Carroll's (1963) model of school learning and Bloom's (1968) mastery learning both address theoretical and practical aspects of the time factor in school learning via an appeal to diagnostic-prescriptive teaching. The design of instructional environments and materials--particularly as advocated by Glaser (1976)--represents the mechanism to bring…

This paper presents a new European teaching model based on ideas and methods of Socrates, Jean Piaget, and Lev S. Vygotsky. The starting point for this new model was the use of Socrates' dialectical method in teaching 906 primary and secondary school students the reduplication of a square. Results of this exercise were compared with Piaget's and…

To determine whether individual differences in student achievement and learning rate are reduced or eliminated by mastery instruction, 166 Navy trainees who had completed a computer-managed course in basic electricity and electronics were cluster-analyzed into groups, using 24 measures of cognitive characteristics. Discriminant analyses were…

Noting that school activities, in general, are judged by the extent to which they achieve their academically defined goals, this paper contends that schools serve another purpose, a social one. Arguing that schools should help children learn social responsibility and prosocial behavior and attitudes, the paper provides a rationale for, and a…

The Chicago Mastery Learning Reading Program (CMLRP) discussed in this report is a method of instruction based on the mastery learning model developed by University of Chicago professor Benjamin Bloom. The report describes the procedures and results of an evaluation of the program's effects on reading achievement, information related to the…

Mastery learning is a systematic approach to instruction in which students are required to attain specified levels of competence. This paper provides a rationale for using mastery learning in the introductory public speaking course and clarifies the differences between traditional and mastery learning approaches by contrasting their assumptions…

Three treatment groups were used to examine the effects on general reading comprehension of teaching and testing four subskills related to the identification of the main idea in prose materials. Subjects were 157 tenth-grade students. Besides a control group, two experimental approaches were used, consisting of subjects who were both taught four…

An investigation was undertaken of end-of-course reactions of students who experienced varying numbers of test-taking failures during an introductory psychology course presented under two different formats: a mastery structure (multiple study/test options and absolute grading standards) and a conventional structure (one try on each midterm with…

This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of a group-based, teacher-paced model of mastery learning for instruction in undergraduate education courses. It was hypothesized that the mastery-taught students, who were provided formative tests and corrective activities, would achieve higher scores on the final examination and higher grades…

This paper outlines strategies being pursued at Rutgers University for making future vocational education teachers more responsive to disadvantaged students. Methods of affecting changes in teachers' attitudes and teaching techniques are discussed. The mastery approach is described as a teaching method especially effective with disadvantaged…

An experiment compared three methods of instruction in an introductory course in psychology. The first method utilized groups of three students and required that all three students meet the criterion on each unit of material in the course before being allowed to continue on to other units. This system also required that students do all remediation…

A successful experiment in the teaching and learning of expository writing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is described that has been used at both the secondary and graduate levels as well as in regular college composition courses. The approach includes mastery learning, informal atmosphere, product orientation, and development of cooperative…

Three groups of college students operated under different contingencies in the same classroom. The Programmed Achievement (PA) condition required students to show 100 percent mastery on 12 chapter quizzes, at the risk of grade loss. Control students took quizzes with no requirement for mastery, and a group of low achievers tried both methods. The…

Fourth-grade students (N=120 including eight learning disabled students) were taught via the Precision Teaching Method to meet a mastery criterion of either 70 or 35 correct responses per minute. Results indicated that average or below average students needed the higher proficiency rate to ensure skill retention. (DB)

Six ways to reverse student disaffection with basic science instruction are proposed, including examining the current medical model critically, changing the emphasis from facts to problem solving, decompressing the dental curriculum, building in redundancy to deepen understanding, developing applied basic science, and reexamining the changing…