As I read through the articles for unit I, I was struck by the constant balance that educators must find between mastery-based learning and teacher presence.
Koen put this issue quite succinctly when he pondered:
However, the question of what balance to put on that system of learning then becomes paramount. Most teachers recognize that learning often requires a structured environment. There are many distractions in our world, particularly now, and it we allow students to complete work whenever they decide, they may choose to simply not complete the work. Teacher presence has consistently been a key motivator to encourage students to complete tasks and conquer the roadblocks that sometimes stand in the way of learning. How do we then ensure that presence exists while still allowing a student to work at their own pace? How does a teacher balance multiple students at multiple spots in the curriculum and somehow make them all feel equally attended to?
The articles in this unit certainly offered quite a few specific examples for conquering mastery/presence balance concerns. In all, it seemed that some version of PSI or AT teachings combined with structure provided by a teacher, proctor, or department offered the best way to reach out to students while still allowing them to master material on their own terms. I personally believe that finding this balance is the key to modern education and wish that more programs would focus their efforts in this direction (rather than funneling massive amounts of money into testing). Students who are allowed to work at their own pace while knowing there is a support system in place are students who are likely to be successful at learning, and the more successes a student has behind them, the more likely they are to become life-long learners.
I have a personal fondness for this topic because mastery-based learning is one of the key tenets of the online program in which I currently work. As the program has grown, we have struggled daily with finding the balance between letting students have as much time as they need to complete units (set up in PSI fashion) and providing more structure for them. I have found that teachers also struggle with discovering how to create a sense of community in an online course when students are working through it at different paces, although because we cap sections, our teachers are still very good at maintaining presence with their students. I am currently thinking that we may need to add some elements of the AT model to our program in order to help students become better at pacing their learning.
Koen, B. V. (2005). Creating a sense of "presence" in a web-based psi course: The search for mark hopkins' log in a digital world. IEEE Transactions on Education, 48(4), 599-604.
Koen put this issue quite succinctly when he pondered:
What is the proper way to design a course in the current digital age when Mark Hopkins' log stretches to become the long wire of the Internet? How can a professor keep the sense of Mark Hopkins in close proximity to his or her student...when professor and student are separated by thousands of miles and, at the same time, schedule the reinforcers necessary for effective education implied by Skinner's observation? (Koen, 2005)Both Keller's Personal System of Instruction (PSI) and Postlethwait's Audio Tutorial (AT) system address the concept of mastery well. In each system, students are allowed to work at their own pace to comprehend material. The AT system does provide more structure in terms of pacing because of its three components (Independent Study, General Assembly, and Small Assembly). While a student working through PSI could in theory take as long as they want (barring restrictions placed by a teacher), the AT model suggests that each study session will take place at regular intervals. If you are a teacher who believes in personalizing instruction and that different people learn at different paces, then one of these systems will likely provide you with the type of learning tool you wish to use.
However, the question of what balance to put on that system of learning then becomes paramount. Most teachers recognize that learning often requires a structured environment. There are many distractions in our world, particularly now, and it we allow students to complete work whenever they decide, they may choose to simply not complete the work. Teacher presence has consistently been a key motivator to encourage students to complete tasks and conquer the roadblocks that sometimes stand in the way of learning. How do we then ensure that presence exists while still allowing a student to work at their own pace? How does a teacher balance multiple students at multiple spots in the curriculum and somehow make them all feel equally attended to?
The articles in this unit certainly offered quite a few specific examples for conquering mastery/presence balance concerns. In all, it seemed that some version of PSI or AT teachings combined with structure provided by a teacher, proctor, or department offered the best way to reach out to students while still allowing them to master material on their own terms. I personally believe that finding this balance is the key to modern education and wish that more programs would focus their efforts in this direction (rather than funneling massive amounts of money into testing). Students who are allowed to work at their own pace while knowing there is a support system in place are students who are likely to be successful at learning, and the more successes a student has behind them, the more likely they are to become life-long learners.
I have a personal fondness for this topic because mastery-based learning is one of the key tenets of the online program in which I currently work. As the program has grown, we have struggled daily with finding the balance between letting students have as much time as they need to complete units (set up in PSI fashion) and providing more structure for them. I have found that teachers also struggle with discovering how to create a sense of community in an online course when students are working through it at different paces, although because we cap sections, our teachers are still very good at maintaining presence with their students. I am currently thinking that we may need to add some elements of the AT model to our program in order to help students become better at pacing their learning.
Koen, B. V. (2005). Creating a sense of "presence" in a web-based psi course: The search for mark hopkins' log in a digital world. IEEE Transactions on Education, 48(4), 599-604.
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