Mastering:Best Practices

Dr. Jonathan LochamyGeorgia Perimeter College

Outline

I. Course Implementation

II. Technique

III. Student Tracking

Course Implementation:How I use Mastering

Pre-Class Reading EnforcedStudents take a chapter quiz before we cover the chapter in class.

Pre-Class InstructionStudents complete 3-5 activity segments before class.Tutorials are the best activities!

How others use Mastering

Post-Class InstructionActivities and tutorials can clarify difficult concepts.

Pre-Test AssessmentChapter quizzes and independent test bank can give early warning to student who is about to do poorly.

Blended ApproachSome activities before class, some after, and tutorials due by test time.

Course Implementation:Activity Selection

Prioritize ActivitiesTutorials/Coaching >Activities >>>Naked

Questions

Determine Time-on-taskUsing provided estimate, I limit to 45 minutes in

a face-to-face class. Longer for Hybrid and On-line.

Course Implementation:Grade Impact

Mastering is Homework. Weight this as you would a homework grade.In my class, 30 minutes of activities and a 10-

minute quiz are worth 10% of the final grade.

It must be part of the course grade.Ungraded or “bonus” point formats do not see

significant student use. Particularly not used by the weak students who need it most.

Grade Impact

Give a drop grade.Love your students, love yourself, give them the

value of one chapter’s worth of points back at the end of the semester.

Do not take excuses and reopen assignmentsSee that drop grade above? That’s why it is

there, for emergency “absences.”

Technique:Assignment Settings

First Principle: Homework, not a test.

All decisions about assignment settings should be based off this principle.

Second Principle: Teaching, then assessing.

The primary goal of Mastering is to accomplish instruction, not assess final progress. Assessment (grading) should be targeted towards formative, not summative.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment lets the student know what she does know and doesn’t know, before a test.

exposes misconceptions targets specific student errors warns the instructor of train wrecks

before-hand

Assignment Settings Walkthrough

Technique:Question Editing

Some assignments are good, but you dislike one question or part.

Simple Editor allows removal of offending question or part. Allows you to still use the activity.

Don’t spend a lot of time creating your own questions.

Question Edit Walkthrough

Student Tracking:Just in Time Teaching

Regurgitation of a textbook is boring to you and to students who did the homework.

Gradebook allows you to see where students had no problem (skip) or many problems (cover).

Adapting a lecture like this is called Just in Time Teaching (JITT).

JITT Walkthrough

Student Tracking:Student Intervention

Students often show up at the midpoint asking, “What can I do to make a better grade?”

Gradebook allows you to target a failing student before the first test.

Color pattern tells more than just looking at total points.

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