| Abstract: | Views the student's time spent in learning as a potent variable underlying differences in learning achievement between nations, states, and communities, various classroom subjects, and various classroom conditions. The J. B. Carroll (see record 1963-08222-001) model, which posits that individual students differ in the amount of time needed to reach criterion on a given learning unit, led to the development of the learning mastery instructional approach. Proponents of this approach maintain that by individualizing the learning rate with a fixed set of materials (sequential units) and by providing necessary individual help and additional time, most students would be able to reach the criterion of mastery for each learning unit. R. Glaser (1968) and R. C. Atkinson (1968) conducted research on human variation in mastery learning. They found that early in a course or term (a) the elapsed time (time presumably working on the task) necessary for different students to reach criterion varied by a ratio of 1:5, while (b) the actual time spent on the task necessary for different students to reach criterion varied by a ratio of 3:1. Reductions in both ratios later in the course or term, particularly the actual time on task ratio, suggested that the mastery approach facilitated both more efficient learning and more efficient time usage. It is concluded that an understanding of time and its use in school learning would be helpful in the effort to decrease human variability in learning. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
