Abstract

With continuing inequalities in education and low student engagement and motivation, educators are moving away from competition through standardized testing to more personalized and collaborative approaches to learning, including mastery learning, developed by Benjamin Bloom in the 1970s. Such approaches address social justice by increasing student agency and voice in the classroom, and support all learners in achieving success. While personalized learning can increase teacher workloads significantly, modern digital tools are at last making it more efficient and logistically feasible. This case study investigated the effectiveness of a web-based learning visualization tool, CGScholar’s Analytics, to support mastery learning through formative assessment, peer collaboration, and adaptive and personalized instruction. It found that the visual representation of students’ progress in CGScholar’s Analytics clarified their learning goals and increased their sense of agency, self-regulation of their learning, motivation, and effort. Students provided constructive feedback to peers and developed a greater appreciation of how peer collaboration supported their learning. The feedback by peers and the teacher provided adaptive and personalized instruction, and promoted self-reflection and metacognition, enabling students to progress to mastery. Further, the increased student agency and collaboration contributed to creating a more socially just classroom.

Van Haren and Harroun