Mastery Learning Model
Mastery Learning is an
instructional philosophy based on the idea of giving students more
than one chance to demonstrate mastery of content and skills. In a
Mastery Learning classroom, as in a traditional classroom, students
receive instruction on a topic and then take a test to determine
their level of understanding. But that's where the similarity
ends. In a Mastery Learning classroom, the teacher scores that
assessment and determines who has mastered the content and who
needs more help. Students who have mastered the material are given
"enrichment" opportunities, while those who have not
mastered it receive additional instruction on the topic. The new
instruction is presented in a different way, perhaps using
manipulatives or other hands-on approaches. After a day or two, a
retest is administered to the group who did not demonstrate
mastery. In my experience, most of the students who didn't master
it the first time are able to achieve mastery on the second test.
There are many benefits of using his model, but the most important
one is that all students can learn and grow, and no one is left
behind. Every time you begin a new unit of instruction, you can
feel confident that your students have mastered the concepts
needed to embark on new learning.
Mastery Learning and Mathematics
Instruction
Mastery Learning can be used in
almost every subject, but I find it to be a perfect fit for math
instruction. Math content builds upon itself, and teachers often
experience frustration when they try to introduce a new unit to
students who never mastered based concepts and skills. To see
where Mastery Learning might fit into your math instruction,
consider the chart below. Mastery Learning will help your students
develop a solid foundation of mathematical understanding - a
foundation that is critical in order to solve problems involving
higher-level thinking and reasoning.
| Area of
Instruction |
Description |
Suggested
Instructional Methods |
| Number
Sense |
Basic
understandings about whole numbers, decimals and
fractions, ways numbers can be represented concretely and
visually, one-to-one correspondence, part to whole
relationships, etc. |
Hands-on experiences with
concrete objects & Mastery Learning
|
| Content |
Knowledge level - number
facts, math terms, formulas, algorithms for computation,
etc. |
Mastery Learning
|
| Skills |
Application level - rounding
numbers, comparing fractions, creating graphs, interpreting function tables,
doubling a recipe, etc. |
Mastery Learning
|
| Problem
Solving |
Evaluation and synthesis -
solving problems in which solutions are not readily
apparent, solving brainteasers, drawing on a variety of
strategies to tackle a complex problem, etc. |
Daily Problem Solving
|
|
