A recurring theme at the coalface this month concerned the issue of a student mastery of a learning concept before proceeding or scaffolding to another level. We found many examples where students were able to achieve some level of concept understanding with help but had been "moved along" before they had mastered the material. When this happens with some students we are lucky enough in the power of their intellect to successfully fill in the gaps in the missed practice and make the conceptual leap in spite of our rigor. Considering that part of our roles of tutor and teacher are to assist learning because (not in spite) of "what we do", it is important that we do not rely on this "luck" too often. Rather than rely on luck, mastery learning requires that we teach the concept to a very high level of mastery before proceeding.

How do we know if the concept has been mastered? Simply, the student can demonstrate full ability of the notion being taught without assistance – today- (a first piece of short term memory evidence) and again tomorrow or the next (24-48 hours later confirms longer term memory evidence).

Here is a simple example:-
Mr Cain is teaching his 6-year-old son to read. He has introduced several symbols for which his son has been easily able to say the appropriate sound correctly each time over 3 days. He moves onto blending two then three sounds into a word that is familiar to his son. Although his son can say the sounds individually and blend them slowly, he recognises the familiar word only after blending it.

Has he mastered the concept and moved to "automaticity"(1)? No.
He is getting there, but he has not achieved this step.

What should Mr Cain do?

Give more practice with familiar words. Stay on these words until the large majority are easily recognised (at least 8 of 10). If he is unsure, he should send a video sample to a consultant teacher, invite a consultant to observe and troubleshoot.

What will happen if he doesn't give his son more practice or seek advice?

He will put his son at risk of moving beyond his zone of proximal development(2) at which point frustrations will begin to occur. What was once "easy" and "fun" for his son will become "hard" and "work". Moving on even further will certainly heighten the risks of failure and frustrations. Moving on will make a simple strategy, complex.

So, if you are like our Mr Cain, please help your student and follow Occam's razor(3) - keep it simple.

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Endnotes

1. automaticity: Automaticity is the ability to effortlessly complete everyday tasks with low interference of other simultaneous activities and without conscious thought to step-by-step process. When the brain recognizes familiar tasks it processes the information and applies the correct rules to the procedure in order to reduce the demand on the working memory and allow for higher order processing of information.
2. zone of proximal development: See Vygotsky, L. (1962). Thought & language (translated
   by Hanfmann & Vakar) Cambridge: MIT Press. The significance of the zpd is that it determines the lower and upper bounds of the zone within which instruction should be pitched.
3. Occam's razor: The principle states "Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily." The most useful statement of the principle for scientists is, "when you have two competing theories which make exactly the same predictions, the one that is simpler is the better."

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