Mastery Learning - Figuring Out What is Going on in the Student’s Head
We know that mastery-learning is student-centered, and we know that mastery-learning means that we make many attempts to understand what the student understands so that the learning can be tailored more towards the student’s needs. But how do we do that and what frame of mind should we have? I was part of a professional development in Almaty, Kazakhstan in which international teachers discussed this issue.
Introductory Illustration/Anti-Example
The speaker (James Grittner) started his presentation by asking everyone in the audience to raise their hand if they know Russian. He then said, “Everyone who knows Russian, of course, knows the word “Pestopan”. The teachers in the audience were a little confused, and I think everyone inside at first was thinking “Hmm, I’m not sure what he is talking about, but it seems like I should know this.” It felt like I was back in school as a student not understanding a mathematics concept. I’m sure many other teachers had the same feeling. After a few seconds, some teachers started murmuring “I’m not sure what he is talking about.” Finally, the presenter wrote on the board the Russian word in cyrillic “ресторан”, which means “restaurant”. The presenter then facetiously told us “You, know Pestopan.” The “р” in Russian makes an “r” sound; the “с” sound makes an “s” sound, and the “н” makes an “n” sound. The point the speaker was trying to make, I think, was two-fold (1) To help us develop empathy for students who are not getting it and (2) Showing us how to not teach.
A main job of a teacher, especially for mastery learning, is to figure out what is going on inside the students’ heads so that we can better target instruction. A teacher should not act like a concept is obvious; rather, the teacher must work to find ways to understand student understanding. Students will not understand instruction and students might not understand but think they do understand. We must, therefore, find ways to concretely address the misunderstanding.
Methods
Some methods given for checking student understanding were:
Using manipulatives so that all students can be involved and demonstrate their understanding. For example, a mathematics teacher could be teaching combining like terms. The teacher can explain initially with an example problem like 2x + 3x + 3y. The teacher can also explain with different colored markers. “I have two red markers, three red markers, and three green markers. I can combine the two red markers and three green markers to equal five red markers. However, I cannot add the three green markers to that sum because they are not like terms. The teacher can also have the students demonstrate with these colorful markers as well.
Have students tell you what they know so that you can tell what they know. This may be a more approachable/comfortable method at times compared to asking students what they do not understand.
Show anonymous student work on the board and have students critique the work together or put student work around the classroom and have students walk around the room in gallery walk style to critique their peers’ anonymous work.
Students work in small groups on a problem. In general, students are more comfortable sharing their work and thoughts with a small group. They are also more likely to ask clarifying questions and reveal where they are struggling. Also, when a teacher is talking to a small group or individually to students, students are more likely to be more open about where they are struggling.
Ask concrete questions to ascertain what students understand. The questions should ask for concrete information, not broad questions like “Do you understand?'“. For example, I find that having students work specific problems and circulating can help me gain a better understanding and provide appropriate feedback.
Mindset
Finally, it is important to have a sensitive mindset that is truly trying to understand what is causing the student trouble and to not assume what is the problem. For example, do not assume that a student is not answering questions because the student does not want to put in the effort, or do not assume that a student does not want to present to the class because the student lacks social skills because of the pandemic. For example, some students may not feel comfortable answering questions or presenting because of cultural reasons. A teacher who attended the session explained that he went to school in Africa all the way up to high school and then he went to college in the USA. In the USA, he was at first afraid to make a mistake because as a kid in Africa he was punished for making a mistake.
Of course, teachers want to help their students overcome obstacles and fears like not wanting to answer questions or present in class. However, an effective teacher will try to understand what is behind this difficulty and work with the student to help the student realize his/her full potential. If a teacher just assumes the obstacle, then a student-centered and caring approach cannot be fully realized. This is why it is so necessary to have thoughtful, good conversations with students to get to the bottom of what is actually going on in their heads.