Individualized instruction is an important tool in mainstreaming special needs students in industrial arts, as experience has shown. Important steps toward meeting these needs include (1) making an individualized assessment of each student, of student needs, and of the present state of student accomplishments; and (2) developing an individualized…

Bloom has looked to mastery learning, exemplified by the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), to reduce individual differences in posttest performance, such as final grades and midterm examination scores. While PSI courses have raised overall performance, there has been little examination of individual differences in these courses. Data from…

The recent arrival of portable computer systems with high-level language interpreters now makes it practical to rapidly develop complex testing and scoring programs. These programs permit undergraduates access, at arbitrary times, to testing as an integral part of a mastery learning strategy. Effects of introducing the computer were studied by…

To determine the correlation between unit test performance and retention on final examinations, scores of 68 secondary level teaching candidates enrolled in a general methods course were studied. Unit tests were administered frequently to determine student achievement of the 38 course objectives. Two retests per student were allowed, with…

This article compares the findings of two administrations of a questionnaire designed to determine how community colleges were responding in terms of attitudes and methods to the flood of poorly prepared students entering under open admissions policies. The questionnaire was sent to a 20 percent random sample of two-year colleges nationwide;…

Performance data for 42 subjects pertaining to seven course objectives and ten propositional logic tasks were analyzed for hierarchical relationships using ordering theoretic technique. The resulting hierarchy indicated that simple implication and particular contraposition propositional logic tasks were prerequisite to some course objectives. This…

Studies on reading comprehension for bilingual students are reviewed to examine the importance of first-language mastery prior to second-language acquisition. Immersion program factors analyzed include automaticity, plateau effects, need for a variety of sociolinguistic settings, oral facility versus cognitive academic linguistic abilities, and…

This study compared the time required to train maintenance workers receiving instructional content in small groups by means of demonstrations with the time required to train such workers receiving instructional content in larger groups by means of slide/audiotape presentations. Slide/audiotape presentations permitted significant decrease in…

Describes program design and presents undergraduate students' opinions of computer tutorial--"GROWTH"--used to replace teachers in mastery learning experience. Student reactions were favorable to the program, which stimulated small tutorial group formation. Although females and younger students had more difficulty answering program…

Summarizes research exploring six solutions to the "2 sigma problem" of devising teaching-learning conditions that will enable the majority of students under group instruction to achieve at levels now possible only when students are tutored. Recommendations include using mastery learning, improving the home environment, and emphasizing higher…

This book describes the concept of mastery learning in the classroom and the various foundations upon which it is built. Five chapters discuss: (1) "Understanding Mastery Learning" (e.g., the learning/memory base, the measurement base, theoretical bases, and the brain base); (2) "Examining the Standards: Math, Science, Social Studies, and English…

This report summarizes Austin Independent School District's (AISD's) Account for Learning evaluation report and action plan for 1999-2002.

Outcome-based educational philosophical principles and program characteristics are described, with a focus on changes in the management of time, students, instructional resources, and testing required of both teachers and administrators by such programs. Outcome-based approaches require an instructional management system that is assessment-driven…

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

Investigates the problem of setting appropriate criterion levels for evaluating learning and of the effects of changing that level on student achievement and attitude towards instructor. Subjects were 75 university students enrolled in a course in educational psychology. (EAO)