.
MOTIVATION
02 Mastery Learning approaches
propose that, if each learner
were to receive optimal
quality of instruction and as
much learning time as they
require, then a majority of
students could be expected to
attain mastery.
MOTIVATION
Bloom critiqued the normal curve for grading
students, arguing that effective educators could
create a different distribution of achievement. He
proposed Mastery Learning, which he believed
would help over 90% of students achieve
successful and rewarding learning, while also
fostering more positive interest and attitude
towards the subject.
LEARNING FOR MASTERY (LFM)
VARIABLES OF LFM
Bloom, when first proposing his mastery learning strategy in
1968, was convinced that most students can attain a high level
of learning capability if the following conditions are available:
01 Instruction is approached
sensitively and systematically 03 Students are given sufficient time
to achieve mastery
02 Students are helped when and
where they have learning
difficulties
04 There is some clear criterion of
what constitutes mastery
Many variables will influence achievement levels and learning
outcomes:
APTITUDE
Aptitude, measured by standard aptitude tests, in
this context is interpreted as "the amount of time
required by the learner to attain mastery of a
learning task". Several studies show that majority
of students can achieve mastery in a learning
task, but the time that they need to spend on is
different. Bloom argues that there are 1 to 5
percent of students who have special talent for
learning a subject (especially music and foreign
languages) and there are also around five
percent of students who have special disability
for learning a subject. For other 90% of students,
aptitude is merely an indicator of the rate of
learning. Additionally, Bloom argues that
aptitude for a learning task is not constant and
can be changed by environmental conditions or
learning experience at school or home.
QUALITY OF INSTRUCTIONS
The quality of instruction is defined as the degree
to which the presentation, explanation, and
ordering of elements of the task to be learned
approach the optimum for a given learner. Bloom
insists that the quality of instruction has to be
evaluated according to its effect on individual
students rather than on random groups of
students. Bloom shows that while in traditional
classrooms, the relationship between students'
aptitude test for mathematics and their final grade
in algebra is very high, this relationship is almost
zero for students who are receiving tutorial
instruction in the home. He argues that a good
tutor tries to find the quality of learning best fit to
the given students, thus the majority of students
would be able to master a subject if they have
access to a good tutor.
ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND
INSTRUCTION
According to Bloom the ability to
understand instruction is defined as the
nature of the task that a learner is to
learn and the procedure that the learner
is to follow. Verbal ability and reading
comprehension are two language
abilities that are highly related to
student achievements. Since the ability
to understand instruction varies
significantly among students, Bloom
recommends that teachers modify their
instruction, provide help, and teaching
aids to fit the needs of different students.
SOME OF THE TEACHING AIDS THAT
COULD BE PROVIDED ACCORDING TO THE
ABILITY OF THE LEARNER ARE:
Alternative Textbooks Academic Games
Group Studies & Peer Tutoring Laboratory Experiences
Workbooks Simple Demonstrationd
Programmed Intruction Units Puzzles
Audiovisual Methods
PERSEVERANCE
Perseverance in this context is defined as the
time the learner is willing to spend in
learning. According to Bloom, a student who
demonstrates a low level of perseverance in
one learning task might have a very high
level of perseverance in a different learning
task. He suggests that students' perseverance
be enhanced by increasing the frequency of
reward and providing evidence of success in
learning. He recommends that teachers use
frequent feedback accompanied by specific
help to improve the quality of instruction,
thus reducing the perseverance required for
learning.
TIME ALLOWED FOR LEARNING
According to the International Study
of Education in 12 countries, if the
top 5% of students are omitted, the
ratio of the time needed for slower
and faster learners of a subject such
as mathematics is 6 to 1 while there
is zero or slightly negative
relationship between the final grades
and the amount of time spent on
homework. Thus, the amount of time
spent on homework is not a good
indicator of mastery in a subject.
BLOOM POSTULATES THAT THE TIME REQUIRED
FOR A LEARNER TO ACHIEVE MASTERY IN A
SPECIFIC SUBJECT IS AFFECTED BY VARIOUS
FACTORS SUCH AS:
01 The student's aptitude for
that subject
03 The quality of instruction
02 The student's verbal ability 04 The quality of the help
provided
LFM STATEGY
Learning for Mastery (LFM) curricula feature discrete
topics commenced collectively by all students.
Upon initiation of a unit, formative assessments
determine mastery of objectives.
Mastery achieved: Students proceed to enrichment
activities aligning with the mastered objective.
Mastery not achieved: Additional instruction
provided until success.
Correctives include varied activities, individualized
instruction, and extended time for completion.
Constructive feedback given, encouraging revision
until mastery is attained.
PRECONDITIONS
There are some preconditions for the process of
mastery learning. First, the objectives and content
of instruction have to be specified and clarified to
both the students and the teacher. Another
precondition is that the summative evaluation
criteria should be developed and both the teacher
and the learner should be clear about the
achievement criteria. Bloom suggests that using
absolute standards rather than competitive
criteria, helps students to collaborate and
facilitates mastery
OPERATING PROCEDURES
The operating procedures are the methods used to provide detailed
feedback and instructional help to facilitate the process of mastery in
learning. The main operation procedures are:
FORMATIVE
EVALUATION
ALTERNATIVE
LEARNING
RESOURCES
FORMATIVE EVALUATION
Formative Evaluation in the context of mastery learning is
a diagnostic progress tests to determine whether or not the
student has mastered the subject unit. Each unit is usually
a learning outcome that could be taught in a week or two
of learning activity. The formative tests are administered at
the learning units. Bloom insists that the diagnostic process
has to be followed by a prescription and the result of
formative assessment is better to express in not-grade
format since the use of grades on repeated progress
evaluations prepare students for accepting a level of
learning less than mastery.
ALTERNATIVE LEARNING
RESOURCES
The progress tests should be followed by detailed
feedback and specific suggestions so that the students
could work on their difficulties. Some of the alternative
learning resources are:
Small groups of students (two or three) meet and work together
Tutorial help
Reviewing the instructional material
Reading alternative textbooks
Using workbook or programmed texts
Using selected audiovisual materials
OUTCOMES
The outcomes of mastery learning could be summarized into two groups:
1- Cognitive Outcomes 2- Affective Outcomes
01 COGNITIVE OUTCOME 02 AFFECTIVE OUTCOME
The cognitive outcomes of mastery Mastery in education significantly
learning focus on enhancing student impacts learners' self-efficacy and
excellence in a subject. In a study, confidence. Recognizing mastery leads
implementing mastery learning to profound changes in self-perception,
strategies in a class increased the increased motivation, and improved
proportion of students achieving an A mental state. This approach fosters
grade from 20 percent to 80 percent, a lifelong interest and motivation in
rise of about two standard deviations. learning, making it a crucial aspect of
Additionally, utilizing formative modern society's lifelong learning
evaluation records for quality control approach.
enabled the teacher to refine strategies,
resulting in a further increase to 90%
of students earning an A grade the
following year.
PERSONALIZED SYSTEM
OF INSTRUCTION
Personalized System of Instruction, also known as the
Keller Plan was developed in the mid 1960s by Fred
Keller and colleagues. It was developed based on the idea
of reinforcement in teaching processes.
Keller gives the following description to a group of
psychology students enrolled in his course developed
using mastery learning theory: "This is a course through
which you may move, from start to finish, at your own
pace. You will not be held back by other students or
forced to go ahead until you are ready. At best, you may
meet all the course requirements in less than one
semester; at worst, you may not complete the job within
that time. How fast you go is up to you"
FIVE ELEMENTS OF PSI
There are five main elements in PSI as described in Keller's paper
from 1967:
01
The go-at-your-own-pace feature,
03
The use of lectures and
which permits a student to move demonstrations as vehicles of
through the course at a speed motivation, rather than sources of
commensurate with his ability critical information.
and other demands upon his time.
02
The unit-perfection requirement
for advance, which lets the student
go ahead to new material only
04 The related stress upon the written
word in
communication.
teacher-student
after demonstrating mastery of
that which preceded.
The use of proctors, which permits
05 repeated testing, immediate scoring,
almost unavoidable tutoring, and a
marked enhancement of the personal-
social aspect of the educational process".
ASSESSMENT
In a mastery learning environment, the teacher directs a variety
of group-based instructional techniques, with frequent and
specific feedback by using diagnostic, formative tests, as well as
regularly correcting mistakes students make along their
learning path. Assessment in the mastery learning classroom is
not used as a measure of accountability but rather as a source
of evidence to guide future instruction. A teacher using the
mastery approach will use the evidence generated from his or
her assessment to modify activities to best serve each student.
Teachers evaluate students with criterion-referenced tests rather
than norm-referenced tests. In this sense, students are not
competing against each other, but rather competing against
themselves in order to achieve a personal best.
CRITICISM
TIME-ACHIEVEMENT EQUALITY DILEMMA
Mastery learning aims to achieve 80-90% on tests, but
some students may need more time for success. Critics
argue that mastery theory doesn't accurately address this
relationship. Bloom's theory suggests that slower learners
become faster, and individual differences disappear due
to lack of prerequisite knowledge. He blames teaching
settings for this, referring to the Vanishing Point.
However, a four-year longitudinal study by Arlin (1984)
found no vanishing point in students learning arithmetic
through a mastery approach, suggesting individual
differences in learning rates are influenced by more than
just instruction method.
METHODOLOGY ERRORS
IN RESEARCH
EXPERIMENTAL VS. CONTROL
GROUPS
01 In studies investigating the effectiveness of mastery
learning, control and experimental groups were not
always valid. Experimental groups typically consisted
of courses that were developed to adhere to the best
principles of mastery. However, control groups were
sometimes existing classes to use as a comparison.
This poses a problem since there was no way to test
the effectiveness of the control group to begin with - it
could have been a poorly constructed course being
compared against a strictly designed mastery course.
MEASUREMENT TOOLS
02 In studies where the largest effect sizes were found,
experimenter-made tests were used to test the
mastery levels of students in the experiments. By
using tests designed for the experiment, the mastery
instruction intervention may have been able to
better tailor the learning goals of the class to align
with the measurement tool. Conversely, these
dramatic effect sizes essentially disappeared when
standardized tests were used to measure mastery
levels in control and experimental groups.
STUDY DURATION
03 There are very few studies that investigate the
long-term effects of mastery learning. Many
studies included an arbitrary 3-4 week
intervention period and results were based on
findings from this time period. It's important to
consider the length of time students were
immersed in a mastery learning program to get
a greater understanding of the long-term
effects of this teaching strategy.
THANK YOU