Argues that the practices of higher education (e.g., classes, semesters, and grades) are increasingly incompatible with the purpose of maximizing student learning and growth. Discusses the affective and cognitive advantages of a mastery approach to granting credit. (AYC)

Presents an overview of the basic features of two highly related models of college instruction; the Personalized System of Instruction and the Contingency Managed Lecture. Both are based on behavioral principles and have been tested and implemented on a large scale. (Author/JEG)

Despite the fact that reading, writing, and arithmetic are still thought to be mainstays of the primary school curriculum, more and more complaints are heard from all quarters that students are graduating from high school or post-secondary institutions without a firm grasp of these fundamentals of learning. (Author)

Demonstrates how Bayesian reasoning can be used to adjust the length of computer-guided practice exercises and computer-based tests to help make mastery or nonmastery decisions. Individualization of instruction is discussed, and the results of an empirical study that used the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) are presented. (25 references)…

Considers new modes of course organization that are based on computers, videodisc players, compact disk players, and other components of interactive technology. Topics discussed include student control of content and pace, ways of learning, mastery courses, learning cycles, hypercourses (non-linear courses), and student organized courses. (17…

Thirty special education teachers were assigned to a dynamic-goal or static-goal curriculum-based measurement group, or a control group. Results with their 60 mildly/moderately handicapped students showed that dynamic goal teachers increased goals more frequently and employed more ambitious goals, and their students had better content mastery than…

Examined were the effects of student cognitive entry behavior, prescribed mastery level, and information about criterion on mathematics achievement. Studied were 36 third graders assigned to four levels of being informed. Findings differed for children at low and high entry levels. (MNS)

A Canadian bilingual ESL program for Cambodians was taught by an experienced English-speaking ESL teacher and a Cambodian-speaking coteacher. Observations, interviews, and journal analysis showed that a bilingual monocultural format encouraged student participation and peer teaching and that second-language learning was facilitated by…

Two studies involving 331 children ages 9 to 11 years examined the proposal that the functions served by children's attention to peers' work differ in informational focus and in goal focus. Goal condition affected goal, but not informational, functions of looking at peers' work. Implications for social comparison theory are discussed. (SLD)

Reviews recent research that can inform educational practice. Includes the influence of high school students' epistemological beliefs on academic performance; effects of cooperative and mastery learning on students' ability to generate higher-level questions; effects of knowledge maps on undergraduate learning; and comparison of learning by…

Discusses theories of learning; reviews previous generalizations for instructional design; and presents 21 guidelines for effective instructional design that are related to planning, preparation, implementation, and evaluation. Highlights include objectives; learner profiles; cognitive maps or schema; mastery learning techniques; metacognitive…

Researchers used a fifth-grade videodisc fractions program to examine accountability in mastery learning programs. Four classes were randomly assigned to two treatments (those who were and were not aware of participation in mastery learning). Results revealed standardized mean differences for achievement favoring knowledge of being in the mastery…

Examines meta analysis as a technique for reviewing literature, with a particular focus on the literature of instructional development. An example using meta analyses to study mastery learning is presented, and a summary of meta analytic studies of instructional variable effects on student achievement is included. (38 references) (LRW)

Describes the use of videodisk technology to deliver instruction to preservice and in-service teachers for mastery of earth science concepts, and discusses its use as a research tool to improve teacher preparation in science education instructional methods for elementary schools. A science teaching model that underlies the research program is…

Describes 10 methods of assessment that teachers can use alone or in combination: (1) multiple marking, (2) peer evaluation, (3) mastery learning, (4) contracted learning, (5) credit-no credit grading, (6) self-evaluation, (7) anecdotal records, (8) pupil profiles, (9) checklists, and (10) dossiers. (FL)