This paper reports on a revision of the assessment model from the first mathematics course for pre-service teachers (PSTs) aiming for grades 5-10, at a Norwegian university. The weight of the final written exam was reduced and a new, mastery-based testing model, with weekly small tests, was introduced. Results from this study show that the PSTs…

Self-efficacy, the beliefs learners hold about what they can do, develops largely from whether learners perceive and interpret their experiences as successful (i.e., perceived mastery). In mathematics, the relationship between perceived mastery and self-efficacy has been well established. Less is known about the factors that may influence…

An increasing number of university faculty have become interested in alternative grading systems in recent years. While there is a growing body of research on such grading systems, implementation can be a challenge for instructors. Mastery-based testing is a grading system in which students learn from feedback and have multiple attempts to…

Despite the importance of parallelism concept in understanding advanced geometric concepts, past studies have constantly reported poor mastery of this concept. To pinpoint students' current states in the progression of parallelism concept acquisition, this study aimed to profile students' knowledge states and model their learning pathways.…

We present a system for math placement and intervention that pairs ALEKS PPL with an online, standards-based "bridge" course designed to prepare students interested in STEM for PreCalculus. To determine the efficacy of this system we studied ALEKS PPL placement scores, bridge course grades, ALEKS concept mastery percentages, and…

In most mathematics textbooks, each lesson is followed by a set of homework problems in one of two ways -- blocked practice and mixed practice. Additionally, most mathematics textbooks rely on a common learning strategy called overlearning, that is, mastering a skill and continuing to practice this same skill. This study investigated the effects…

I describe the motivation, structure, implementation, and student feedback of my mastery-based testing (MBT) system with a significant final exam component in Calculus I and II since 2016. Grades for each written assignment, quiz, and exam question were assigned on a Mastery/Progressing/Needs Improvement (M/P/NI) scale. Homework and quizzes could…

I investigated the relationships between mathematics achievement on the Iowa Assessments and the mastery of four epistemic actions: selecting, analyzing, computing, and representing. These epistemic actions play a crucial role in characterizing mathematical reasoning and are essential for solving mathematics problems in the Iowa Assessments across…

Successive relearning involves practicing to-be-learned content until a designated level of mastery is achieved in each of multiple practice sessions. As compared with practicing the content to the same criterion in a single session, successive relearning has been shown to dramatically boost students' retention of simple verbal materials. Does the…

Math curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is an essential tool for multi-tiered systems of support decision making, but the reliability of math CBMs has received little research, particularly using more rigorous methods such as generalizability (G) theory. Math CBM is historically organized into two domains: mastery measures and general outcome…

This paper explores how student performance across the full set of multiple modular assessments of individual standards, which we refer to as mini-assessments, from a large scale, operational program of interim assessment can be summarized using Bayesian networks. We follow a completely data-driven approach in which no constraints are imposed to…

This study investigated the effect a computer intervention program has on student proficiency in the Algebra 1 End of Course (EOC) examination. This study utilized the intervention math program IXL Math, a computerized program that targets individual students' skill practice and supports students' need to accelerate mastery of Algebra 1 skills in…

This article describes the synthesis of the research on mastery grading, growth mindsets, and testing for learning to produce a new grading system -- Second Chance Grading. The system and the research it is based on are described in detail. Reflections of the system's effectiveness, impact, and reception are also discussed. Finally, the appendix…

Ensuring students master their basic facts is a shared priority among teachers, parents, and administrators. As a result, the number of available resources for basic facts instruction, from concrete to virtual, is vast and continues to grow. Basic fact fluency has always been of interest to elementary school teachers and is particularly relevant…

Sequencing items in adaptive learning systems typically relies on a large pool of interactive question items that are analyzed into a hierarchy of skills, also known as Knowledge Components (KCs). Educational data mining techniques can be used to analyze students response data in order to optimize the mapping of items to KCs, with similarity-based…