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Mastery Learning
Mastery learning suggests that the focus of instruction should be the time required for different students to learn the same material. This contrasts with the classic model (based upon theories of intelligence) in which all students are given the same amount of time to learn and the focus is on differences in ability. Indeed, Carroll (1989) argues that aptitude is primarily a measure of time required to learn.
Radical Shift
The idea of mastery learning amounts to a radical shift in responsibility for teachers; the blame for a student's failure rests with the instruction not a lack of ability on the part of the student. In a mastery learning environment, the challenge becomes providing enough time and employing instructional strategies so that all students can achieve the same level of learning (Levine, 1985; Bloom, 1981).
Key Elements
The key elements in mastery learning are:
clearly specifying what is to be learned and how it will be evaluated, allowing students to learn at their own pace, assessing student progress and providing appropriate feedback or remediation, and testing that final learning criterion has been achieved.
Planning
Objectives Before the lesson is prepared, the teacher should have a clear idea of what the teaching objectives are. What, specifically, should the student be able to do, understand, care about as a result of the teaching.
The pupils should be informed about the standards of performance--what knowledge or skills are to be demonstrated and in what manner.
Instruction
Step 4: Input and Modeling -- Presenting new information to students, modeling where appropriate as one form of instruction.
Independent practice
Step 7: Independent Practice -- After students appear to understand the new material they are given the opportunity to further apply or practice using the new information. This may occur in class or as homework, but there should be a short period of time between instruction and practice and between practice and feedback.
Closure Step 8: Closure -- Actions or statements by a teacher that are designed to bring a lesson presentation to an appropriate conclusion. It is used to help students bring things together in their own minds, to make sense out of what has just been taught. "Any questions? No. OK, let's move on" is not closure.