Three major approaches to the use of computers in education are examined, serious limitations of each are presented, and questions are raised as to the efficacy of technologolizing education. The drill and practice approach is shown to embody a deterministic, behavioral technology that turns learning into a systematically-designed and…

To learn correct grammar, developmental students must practice writing correctly. However, the traditional exercises offered in handbooks, workbooks, and textbooks not only fail to provide habituation in correctness, they actually provide practice in "wrongness." Instead of isolating individual problems, they promote confusion by linking them.…

It is the thesis of this discussion that outcome-based instructional systems (such as mastery learning, individually guided education, and competency-based education) represent a workable alternative to traditional approaches to instruction and are particularly suited to children in Head Start and Follow Through programs. This thesis is expanded…

This kindergarten curriculum guide for Philadelphia public schools has as its overall goals the development of: (1) competence in reading, writing, speaking, listening, mathematics, science, reasoning, life skills, social studies, the arts, and physical and health education; (2) citizenship skills; (3) career preparation skills; and (4) human…

The Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), a system that combines the strengths of basic learning, individual instruction, and personalized relationships, all at low cost, is an attractive alternative for the basic speech communication course. It involves mastery learning, self-pacing, stress on the written word, instructor assistants, and the…

This document consists of assorted supplementary materials for a conference session on the topic of "Improving Education in America through Staff Development and Learning Technology." It contains (1) a preface; (2) a list of assumptions central to West Virginia's educational reform model; (3) a statement of the session's basic purpose,…

Competency based education (CBE) programs can increase pupil motivation, provide the opportunity to individualized instruction, and enable the school to communicate better to the pupil and the public what pupils are learning in school, according to the author. But he lists eight traps that lie hidden in the CBE movement, including further…

The components that one midwest community college uses in its remedial English composition program reflect applications of behavioral theory and include an explicit course goal; twelve small, sequential, cumulative instructional steps; explicitly stated behavioral objectives (based on Bloom's taxonomy in the cognitive domain); three forms of…

Project CIVTEC was conducted through the Columbia, South Carolina State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education in cooperation with the National Science Foundation and has developed an individualized instructional approach, based on mastery learning, for eleven core curriculum courses in Civil Engineering Technology. The basic format for…

To explore the relationship between time and school learning, this paper defines the three kinds of learning time identified by researchers--allocated time, time-on-task, and academic learning time--and relates them to curriculum development. The author cites evidence that time-on-task is related to student achievement and describes two…

This report synthesizes findings emerging from research on mastery learning. Thirty-three documents were retrieved and analyzed for the report. The documents were concerned with mastery learning research at various levels, from elementary through postsecondary education. Specific subject areas which were the partial or total focus of the reports…

This report examines the Chicago Mastery Learning Reading Program (CMLRP) and other schoolwide approaches at selected schools in Los Angeles (California), New York City, and Chicago (Illinois) to identify factors in augmented achievement gains. This extended summary and conclusion seeks to provide information which can improve the general…

After introductory material outlining some of the major challenges facing community colleges today, this paper examines the efforts undertaken by Chabot College, California, to meet the demands of the problems posed by "new students" and fiscal constraints. Described first are Chabot's two mastery learning centers, at which students…

The proceedings of the First Mastery Learning Conference begins with Rocco Caponigri's introduction and Oscar E. Shabat's discussion of the importance of mastery learning to community colleges as they attempt to educate large numbers of underprepared students. Next, Benjamin S. Bloom examines the shifting emphasis in education research from…

The degree of influence instructor tutoring had on the performance of Black Hawk College sociology students was studied along with the question of whether students expressed a change in the degree of preference for the mastery approach when an instructor was actively involved in the learning process. Two classes were used: one during spring 1976…