Many large-scale, school-based interventions have attempted to improve academic performance through promoting students' growth mindset, defined as the belief that one's intellectual ability can increase with practice and time. However, most have shown weak to no effects. Thus, it is important to examine how growth mindset might affect retention…

This study was undertaken to evaluate whether the student success associated with the "U-Pace" instructional approach, which integrates mastery-based learning with proactive instructor support in an online learning environment, would replicate for both economically disadvantaged students and students who are not economically…

We evaluated a self-instructional training manual for conducting multiple-stimulus without replacement stimulus preference assessment. The manual was compared to a method description, adapted from the method sections of previous published research articles, in an unbalanced crossover design with 18 undergraduate university students, randomly…

This paper presents the results of a study focused on the issue of how proctored testing affects the learning outcomes and integrity in an Intermediate Algebra course setting. The study follows a model of assessment where students in one group have taken two of their five unit exams as proctored tests along with a proctored Comprehensive Final…

Regner, Escribe, and Dupeyrat (2007) recently demonstrated that not only performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals (respectively, the desire to outperform others and not to be outperformed by others) but also mastery goals (the desire to acquire knowledge) were related to social comparison orientation (SCO, the tendency to search for…

A recent reform initiative in the Malaysian educational system has sought to develop "Smart schools", intended to better prepare students for adult life in a developing economy and to increase the flow of young people prepared for scientific and technological careers. The study reported in this paper examined lower-secondary science…

We tested the effects of instructional method (lecture vs. mastery) and aptitude (high, medium, low GPA levels) on students' academic performance and achievement motivation goals. Students enrolled in a developmental psychology course received either traditional lecture or mastery (Keller's Personalized System of Instruction [PSI]) instruction.…

This paper is concerned with the importance of testing and developing integrated multilevel educational effectiveness models through comparative studies in educational effectiveness. It is argued that secondary analyses of international comparative studies could help researchers test and develop integrated multilevel educational effectiveness…

For 10 years or more, teachers at the City Colleges of Chicago have used mastery learning, a teaching technique that focuses on the use of a corrective/feedback process to improve student learning. Early studies of mastery learning at the colleges comparing student grades in mastery learning classes to control classes in which these techniques…

Although computer-assisted instruction (CAI) favorably affects academic performance and attitudes toward instruction, most CAI programs target mastery but not fluency. This study used a within-subjects, crossover design to compare the effects of CAI that included fluency training with traditional study (TS) conditions on test performance and…

This study compared three instructional strategies for teaching music intervals to beginning music majors: programed instruction using a linear programed text; mastery learning using computer-assisted instruction (CAI); and self-practice using a textbook. Subjects were tested on immediate and delayed (48 hour) retention. Mastery learning by CAI…

This paper compares the educational outcomes and student aspirations of graduates from three typical upper middle class high schools and an atypical lower middle class high school that used Mastery Learning to guide the delivery of instruction. The Johnson City School District (JCSD) in New York has used this form of instruction through the first…

It is argued that mastery learning is one explanation for the documented differences in mathematics achievement between Japanese and American students. Given its emphasis on mastery at one stage before moving on to the next stage, and the potential accumulated benefits of this approach over time, mastery learning appears to be very similar to what…

A collaborative day care and public school kindergarten intervention program for children in several public housing projects in Boston was evaluated by means of the Bronson Social and Task Skill Profile, a classroom observation instrument. This instrument has categories that measure behaviors related to competence in carrying out social…

Disadvantages and advantages that physical therapy and allied health programs have encountered in utilizing a mastery learning approach are identified, based on a literature review and questioning of health educators. Recommendations concerning the implementation of this approach at California State University, Fresno are offered, along with a…