The effects of mastery learning and traditional learning methods on achievement and retention of fifth grade Turkish primary school students in science

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Mastery Learning strategy of Benjamin S. Bloom on achievement and retention of 5th grade Turkish primary school students in science in comparison to the traditional learning strategy which is used in a primary school in Turkey. The hypotheses for this study are: Hypothesis Hypothesis I: The achievement level of the class under the Mastery Learning method will be significantly higher than the class under the traditional method of instruction. II: The retention scores of the Mastery class will be significantly higher than the Control class. Hypothesis III: Retention is influenced by the level of learning. The three hypotheses of the study were tested. The comparison of the means of the Mastery and Control classes on their summative tests as well as their retention tests were done throught tests. The analyses were also done through the use of non-parametric statistics. Correlational analyses were done on the relationship of the variables of concern. In addition X2 was used to test the effects of level of learning on retention. The percentage of retention from original learning is also reported for students who reach the criterion level as well as those who dn not reach this level. The results of the analyses show that: 1- The achievement levels of the Mastery class is significantly higher than the Control class at the .001 level of significance. 11- The retention scores of the Mastery class are also significantly higher than the Control class at the .001 level of significance. 111- Retention is highly influenced by the level of learning at the .001 level of significance. The study galns an importance, Slnce this the first applied use of the Mastery Learning strategy in Turkey. The results indicate that this learning strategy might also help to raise the majority of Turkish students to reach higher levels of achievement and retention.