Building Blocks Towards Mastery Teaching and Learning

Building Blocks Towards
Mastery Teaching and
Learning
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.
tracey.tokuhama@gmail.com
www.thelearningsciences.com

Background
• Professor, Harvard University Extension School: Psych 1609 “The
Neuroscience of Learning: Introduction to Mind, Brain, Health and Education
science”
• OECD: Member of the expert panel on Teachers New Pedagogical
Knowledge based on contributions from Technology and Neuroscience
• Latin American Social Science Research Faculty, Ecuador: Educational
Researcher and Professor
• Interdisciplinary researcher in neuroscience, cognitive psychology and
education (cultural anthropology and linguistics).
• Associate Editor of the Nature Partner Journal Science of Learning
• Boston University: BA, BS, magna cum laude; Harvard University:
Master’s in International Educational Development; Capella University: Ph.D.
In Professional Studies in Education (Mind, Brain and Education Science)
• Former Director of the Teaching and Learning Institute at the Universidad
San Francisco de Quito Ecuador
• Former Dean of Education at the Universidad de las Américas, Quito,
Ecuador
• Teacher at all levels of education (K-University, continuing education) with
more than 29 years of experience in 31 countries.
2

www.traceytokuhama.com

1. Vocabulary
2. Definition of terms
• Mastery
• Differentiated evaluation
• Inclusion Classrooms
3. Universal Design For Learning
Today:

Vocabulary
• Knowledge “Gaps”
• “Notions”
• Constructivism and
Neruoconstructivism
18 September 2017 Tokuhama-Espinosa 5

Mastery learning
• Can age and grade levels be replaced with
“mastery”?
Hamilton Gazette, 2017, based on Benjamin Bloom, July 1984, p.5

Mastery learning
• Bloom (1956) considered how teachers might
adapt the most powerful aspects of tutoring and
individualized instruction to improve student
learning in general education classrooms. Bloom
suggested that although students vary widely in
their learning rates and modalities, if teachers
could provide the necessary time and
appropriate learning conditions, nearly all
students could reach a high level of
achievement.

Mastery
• “Following high-quality initial instruction, teachers administer a formative
assessment (Bloom, Hastings, & Madaus, 1971) that identifies precisely what
students have learned well and where they still need additional work.
• “The formative assessment includes explicit, targeted suggestions—termed
correctives—about what students must do to correct their learning difficulties and
to master the desired learning outcomes.”
18 September 2017 https://blog.scootpad.com/2013/11/21/research-based-mastery-learning-strategies-improve-student-achievement/ 8

Mastery
18 September 2017 Guskey, 2010 9

Differentiated Evaluation
• “Fair isn’t always equal”
Tokuhama-Espinosa 2017

Differentiated Evaluation
• Know your students
well enough to give
them what they need
to succeed.

Inclusion classrooms
• “Inclusion” is not the opposite of “exclusion”?

Inclusions
18 September 2017
https://www.pinterest.com/medisked/inclusion-quotes/
13

Inclusions
• ELL?
• Dyslexia?
• Asperger's?

Universal Design For Learning
• “Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework based on
research in the learning sciences, including cognitive neuroscience, that guides the
development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual
learning differences.”
• “Universal design calls for "the design of products and environments to be usable
by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or
specialized design"
18 September 2017
Rose, DH, & Meyer, A (2002) Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for
Learning Alexandria, VA: ASCD. 16

Seven Principles of UD
I. Equitable Use: the design is useful and
marketable to people with diverse abilities
• Provide the same means of use for all users:
identical whenever possible; equivalent when
not.
• Avoid segregating or stigmatizing any users.
• Make the design appealing to all users.

II. Flexibility in Use: the design accommodates
a wide range of individual preferences and
abilities.
• Provide choice in methods of use.
• Provide adaptability to the user's pace.
III. Simple and Intuitive Use
• Use of the design is easy to understand,
regardless of the user's experience, knowledge,
language skills, or current concentration level.

IV. Perceptible Information
• The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user,
regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities.
V. Tolerance for Error
• The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or
unintended actions.

VI. Low Physical Effort
• The design can be used efficiently and
comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue
VII. Size and Space for Approach and Use
• Appropriate size and space is provided for
approach, reach, manipulation, and use
regardless of user's body size, posture, or
mobility.

• Bundles: “Mini-libraries”

Applicable in your class?

Competencies:
Objectives
Educational
Competencies
Knowledge + Skills +
Attitudes

Worth knowing (knowledge)
Important to know and be
able to do (skills)
Significant learning
(attitudes)
Content-area knowledge (dates,
facts, formulas, theories,
concepts, places, names, etc.)
(“to know”)
Skills (strategies, methods, class
activities) (“to know how to
do”)
Big Ideas: What students
remember long after the course
ends (values) (“to know how to
be”).
For example, “appreciate problems
as opportunities”; “perseverance
and grit”; “value Mathematical
thinking as another way of
approaching about problems”;
“value teamwork,” etc.
Based in Grant Wiggins y Jay McTighe (1998), Understanding by Design

Backward Design and Differentiation

Summary
1. Mastery
2. Differentiated evaluation
3. Inclusion Classrooms
4. Universal Design For Learning

3-2-1
1. Three things you learned.
2. Two things you will share.
3. One thing you will change.

For more information:
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.
www.conexiones.com.ec
www.traceytokuhama.com

Building Blocks Towards Mastery Teaching and Learning

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