Gaining knowledge: KWC professors implementing 'mastery learning' in classrooms

Apr. 7—Two assistant professors at Kentucky Wesleyan College have implemented "mastery learning" within their classrooms in the hope students truly know the material before moving on in their education.

John Sinclair, assistant professor of physics, said he chose to use mastery learning because of what he calls the "problem of vectors."

"In every first-year general physics class, the first assessment is on vector math, vector addition, vector subtraction," he said. "It was usually the lowest score any student received in my classes, but by Week 3 they would score a 100 on it."

Sinclair said he began noticing an issue.

"It seemed like a problem with the way material was introduced; they were learning it, but not receiving any credit for what they learned," he said. "They were also trying to triage that instead of spending time on the foundational elements."

Mastery learning allows Sinclair to grade in a way that's primarily formative assessment based.

"Every student will initially engage with the material, struggle with it, and then learn through the process, go back and can revise or reassess over the same material with different questions to show they were able to learn it, and I can still give them credit for it," he said.

J.P. Clark, assistant professor of education, taught high school for 15 years before arriving at KWC.

"It was during my second or third year teaching, when I went to this professional development conference where the presenter said our grade books should be in pencil," he said. "I remember asking why, but then it dawned on me that when it comes to STEM and education, I learn it fast. But when it comes to social studies, it can take me forever to learn the reasoning behind something."

Clark said he made the connection that chemistry is like that for a lot of students.

"It can take a while to learn some things," he said. "We do something called stoichiometry in chemistry, which at first I thought would take two weeks, but it took six. The first quiz scores were really shaky, but by the end, they understood."

The core idea of mastery learning is that not everyone learns at the same pace and students need to have material broken down for them, Clark said.

"Mastery learning is very much based on having a specific skillset and getting better at it, versus being good at it right out of the gate," he said.

One way Sinclair and Clark have been active in mastery learning is through class assignments.

"A student will submit an assignment that is specifically about one thing," Clark said. "We look at it, we give feedback, and then we invite them to give it another go."

Sinclair said students can prove they have learned the material in more ways than just taking a test.

"It gives me the opportunity to allow students to have different ways to show me they understand," he said. "Typically, the way you show how to do something is you're given a sheet of paper with questions on it, and you have to do it sitting at the table. But that's not how everybody is successful at showing how they've learned material."

Clark's education students participate in "micro-teaching," which is creating a lesson and teaching it to classmates.

"Teaching in front of your peers lacks significant authenticity, so one thing I've done this semester with mastery learning, is having them teach three times — twice in class and the third in the field," he said. "There are some students who just don't present well in front of their peers."

Making sure his students understand the material fully before graduating is important to Clark.

"I became a teacher because I wanted to help students achieve, and then it occurred to me that I only helped 1,500 students do that in the last 15 years," he said. "Then I thought if I became school leader, I could help an entire school every year. Then it dawned on me that if I became an education professor, I'm not only affecting my students, but also their students."

Clark said he wants to help future students achieve through his students.

Sinclair holds a similar mindset for mastery learning.

"In my mind, the purpose of education has very little to do with even teaching the skills that I have decided are important," he said. "It's about teaching students to learn how to learn.

"Once you have that skillset down, you can go do whatever you want."