Bloom proposed mastery learning as a way to increase student success rates. Under traditional teaching, only 15-20% of students learn to the expected level, but Bloom believed that sensitively meeting student needs could help whole classrooms master topics. He identified three key variables that influence learning outcomes: cognitive and affective entry behaviors, and quality of instruction through cues, participation, reinforcement, and feedback. Using mastery learning strategies, 90-95% of students typically reach 80-95% mastery compared to just the top 15-20% under traditional methods.

1. MASTERY
LEARNING

2. Under traditional methods only %15-20
of students can learn to the expected level

3. Is it possible to increase the success to
whole classroom?

4. Bloom thinks that if learning is
approached sensitively and
systematically to meet the needs
of students, it is possible.
He published the studies on Mastery Learning
by him and his doctoral students at the
University of Chicago in 1976 in his book
Human Characteristics and School Learnings

5. Bloom posited three independent variables which have the
power of explaning the causes and outcomes of learning
Cognitive Entry Behaviours
• Prerequisite learnings which are necessary for a learning task
• Simply the background knowledge of the students in the particular
subject
Affective Entry Charecteristics
• Interests, attitudes and feelings toward the particular learning task
• It is based on students’ learning histories in the same or related
subject areas
Quality of Instruction
• It has four sub-variables
• Cues
• Participation
• Reinforcement
• Feedback and Corrective Loops

6. 4 Sub-variables of Quality of Instruction
Cues What teacher uses to point out what is to be
learned and how the student is to go about learning
it
Participation When overt and covert participation levels are high,
one can be sure that the quality of instruction is also
high.
Reinforcement Teacher behaviors which are contingent upon
desirable student behaviors related to learning.
Feedback and
Corrective
Loops
This is the most important subvariable of quality of
instruction.

8. Dependent Variables of Mastery Learning,
(Learning Outcomes)
• Level of Learning measured by a final summative test after a
series of learning tasks are completed. Under Mastery
Learning strategies usually 90-95% of students reach 80-
95% level of learning, which under traditional methods of
instruction is reached by only the top 15-20% of students.
Level of
Learning
• In Anderson’s research while initial differences in the rate of
learning between the slowest and fastest students is about
5:1, this difference becomes approximately 1,5:1 at the end
of a series of learning tasks. The reason is the possession of
the prerequisites by almost all students due to corrective
procedure.
Rate of
Learning
• A history of success in learning fosters a positive attitude
toward what is learned.
• Kiefer studied the academic self-concept over the years and
found that this is dependent on student’s relative achievment
levels in comparison to others in their own setting, during the
elementary and junior high school years.
Affective
Outcomes

9. SOURCE
 Yıldıran, Güzver. Multicultural Applications of
Mastery Learning. İstanbul: Boğaziçi
University, 2010

10. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION