What is Mastery Learning and Why Does it Work?

Motamedi. (2019). Mastery Learning: An Effective Teaching Strategy Tarbiat Moallem University http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/waoe/motamediv.htm Transcript: This study is an evaluation of mastery learning as a teaching strategy, written by Vahid Motamedi, Assistant Professor of Educational Technology at Tarbiat Moallem University in Tehran Iran. I list these details because it only seems appropriate, given the nature of mastery learning, to do so. The globally-connected world we live in today is one in which mastery learning has the highest potential. Instructional methods based on the mastery learning philosophy require each student to master a certain level of performance before progressing to the following unit of study. The achievement of these levels becomes the constant factor in the classroom, while time spent in each unit varies on an individual basis. Independent study is emphasized, and the educator primarily takes the roll of small-group study facilitator and one-on-one tutor. Mastery learning is designed to keep students from progressing through units of study without a comprehensive understanding of the preceding components of study. For example, one cannot be expected to thrive in an Algebra class without first developing a proper, deeply-ingrained understanding of arithmetic. The technological progress of the past several decades has allowed achievement based independent study, the most efficient model for mastery learning, to thrive. When every student has access to information and engaging content on the internet, though my preference is that the educator in such a classroom create this content himself, students are able to be much more productive in the classroom than previously thought possible. I recently observed in a Sp.Ed. Elementary classroom. While students were rotating through “learning centers” I noticed that, at one of the centers, four different children with varying reading levels were listening to four different audiobooks, each suited to his/her level. This would simply not be possible without the philosophy of mastery learning and the technology of the modern classroom coming together.