Mastery learning has overall positive effects on student affect, with the exception of slightly lower grade expectations¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · quant-synthesis r2 · q3 · i0 negligible
Currency · newest study 1985 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Evidence quality · No study behind this claim is a peer-reviewed article with a DOI: it rests on an ERIC document (a report, conference paper or thesis). It is kept because a design page cites it; treat it as a lead to check, not an established finding.

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Students under mastery conditions liked the subject more, felt more confident, felt it more important, and accepted greater personal responsibility, with affective effect sizes ranging from .11 to .53. → Guskey 1985 q3 i0 The one exception was a slightly negative effect on grade expectations, with an effect size of -.05. → Guskey 1985 (2)

Evidence¶

Guskey 1985¶

Guskey, Thomas R.; Gates, Sally L. (1985). A Synthesis of Research on Group-Based Mastery Learning Programs. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED262088

q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r2

Synthesis of six studies measuring a wide range of affective variables (affect toward subject, academic self-concept, importance, attributions); the article prints that "Effect sizes for these affective outcomes ranged from .11 to .53", a range rather than a single effect size for the overall finding, so no single magnitude is coded.

"Students who learned under mastery conditions generally liked the subject they wer4 studying more, were more confident of their abilities in that subject, felt the subject was more important, and accepted greater personal responsibility for their learning than students who learned under nonmastery conditions.'Effect sizes for these affective outcomes ranged from .11 to .53."

Guskey 1985 (2)¶

Guskey, Thomas R.; Gates, Sally L. (1985). A Synthesis of Research on Group-Based Mastery Learning Programs. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED262088

q3 · i0 · quant-synthesis · r2

In the Denton, Ory, Glassnap, & Poggio (1976) study included in the synthesis, grade expectations showed "the slightly negative effect upon grade expectations" with the printed effect size of -.05, a printed effect size below d = 0.2 in magnitude.

"The one exception to these positive results was the slightly negative effect upon grade expectations .identified in the Denton, Ory, Glassnap, & Poggio (1976) study in which. the effect. size Was -.n5."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Mastery learning improves students' attitudes toward the instruction and toward the subject — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Successful use of mastery learning has powerful but mixed effects on teacher variables, including more positive attitudes, altered attributions, and reduced teaching confidence — related
• Female students show stronger academic self-confidence, more positive attitudes, higher achievement, and fewer absences, but this advantage diminishes almost completely under mastery learning — related
• Teachers report the program supports student interest, confidence, and enjoyment of math — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Cignition group tutoring produced slightly higher math confidence and enjoyment than control in an RCT — related
• In a randomised experiment, AI access raised students' enjoyment of learning (p = 0.063) with no statistically detectable effect on self-assessed knowledge or felt effectiveness — related
• Math circle participants reported positive mathematics attitudes, with most respondents indicating mathematics was important, interesting, liked, and that they felt confident solving problems — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Cognitive apprenticeship students became more anxious about mathematics but reported gains in self-confidence, rapport, and enjoyment — related
• Group-based mastery learning programs yield positive achievement effects in every included study, but effect sizes vary so widely that an average was deemed inappropriate — related
• Mastery and control groups show no significant differences in entry knowledge, academic self-concept, or affect toward education — related