Bloom

=__Benjamin Bloom, former professor of education at University of Chicago__=

Bloom believed that through the process of formative classroom assessment, combined with the systematic correction of individual learning difficulties, all students could be provided with a more appropriate quality of instruction than is possible under more traditional approaches to teaching. As a result, nearly all might be expected to learn well and truly master the unit concepts or learning goals (Bloom, 1976; 1977). This, in turn, would drastically reduce the variation in students' achievement levels, eliminate achievement gaps, and yield a more equitable distribution of real learning.
 * Mastery Learning**

1. Teach unit material 2. Administer formative assessment 3. Students who master it, get enrichment or extension materials OR 3. Students who did not master it, get corrective instruction 4. THEN they take another formative assessment The next unit is started when at least 90% of students have mastered the material.
 * BIG IDEA**- 95% of students in all classrooms should have the opportunity to and ability to master the material they are being taught. Traditionally, the learning curve is the //BELL curve//, with the middle 60% of students on the bell mastering only about 70% of the material. The //mastery learning curve// has 95% of the students mastering 80% or more of the material.
 * The PROCESS-**


 * SECOND BIG IDEA**-Taxonomy of learning, designating higher and lower order thinking related to true mastery of material. Students "master" material by starting at the bottom of the "ladder" and working up, interacting with material in new and deeper ways with each step up the ladder. The bottom three rungs of the ladder are considered "lower level thinking" and the top three are considered "upper level thinking". The difference between the new and original is based on understanding that creating something new, especially with technology, is the highest level of mastering material. Also, the terms were changed from nouns to verbs....since mastering material is an action.



__**CONNECTIONS TO OTHER THEORISTS**__ Sources http://www.education.com/reference/article/mastery-learning/ http://api.ning.com/files/hSJmxgAhETIn7Qy5ifjRdRie17Bb2xZ4gnXSf7-aOslh9ZrLX*iSFYlAAc9McFpQC0RJn4FC-16yAJiwtYBMEIlXg6hLh-qg/BloomTheoreticalfoundationforMasterylearning.pdf
 * Bandura, Vygotsky, Wenger and Lave**-since Bloom's mastery learning is based on a cooperative instead of competitive model, then the idea of social learning would be at play in a mastery learning classroom. Students still working to master material would certainly be watching the students who had already mastered it and looking for modeled behaviors to help them towards mastery. Students in a cooperative environment would also be more likely to look for experts in their midst and seek help, as well as give help where needed.
 * Bruner and Dewey**-the three upper levels of Bloom's taxonomy relate closely to the ideas behind constructivism. In these levels the learner has to move beyond just the facts or body of knowledge and connect it to the world around them through experience and action on that world.
 * Friere**-Problem posing education, as Friere calls it, centers around critical thinking, problem solving and creative actions. This would coincide with the higher level thinking of the three upper levels of Bloom's taxonomy as well.
 * Gagne**-his nine events of instruction correlate very closely to Bloom's taxonomy of learning.
 * Gardner**-Bloom in the article he wrote (attached below) about mastery learning, talks extensively about how not all students learn in the same way and, in order to guide each student to mastery, the teacher needs to make sure to match appropriate instructional methods to the student. This closely matches with Gardner's intelligences and his theory behind the use of these in teaching and learning.
 * Montessori and Pask**-both discuss the value in both solitary learning to master the understanding of the basics of the information and then group learning to build on that knowledge and connect it to other learning. This would be the merging of the lower level and high level thinking skills on Bloom's taxonomy. The lower level skills are more solitary and are essential to the ability to take the information, use it in innovative ways, connect it to other learning, create new things, and interact with the knowledge of other learneres.
 * Piaget**- would see the logic in the taxonomy since he believes that learning is developmental and follows a sequence.
 * Skinner**-'s ideas about reward and punishment could be applied to the idea behind mastery learning. When students are in competition for grades, those who consistently fall at the bottom are not motivated to continue to try. Whereas, in mastery learning where there is no limit on "A's", students are rewarded for effort and are motivated to remain engaged in the learning process.
 * Scardamalia**-her description of the knowledge building process would fall in the upper three levels of Bloom's taxonomy.
 * Koffka**-I see a strong connection between the idea of "getting the knack" that Koffka describes and mastery learning as Bloom describes.
 * Rogers**-The environments that Bloom describes as ideal for mastery learning are the types of environments that Rogers calls "learner centered environments".
 * Weiner**-attribution theory directly connects to Bloom's focus on cooperative over competitive learning environments and Mastery learning. Students who feel that they are supported, that others want to help them, that they can keep working until they "get" it, and that they, indeed, can get it....will stay engaged in their learning.