This study of 44 children in grades 4 and 5 found that children with learning disabilities (LD) required more time than nondisabled students to achieve 100 percent accuracy on a short learning unit and retained less factual content. LD students who did not spend adequate time in learning dropped more dramatically in achievement than nondisabled…

The differences between drill activities and practice activities and the reasons why there are differences are discussed. Two games that uses playing cards to provide students with untimed opportunities to practice their facts are described. (KR)

Evaluates a short-term, problem-focused Individual Psychological Support (IPS intervention in a study with cancer patients (N=527). Results show that a majority of responding patients stated that their problems were addressed to a great extent, that the number of contacts was adequate, and the IPS came at the right time. (Author/MKA)

Applies instructional strategies derived from the concept of mastery learning and cooperative learning to 104 undergraduate social science students enrolled in three sections of a required course. Finds significant effects for the combined mastery/cooperative learning condition, showing greater change in self-concept and higher achievement…

Improving a school's Q4C quotient (quality control, customer commitment, and communications) during election planning hinges on district mission, a culture of high expectations, basic skills mastery, commitment to customers, continuous feedback, healthy working relationships, broad community involvement, high- level strategic planning and…

Discusses the effectiveness of the cooperative/mastery learning method on primary-grade students' acquisition of economic concepts. Provides a sample lesson that shows how cooperative and mastery methods can be combined and used in conjunction with real-life learning experiences when teaching social studies. Offers an economic fable to introduce…

It is a relief to read an analysis of the Internet that is not yet another contribution to the hyped-instrumentalist discourse typified by a "gee-whiz" ethos touting efficiency gains and the lasting technical transformation of education. Hubert Dreyfus' (2001) "On the Internet" is at one and the same time, philosophical, post-Nietzschean and also…

A quick poll of how physical educators grade students would likely reveal that most grade on such things as participation and improvement. While this sounds acceptable, in practice, grading most often reflects a scheme based on attendance or seat time, with fitness and skill testing added at the conclusion of a unit. Physical educators who would…

Although computer-assisted instruction (CAI) favorably affects academic performance and attitudes toward instruction, most CAI programs target mastery but not fluency. This study used a within-subjects, crossover design to compare the effects of CAI that included fluency training with traditional study (TS) conditions on test performance and…

In 2 experiments, each involving different mathematical operations, we compared 2 training procedures for teaching component math skills in terms of their effects on the learning and long-term maintenance of composite skill. The dependent variables were learn units to composite task mastery and performance on the composite task 2 months later. The…

Background: Two goal perspectives predominate in achievement settings such as physical education (PE), namely task involvement, focused on self-referenced effort and improvement, and ego involvement, focused on normative ability comparisons. A task (mastery) involving motivational climate is associated with adaptive motivational responses, whereas…

Background: The prediction and explanation of academic performance and the investigation of the factors relating to the academic success and persistence of students are topics of utmost importance in higher education. Aims: The main aim of the present study is to develop and test a conceptual framework in a university context, where the effects of…

The aims of the study were to test the linkages between achievement goals to task performance, as mediated by state anxiety arousal. Performance expectancy was also examined as antecedents of achievement goals. A presentation task in a computer practice class was used as achievement task. Fifty-three undergraduates (37 females and 16 males) were…

Mastery learning represents an increasingly prolific area of research in educational psychology that encompasses two principal characteristics: (1) an optimistic set of assumptions regarding the capability of students to learn if alterable variables comprising the conditions of learning are optimized; and (2) an array of adaptive instructional…

An individualized Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) mastery learning format was offered to sections of Fundamentals of Mathematics and Basic Algebra courses over four semesters (two academic years). The effectiveness of this method compared to a traditional lecture approach was examined in the areas of passing the course, passing the final…