Mastery learning

Overview

Influence: Mastery learning
Domain: Teaching Strategies
Sub-Domain: Success criteria
Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to considerably accelerate
Influence Definition: Based on the premise that all students can eventually (at their own speed) learn difficult material, this practice calls for all students to learn material at equivalently high (or mastery) levels. It often involves providing formative tests and asking students to repeat lessons until they have mastered them.

Evidence

Number of meta-analyses: 15
Number of studies: 784
Number of students: 11,383
Number of effects: 637
Effect size: 0.61

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title	Author	First Author's Country	Article Name	Year Published	Variable	Number of Studies	Number of Students	Number of Effects	Effect Size
Review of Research in Education	Block & Burns	USA	Mastery Learning	1976	Mastery learning	45	0	45	0.83
Journal of Research in Science Teaching	Willett, Yamashita & Anderson	USA	A meta-analysis of instructional systems applied in science teaching	1983	Mastery teaching in science	130	0	13	0.64
Educational Leadership	Guskey & Gates	USA	A synthesis of research on group-based mastery learning programs	1985	Group based mastery learning	38	7,794	35	0.78
Unpublished Thesis	Hefner	USA	The effects of a mastery learning/competency-based education instructional approach on facilitating students' retention of achievement in language arts and mathematics	1985	Mastery learning/Competency based methods	8	1,529	12	0.66
Journal of Educational Technology Systems	Kulik & Kulik	USA	Mastery testing and student learning: a meta-analysis	1986	Mastery testing	49	0	49	0.54
Review of Educational Research	Slavin		Mastery learning reconsidered	1987	Mastery learning	7	0	7	0.04
JAMA	Cook, Brydges, Zendejas, Hamstra, & Hatala	USA	Technology-enhanced simulation for health professions education: a systematic review and meta-analysis	2013	Mastery learning using technology enhanced simulations	59	2,060	59	1.17
Journal of Educational Research	Guskey	USA	A Synthesis of Research on Group-Based Mastery Learning Programs.	1988	Mastery learning	43	0	78	0.61
Journal of Educational Research	Guskey & Pigott	USA	Research on group-based mastery learning programs: A meta-analysis	1988	Group based mastery learning	43	0	78	0.61
Unpublished Thesis	Hood	USA	Using meta-analysis for input evaluation	1990	Mastery learning	23	0	23	0.56
Review of Educational Research	Kulik, Kulik, & Bangert-Drowns	USA	Effectiveness of mastery learning programs: a meta-analysis	1990	Mastery learning	34	0	34	0.52
Teaching of Psychology	Kulik, Kulik, & Cohen	USA	Instructional technology and college teaching.	1979	PSI and achievement	61	0	75	0.49
Journal of Research in Science Teaching	Willett, Yamashita & Anderson	USA	A meta-analysis of instructional systems applied in science teaching	1983	PSI in science	130	0	15	0.60
Computers in Human Behavior	Kulik, Kulik, & Bangert-Drowns		Effectiveness of computer-based education in elementary schools.	1988	PSI in college students	72	0	72	0.49
Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education.	Ede & Igbokwe	Nigeria	Meta-analysis of the effects of mastery learning on students’ academic achievements in Nigeria	2018	Mastery testing	42	0	42	0.54
TOTAL/AVERAGE						784	11,383	637	0.61

Confidence

The Confidence is the average of these four measures, each divided into five approximately equal groups and assigned a value from 1 to 5 based on the following criteria:

Number of Meta-analyses
- 1 = 1
- 2 = 2–3
- 3 = 4–6
- 4 = 7–9
- 5 = 10+
Number of Studies
- 1 = 1–10
- 2 = 11–50
- 3 = 51–200
- 4 = 201–400
- 5 = 400+
Number of Students
- 1 = 1–2,500
- 2 = 2,501–10,000
- 3 = 10,000–20,000
- 4 = 20,000–100,000
- 5 = 100,001+
Number of Effects
- 1 = 1–100
- 2 = 101–300
- 3 = 301–600
- 4 = 601–1,200
- 5 = 1,200+

Confidences
	Number of Meta-Analyses	Number of Studies	Number of Students	Number of Effects	Overall Confidence
Confidence Factor	5	5	3	4	4