The momentum of Outcome Based Education (OBE) appears to be growing. This paper presents an overview of OBE and its prospects for successful educational change. Successful implementation requires 3 to 5 years; the involvement of administrators and staff in the development process; the use of a top-down approach; alignment of all areas with one…

This digest summarizes principles of performance assessment, which connects classroom assessment to learning. Specific ways that assessment can enhance instruction are outlined, as are criteria that assessments should meet in order to inform instructional decisions. Performance assessment is compared to behavioral assessment, mastery learning, and…

Educational changes implemented at Hunterdon Central Regional High School (New Jersey), based on a technical model that stresses mastery learning and is facilitated by a customized instructional technology, are described in this paper. A two-pronged strategy involves the formation of site-based management teams and a technology review committee.…

The challenge of providing appropriate education to learning-disabled students in the least restrictive environment led to creation of the Content Mastery Program. The program enables learning-disabled students to receive all major instruction in mainstream classrooms, through the cooperative effort of the classroom teacher and the special…

This paper discusses how the role of instructors changes as young learners advance along a mastery continuum, or a process of transition from an initial novice to an eventual expert status in the learning of a skill. Four stages along this continuum are: (1) acquisition, in which the learner does not know the task; (2) early consolidation, in…

This paper introduces a modification to the Rule Space diagnostic classification procedure to allow for processing of response vectors that contain missing data. Rule Space is an approach to diagnostic classification that involves characterizing examinees' performances in terms of an underlying cognitive model of generalized problem-solving…

Science and technology are often presented and taught as two separate essences. When this is done, students as well as teachers are forced to attempt to develop the appropriate linkages. This book is one of a series designed to help teachers develop their science and technological education in ways that are both satisfying to themselves and…

Issues in the definition and evaluation of "educational adequacy" as a forerunner to establishing a financially equitable Illinois school system are examined in this paper. A list of 30 potential indicators of educational adequacy was developed for three categories: outcomes, resources, and context. A mailed survey to determine which…

A clearinghouse on mastery learning (CML) has been established at Loyola University (New Orleans, Louisiana) to accommodate the informational needs of mastery learning researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Manual and computer searches on this topic have been conducted in the following databases: ERIC, Education Index, Psychological…

Cognitive mapping, one of the Educational Sciences developed by Joseph Hill, makes individualized mastery learning programs possible. This article reviews the cognitive mapping method of determining individual cognitive styles, discusses methods used to cater to these styles, and defines the seven Educational Sciences. (DC)

This personal account of the development of computer-based learning from the 1960s to the present argues that the 1960s were a period of gestation. Instructional applications of computers at that time included efforts to simulate physics experiments and the debut of the PLATO system, which already had the ability to deliver interactive instruction…

It has been 25 years since the publication of J. B. Carroll's (1963) seminal work on the model of school learning (MSL) and its subsequent identification by B. S. Bloom (1968) as the theoretical basis underlying mastery learning. Carroll's model of school learning is a theoretical formulation asserting that the degree of learning attained on a…

A recognized correlate of student success in science classes is the use of teaching strategies that are learner-centered and goal-oriented. Research has shown that several practices in particular are associated with increased student achievement and with developing scientifically literate students. The focus of this paper is on scientific literacy…

This study of the application of cognitive style theory to the development of computer-based instruction explored two questions, i.e., whether computer-based courseware can be designed to address specific learner characteristics, and, if so, which characteristics. Several factors involved in the optimization of instruction are described: learner…

This report covers characteristics of accelerated education and the applicability of accelerated education to the disadvantaged. The report reviews eight approaches to accelerated education: (1) traditional accelerated practices; (2) suggestive-accelerated learning and teaching; (3) Montessori method; (4) Bereiter-Engelmann approach; (5) Yale…