Friday 30 September 2011

ESSAY WRITING CAN BE MASTERY LEARNING

but only if.......

the teacher practises students in sentence structure, paragraph writing, logical argument, presentation of argument in an essay and creative writing.

FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: TEACHING ...
1 Sep 2011 ... FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS. faith,
hope, peace, love, truth, ... TEACHING STUDENTS TO FLY IN ENGLISH.
I was an English ...familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../teaching-students-to-
fly-in-english.html - Cached - Similar

the teacher has students write the essay, edits and corrects the essay, has the student rewrite and polish, checks again, has the student polish again and practise in own words to a time limit.

But lazy teachers will not like that. They will want to write in red on the essay and return to the student who may then throw the essay into the creek on the way home.

..... and that is not Mastery Learning.

THE CRAFT OF CREATIVE WRITING

On reading the newspapers in Papua New Guinea, I cannot help but marvel at the beautiful writing style of many journalists. I wonder about where they learned such skill.

Did they have national or expatriate English teachers? Were they educated overseas? Did this skill come on the journalism course at the Divine Word University?

They do not write baby talk as we see in high schools these days. They often have complex and beautifully crafted sentences. It is time to pay tribute to such skill in writing.

FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: MASTERY ...
2 days ago ... WRITE SWEET ENGLISH ..... and stop the baby talk.
In Papua. New Guinea schools, .... Posted by HIV/AIDS: FAMILY
POSITIVE LIVING at ...familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/...
/mastery-learning-by-parallel-structures.html - Cached - Similar

These are the writing skills that I have always focused on as an English teacher in both Australian and Papua New Guinea schools.

I will now take a piece of creative writing and highlight the sweet sentences. At times as an editor, I would take a pen to the work offered to make the prose slightly more simple.

FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: TEACHING ...
1 Sep 2011 ... FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS. faith,
hope, peace, love, truth, ... TEACHING STUDENTS TO FLY IN ENGLISH.
I was an English ...familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../teaching-students-to-
fly-in-english.html - Cached - Similar

MY MUM- MY BEST FRIEND by Poreni Umau

That was the last time I saw mother with her aging white hair outstanding in the crowd.

Tucked under warm, thick blankets, topped off with a Puma coat, I snuggled up under the wooly covers.

Separated by distance, her usual text messages every morning reminded me of her caring and loving nature that knew no boundaries.

My mind grew restless, forcing my shivering fingers to switch the mobile phone on again.

I uttered a silent prayer under my breath in shame for my sudden outburst.

My travels, my health and safety topped her concern list.

Son, I light this lamp at nights to think of you and offer a prayer for your safety.

She encouraged me to bring back stories of my trip which she reads through thick rimmed glasses.

The key to successful writing is to combine thoughts into sentences by use of connector words. The most common words are "and", "with" and the many participles.

I opened the door and went inside.

He stood there with tears streaming down his face and a faint smile on his lips.

Calling to his friends, he ran towards the burning house.

Laughing loudly and shouting to her family, she welcomed us.

MASTERY LEARNING NEEDS GENDER EQUITY

Male teachers tend to look at the world through the eyes of men. Female teachers look through the eyes of women. Mastery Learning design requires scenarios that focus on the issues of men and women.

This does not mean that Mastery Learning becomes a political struggle. But Mastery Learning requires that all sequences of exercises show issues of both men and women represented.

We need to be aware that if all teachers have to produce their own mastery sequences, it will all be a mess. Many teachers do not have the skill to do this. Schools will suffer from a lack of continuity between teachers.

All the more reason why all teachers should be working through a common inventory of Mastery Learning exercises. It should not produce mediocrity but considerable richness in skills, knowledge and insights.

All the more reason why there should be a Mastery Learning design team with men and women represented as professional teachers.

VALUE OF MASTERY LEARNING

These are suggested to be the key guidelines to the operation of Mastery Learning in Papua New Guinea schools and other schools in the world.

Mastery Learning is the key to Outcome Based Education and Training.

Mastery Learning is based on Bloom's Taxonomies of Educational Objectives.

Mastery sequences are prepared by a design team to be official documents.

Mastery Learning sequences are for all teachers in all grades of all schools.

Sequences are to be comprehensive, valid and reliable instruments of learning.

Teachers may make input on sequences on the basis of insight and research.

Mastery Learning is the basis of all formative and summative assessment.

Sequences give continuity and quality to teachers in student-friendly learning.

Sequences extend from basic to advanced knowledge and skills in all subjects.

The major problem in Outcome Based Education in Papua New Guinea and other countries is that there was never support given to struggling teachers in provision of mastery activities.

Compiled by Bruce Copeland BA BEdSt (Queensland St Lucia)
Certificate Teaching English as Foreign Language to Adults (Cambridge)
Practitioner in Mastery Learning

WHY DO STUDENTS SIT LIKE LOGS?

In Papua New Guinea there are reasons why many students sit like logs in class. The main reason is that they have come in from rural schools and do not have the written, spoken, listening and writing skill to contribute in class.

They sit and pretend to work. They may have no idea of what the teacher is saying. When time to complete written exercises from the blackboard, they spend the first 10 minutes ruling up their writing book and ten minutes copying the questions into the page.

By that time, the teacher has started to write the answers on the blackboard. So the village students copy the work into their pads. They can go the whole year without writing a single thought of their own.

Such students hide in the gardens on test day. Some will stay and complete the test if it is only objective questions. There is no difficulty in ticking responses. A student does not even have to understand the question.

There is another reason why students sit like logs. There is a culture in the class room by which no bright student responds to questions of the teacher. The class culture can be for everyone to sit like logs. Any student who breaks the rule will be punished by other students.

I recall one grade 7 student at Bumayong High. She was full of enthusiasm. Any questions from the teacher would evoke a response from her.

It took her about 3 weeks to sit like a log as the rest of the class was doing. I have seen her over the years. Last time found her doing her Masters at the University of Papua New Guinea. She succeeded in spite of the logs in her class.

I found the way to get over all this was to raise the level of enthusiasm of classes so that students became highly motivated to respond.

FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: TEACHING ...
1 Sep 2011 ... FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS. faith, hope,
peace, love, truth, ... TEACHING STUDENTS TO FLY IN ENGLISH. I was
an English ...familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../teaching-students-to-fly-in-
english.html - Cached - Similar

I know how it feels to have people trying to bully me into silence. They have been trying to silence the Positive Living message for over a decade without success.

My daughters have done it the hard way too. They contributed in class until told to shut up " you white bitch" by other students. They sit like logs too. If students survive into the higher grades, the pressure drops.

Thursday 29 September 2011

MASTERY LEARNING TEACHES TEACHERS.

Teachers in Papua New Guinea come from many backgrounds. Many need help and find the demands of Outcome Based Education very frightening. Some are too lazy to try.

Many teachers lack the initiative, imagination, knowledge of the world, ability to analyze and understanding of how to design sequences of Mastery Learning. They lack the ability to make study exciting and challenging for students.

So that is why preparation of Mastery Learning design has to be centralized in the hands of a design team. The team should have a helpful attitude to teachers and students and the desire to prepare exercises that the teachers and students can master at the appropriate level.

FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: TEAM OF MASTERY ...
3 days ago ... Mastery Learning is a key to Family Positive Living . ... They have
to learn to prepare mastery sequences in depth and in parallel sequences. ...
familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../team-of-mastery-learning-designers.html

- Cached - Similar

The mastery exercises for grade 4 should not be at the level of grade 10. Nor should Grade 10 exercises be at the standard of grade 4. Grade 9 exercises should not be at first year university level. The design team has to get it right.

With exercises and solutions, the Mastery Learning is training the teachers too. Then they take their new knowledge and skills to teach the students.

There should be continuity of mastery exercises from elementary to grade 12, gently progressing in simple to complex format with smooth transition from unit to unit and grade to grade. There should also be greater depth in some subjects from grade to grade.

FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: MASTERY ...
2 days ago ... FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS ... MASTERY LEARNING IN
DEPTH ... Posted by HIV/AIDS: FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING at 19:37 ...

familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../mastery-learning-in-depth.html

There should be links between the subject areas. In Science and Social Studies there is the resource material for promoting writing skills.

BLOOM BRINGS BACK THE BASICS

Up to mid-1960s, students in Australian schools learned the basics. They learned grammar rules, sentence structure, parsing words, analysis of sentences, synthesis of sentences and derivation from Latin and Greek.

My grade 8 teacher in 1959 was a soldier from World War 1 and born in 1890. He taught the basics well. His handwriting was copper plate and he expected us to be the same. We knew our sentence structure well.

Then it all changed in the mid-1960s. All grammar and sentence structure went out the window. Students learned to read by reading not knowing words and sentences. They learned to write by writing. It was a mess and has remained so. The standard of teaching has dropped, never to rise again.

But Bloom tried to raise the basics again in the 1970s with his Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. The first level was KNOWLEDGE. This was knowledge of words, grammar, derivation, structure of sentences, general knowledge of the world and specialized knowledge.

But people still criticize Bloom. Perhaps they do not want to go back to the basics. Perhaps they do not know how.

That is why the Australian consultants have hidden Bloom's Taxonomy and Mastery Learning from PNG teachers. They were paid only for Outcome Based Education. They knew it would not work. It may be that the advisors want projects to fail so that they will be invited back to clean up the mess.

Selling Outcome Based Education without Bloom's Taxonomy and Mastery Learning awareness is like giving aircraft to the PNGDF without training in the tools and without the tools. The Australian advisors did the same with HIV/AIDS awareness.

AUSTRALIAN AIDS PROPAGANDA RUBBISH - FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS ...
10 May 2011 ... Posted by HIV/AIDS: FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING at 16:58 · Email This BlogThis! ...
Labels: AUSTRALIAN AIDS PROPAGANDA RUBBISH ...

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So many friends in PNG advise that they can not see the difference between Mastery Learning OBE and the way that they were taught in the 1970s and 1980s. They were taught to master skills. They practised and practised until they mastered.

So what is different? The difference is that their teaching had not been spoiled by young smart-arse advisors with a private agenda.

Perhaps the PNG Department of Education should scrap the name Outcome Based Education and replace it with Mastery Learning. Then we all know where we stand.

Wednesday 28 September 2011

TEACHERS NEVER LEARNED THE BASICS

Outcome Based Education and Mastery Learning focuses on basics of spelling, grammar, arithmetic and synthesis into letters, books, assignments, reports and projects.

Many teachers across the world are products of education in the 1960s where all these basics were foolishly removed. Students were to learn to read by reading. They were to learn to write by writing.

Does this mean that pilots learned to fly by flying? Soldiers learned to fight by fighting? Accountants were to learn to account by accounting?

Students were not supposed to memorize any more. They were not to chant in class. So many students no longer recall their multiplication tables.

So these teachers taught young students in the 1970s to read by reading and write by writing. The standard dropped dramatically. The young students are teachers of today. They scream and moan at being involved with Outcome Based Education and Mastery Learning.

TEACHING TIPS
7 Principles of Good Practice, Essentials of effective teaching and learning.
Coaching ... Five basic types of questions, Asking questions is one of the basic
skills of good teaching. Types of Questions, Question types based on Bloom's
taxonomy. ... Student Passports, A formal document presenting student mastery
of skills. ...www2.honolulu.hawaii.edu/facdev/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm
Bloom, Benjamin
2 Apr 2008 ... Bloom developed a "taxonomy of educational objectives" which
classified the ... Bloom also carried out significant research on mastery learning,
showing that it .... materials by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts and answers
.... in shifting the instructional emphasis from teaching facts to teaching students ...
www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Benjamin_Bloom - Cached - Similar

How can they prepare sequences of the basics when they have never learned the basics? The Mastery Learning sequences proposed for PNG education will also teach the teachers.

BLOGGER CORNEY ALONE OPPOSES OBE

For the last two years on Jackson's Blog, there has been a lone opponent of Outcome Based Education. This person has become expert at setting down in detail shortcomings of this education process. He is determined not to open his mind to any input on how to make OBE work.

Corney steps up pressure in schools debate - KEITH JACKSON'S ...
11 Sep 2010 ... BY KEITH JACKSON CAMPAIGNER AGAINST outcome-based
education (OBE), Corney Alone, has made a public call for a national debate on .
..asopa.typepad.com/.../corney-steps-up-pressure-in-schools-debate.html
- Cached - Similar

He has not stated his qualifications and whether or not he is a teacher. There has been good advice on Jacksons blog on OBE, particularly in explaining Mastery Learning and Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. But the Alone mind remains alone.

bloom's taxonomy of learning domains - bloom's learning model, for ...
Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains - Cognitive, Affective, Psychomotor ...
outset, Bloom believed that education should focus on 'mastery' of subjects and
the .... 2, Comprehension, understand meaning, re-state data in one's own words, ...

Blooms Taxonomy Questions
Looking for Blooms taxonomy questions to use with any lesson plan? ... down of
skills into sub-skills that are essential for mastery learning to take place. ...
Blooms Taxonomy is a supplementary component to the critcal thinking domain
(one of ..www.primary-education-oasis.com/blooms-taxonomy-questions.html
Readers may think that Bloom's Taxonomy is some obscure strategy of education. It has been the leading guideline to Outcome Based Education.

There are six stages:

KNOWLEDGE: Students have knowledge.

COMPREHENSION: Students understand the knowledge.

ANALYSIS. Students analyze ideas, plans, arguments and phenomena.

APPLICATION: Students apply what they know to plans, arguments and projects.

SYNTHESIS: Students combine knowledge and skills to plans and arguments.

EVALUATION: Students evaluate plans, projects and arguments.

Corney Alone does not want to know. Equally he does not want to know about Mastery Learning which is the key tool in developing OBE.

Blooms Taxonomy Questions
Looking for Blooms taxonomy questions to use with any lesson plan? ... down of
skills into sub-skills that are essential for mastery learning to take place. ...
Blooms Taxonomy is a supplementary component to the critcal thinking domain
(one of ...www.primary-education-oasis.com/blooms-taxonomy-questions.html
Teachers have to understand that Mastery Learning has been a technique of teaching for 80 years. Students work until they master skills in sequences of activities. I do not know of any other way to teach.

Mastery Learning is the only way for PNG teachers. But it may well be that the process in PNG has been made too difficult because teachers know nothing of the skills of mastery learning design.

The problem is not OBE but the fact that teachers across the world no longer teach the basics of reading, writing and calculating in a systematic way. How can Mastery Learning be designed for skill areas that are no longer taught? Bloom was seeking to bring back the basics of literacy and arithmetic.

Jackson has allowed broad discussion of Outcome Based Education on his blog. But he seems to have removed most reference to Mastery Learning and Bloom's Taxonomy. He has put his blog out of the debate.

He and Corney Alone have hit the target with their criticisms. But sadly, their approach has been to fire the bullets and draw the bull's eyes around the bullet holes. Bull's eye every time. Put Mastery Learning and Bloom's Taxonomy in the too hard basket.

MASTERY LEARNING BY PARALLEL STRUCTURES

Exercises for the lower grades.

These exercises all have parallel structures. As part of Mastery Learning design, teachers need to write such a sequence of exercises to give practice to students.

I went home.
I did my work.

I went home and did my work.

I watched the football match.
I cheered for my team.

I watched the football and cheered for my team.

I bought apples.
I bought oranges.
I bought bananas.

I bought apples, oranges and bananas.

I went inside.
I shut the door.
I sat down.

I went inside, shut the door and sat down.

He helped the teachers.
He built a classroom.
He bought library books.

He helped the teachers, built a classroom and bought library books.
He helped the teachers by building a classroom and buying library books.

I walked to town.
I bought school books.
I came home by PMV.

I walked to town, bought school books and came home by PMV.

He opened his eyes.
He smiled.
He went back to sleep.

He opened his eyes, smiled and went back to sleep.
Opening his eyes, he smiled and went back to sleep.

I cleaned my uniform.
I did my homework.
I went to the river.

I cleaned my uniform, did my homework and went to the river.

He talked to the students.
He asked many questions.
He wrote down our names.
He promised to come back.

He talked to the students, asked many questions, wrote down our
names and promised to come back.

The exercises are designed to encourage students not to write baby talk with an "I", "He" or "She" at the start of every sentence. There are hundreds of parallel exercises that can be developed in English, Science and Mathematics.

FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: WRITE SWEET ENGLISH
29 Jun 2011 ... WRITE SWEET ENGLISH ..... and stop the baby talk. In Papua
New Guinea schools, .... Posted by HIV/AIDS: FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING at 18:55 ...
familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/2011/06/write-sweet-english.html
3 Sep 2011 ... The family Positive Living message is a world message based on family love
and caring. It has become the message of the churches. ...
familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../structure-of-sweet-english.html
23 Aug 2011 ... I teach the students to write what I call Sweet English.
FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: WRITE SWEET ENGLISH.
 29 Jun 2011 . ...familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../practise-english-on-
our-blog.html - Cached - Similar

Tuesday 27 September 2011

MASTERY LEARNING ON BODY HEAT

These Mastery Learning exercises could form the science work for a class for two weeks. The exercises could be discussed first in a teacher-centred session. A group discussion could be held for 10 of the 20 exercises over a week.

Which class could study these questions?

Several questions could provide the basis of a research project in the library. A selection could be on the end-of-module achievement test.

What are (1) warm blooded and (2) cold blooded animals?

Name 5 warm blooded and 5 cold blooded animals.

How do warm blooded animals (1) keep warm and (2) stay cool?

How do snakes and lizards warm themselves?

What effect does night have on snakes and lizards?

Why do fish not need to sleep in the sun?

How do people (1) stay warm and (2) keep cool?

How are whales and seals able to swim in cold seas?

Why may our skin turn blue when we are cold?

How does a blanket warm our body?

Does a dead body warm if covered with a blanket?

How does a sleeping bird keep warm at night?

What parts of our body do we have to keep warm?

Why do trekkers wear caps on the Kokoda Track?

How does a dog cool its body?

Why do some animals have long ears?

Why do birds migrate from Europe to Africa?

Why do they breed in Africa?

When do they go back to Europe?

Why do we have fever when our body is sick?

How did the passengers on the Titanic die?

A Department of Education Mastery Learning design team could gather such mastery questions in a half hour brain-storming session. These questions have been selected to enable focus on the range of questions on heat of the body.

Why do the birds migrate to Africa? They are following the sun. It is all about keeping warm and breeding. When do they go back to Europe? When the sun moves north. It is the tilt of the earth that makes the sun appear to move between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.


Bruce Copeland BA BEdSt
AIDS HOLISTICS

LOCK-STEP IS THE WAY

We read about people criticizing Outcome Based Education. A strong criticism is that the more capable students are dragged down and have to wait for the slower students. That is the job of the teacher to minimize.

The class can work as individuals or as groups. An experienced teacher will arrange the groups so that there is a spread of capable and less capable students. Sometimes a group of capable students can be set to work. The mastery exercises can be done as a group.

But for achievement tests at the end of the module, the students work alone.

The more practical technique is called lock-step. This name has been part of educational practice for 40 years. It means that the teacher sets a sequence of exercises.

Step 1:  Teacher demonstrates one exercise. Students practise one.  Teacher checks. Students do 5.

Step 2: Teacher demonstrates next exercise group. Students practise. Teacher checks. Students do 5.

and so on.

The students are stopped at regular intervals for teacher checking and demonstration.

The task of the teacher, school or Department is to have sets of mastery exercises with parallel exercises to enable the students to practise the same process a number of times. 

OBE AND LAZY TEACHERS

Teachers in Papua New Guinea may not understand that much of OBE can be done in groups. Each group may be given 10 mastery exercises to complete.

One problem with PNG OBE is that teachers believed they did not have to teach the basics of spelling, grammar, reading, writing and arithmetic. Much of this is individual not group based.

It is good if students help one another and report back their conclusions to the class. It is not cheating. The test comes at the end of the module. Some teachers do not understand this.

Rausim OBE Long PNG
11 Feb 2011 ... Outcomes-based Education is an offshoot of the mastery learning principle ... to
work independently or in small groups using library books, videos, ... the time to
design separate learning programs for individual children in the ...

rausimobe.wordpress.com/ - Cached - Similar

PUT AN END TO OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION
THE introduction of Outcome-based Education (OBE) system in PNG was a colossal blunder and
a grand scam. It isn't a maybe, but an absolute. That education ...rausimobe.files.wordpress.com/..
./put-an-end-to-outcome-based-education-system-in-png-now1.pdf - Cached - Similar
 
Education: oppression ... - Keith Jackson's PNG Attitude - TypePad
9 Aug 2010 ... PNG introduced outcome-based education 15 years ago. Soon we expect to see
mass production of a mediocre and poorly skilled workforce. ...
asopa.typepad.com/.../education-oppression-before-enslavement.html - Cached - Similar

There are not many options in a class. Students work alone or in groups. The first writer of the Google report above seems to have aversion to Mastery Learning. Many teachers in Papua New Guinea do not have the knowledge of the subject to be effective teachers of OBE.

If the Department arranged for 1200 mastery exercises with answers for primary and high school science, they would first be teaching the teachers.

Some teachers are lazy and think that OBE is an excuse for the teacher to stand outside the classroom and have a smoke. The trick is to send the students to the library or show a video.

But the teacher should have a clear understanding of the existence of relevant books in the library. Many will oppose Mastery Learning exercises as they see their job is to fail students. So they give minimum support.

Students can not benefit from Mastery Learning if all they do is fail.

FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: SPOILT BY A LAZY PNG TEACHER
20 Sep 2011 ... SPOILT BY A LAZY PNG TEACHER. Some years ago, I worked in a business
college in ... Posted by HIV/AIDS: FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING at 18:55 . ...
familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../spoilt-by-lazy-png-teacher.html - Cached - Similar


How can a class of 50 students share one text book? Donor nations should consult on the books to be provided and make available multiple copies. Videos should be previewed by the teacher and a number of questions or tasks prepared for the students to complete.

Outcome based Education in PNG failed because the advisors forgot to tell the teachers about Mastery learning.

Monday 26 September 2011

IS MASTERY LEARNING FOR SLOW STUDENTS?

Yes and no. In Papua New Guinea, there are many slow students but that is because of their school and home environment.

There was little encouragement and stimulus at home and at school. Mastery Learning requires english and mathematics skill. Some students may be highly capable but slow in terms of previous schooling.

Mastery Learning may be the catalyst that speeds the slower students up. What is the alternative? If students do not master, what do they do - smoke marijuana and drink home brew?

But we have to be fair. The slower students who take twice as long as the more capable students must not make the faster students sit and do nothing as they wait for the slower students to finish the work.

There can be enrichment exercises for the faster students. There has to be a cut off point. It may be there is an achievement test at the end of every module.

Whatever progress is being made by slower students, they have to complete the test. Perhaps they can finish the mastery exercises later by way of revision.

How do we identify those who are to go on to university? Does Mastery Learning mean that every student goes to university? That is unrealistic and foolish. There has to be a grading in terms of work completed.

The faster student who completes all the work including the enrichment assignment and passes the end-of-module mastery tests and passes well in the external exam may be given a Distinction.

The slower student who completes a set number of mastery exercises, does not complete the enrichment assignment but passes the end of unit tests and does fairly in the external exam may be given a Pass or Credit.

The external exam is still the great decider. This exam should be based on the Mastery Learning syllabus for each subject. Average students have enough questions to allow them to achieve pass or credit.

The more capable students succeed in questions that require application of knowledge to give Distinction grades.

There are people who want to support Outcome Based Education but do not support Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives and Mastery Learning. They are obviously not teachers.

Frequently Asked ... - The National Teaching & Learning Forum
Given its early associations with behaviorism, programmed instruction, and
mastery learning, skeptics may question the claim that Bloom's taxonomy is a
useful ...
www.ntlf.com/html/lib/faq/bl-ntlf.htm - Cached - Similar

Outcome Based Education is the drive engine. Bloom's taxonomy and Mastery Learning are the tools in the tool box. How can we operate an engine without a box of tools? Are there other tools?

Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy
16 Nov 1999 ... He is known mostly for "Bloom's Taxonomy." Bloom is also
known for his studies on mastery learning and his model of talent development. ...www.rblewis.net/technology/PSY306/benbloom.html - Cached - Similar

Bloom, Benjamin
2 Apr 2008 ... Bloom developed a "taxonomy of educational objectives" which classified ...
Bloom also carried out significant research on mastery learning, ...

www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Benjamin_Bloom - Cached - Similar

MASTERY LEARNING IN DEPTH

A major problem in Papua New Guinea education is that students do not have the background information to benefit from new knowledge. So a useful technique has been to develop topics in depth.

Each year would provide new information to build on the foundation laid down the year before in the same topic.

There was study of tectonics begun in Grade 7 Social Science. It was developed further in Grades 8, 9 and 10. The first study in Grade 7 was just a general picture of local volcanoes and earthquakes.

But by the time the students reached Grade 10, the study of tectonics had opened up to the world movement of plates. The study was built up year by year, layer by layer. Some layers of learning especially on matters of sexuality have to be designed according to the levels of maturity of students.

Students build on the known to move into the unknown. This is a technique that could well be employed quite extensively in any modern design of Mastery Learning sequences. It would be useful in design of english, mathematics, science, biology, social studies and health studies.

OUTCOME-BASED LEARNING - The Hong Kong Institute of Education
21 Oct 2010 ... Description of outcome-based education (OBE); Mastery learning; OBE's
principles; Credentials; Teaching Mathematics and History; States and ...
www.ied.edu.hk/obl/.../7-2-OBL_Theory_and_Model.html - Cached - Similar
 
What is Outcome-Based Education?
Outcome-Based Education has become a focal point for critics of educational
reform .... Mastery Learning is basically a logical extension of OBE, but where
OBE ...
www.halcyon.org/obeinfo.html - Cached -
 
An Overview of Outcome-Based Education
Mastery learning, they explain, is a technique for insuring that more students
learn well, but it applies to any content. Outcome-based education incorporates
the ...www.ascd.org/.../An_Overview_of_Outcome-Based_Education.aspx

TEAM OF MASTERY LEARNING DESIGNERS

I would end my days happy if I could be the leader of a team of teachers who designed Mastery Learning sequences for schools in Papua New Guinea. I would focus first on mastery sequences in Science, Biology, English, Mathematics and Social Science.

FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: MASTERY LEARNING IN SCIENCE
8 Sep 2011 ... MASTERY LEARNING IN SCIENCE. A study of heat. If I were teaching
science in a Papua ... Posted by HIV/AIDS: FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING at 16:11 ...familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../mastery-learning-in-science.html
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FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: MASTERY ...
9 Sep 2011 ... Mastery Learning is a key to Family Positive Living ... In PNG high
schools, I gave students 300 exercises in Sweet English over 12 months. ...
familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../mastery-learning-is-outcome-based.html
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FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS
MASTERY LEARNING FOR PNGDF TRAINING.
The Programme in Problem ..... Australian students. ... Posted
by HIV/AIDS: FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING at 16:57 . ...
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I would hope to work with teachers who were well educated in these subject areas, analytical, cross-disciplinary, creative, able to think broadly on any topic and with a helpful attitude to students.

We would start with Science and Biology and produce 1200 mastery exercises to be categorized by topic and arranged in simple to complex order. All would be within the experience of students from Elementary to Grade 12. The mastery exercises would be arranged in a logical progression from grade to grade.

I would train the teachers in the principles of Mastery Learning design. They would be shown the workings of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. We would conduct Outcome Based Education and Mastery Learning workshops in every province.

The Taxonomy of Learning and Benjamin Bloom - The Gold Scales
Mastery learning is fit for both individual study and group study,
provided that realistic standards be developed, as Bloom ...
oaks.nvg.org/taxonomy-bloom.html - Cached - Similar

Taxonomies of learning aims and objectives
29 Aug 2011 ... Bloom's taxonomy originated in an attempt to make
assessment more ... learning and teaching in HE is probably his Mastery
Learning work. ...www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/best/bloom.html

I am sure that we would make a difference. We would show that Outcome Based Education is the only way to go. If we do not teach students to master skills, what do we do with them?

Mastery design has to be supervised by one team only. This gives continuity and uniformity from Elementary grades to Grade 12. Mastery has to be developed from simple to complex.

If teachers have responsibility to design their own Mastery sequences, it will all end up like a dog's breakfast. It will be all over the place.

Teachers can develop their own supplementary Mastery Learning but only after becoming thoroughly skilled in the techniques and intent of Mastery Learning design. They have to learn to prepare mastery sequences in depth and in parallel sequences.

WHAT IS OUTCOME BASED EDUCATION?

It is all learning that has an outcome. Some PNG teachers think it involves assignments all the time but that is not realistic. There are outcomes in all subjects. Learning the multiplication tables is Mastery Learning with an outcome.

So too is learning to read, write, speak, listen, calculate, work out problems in mathematics and science and appreciate culture.

It does not always involve assignments. It can be teacher centred or student centred or both. Skills can be taught in teacher-centred learning to be followed up by student-centred learning.

It does not require millions of books in a school library though a wide selection of books is helpful. Outcome Based Education goes hand in hand with Mastery Learning.

We read in the media that OBE makes the teachers work too hard. They must not be doing it right. Perhaps they think they have to assess all mastery exercises. Surely after a fortnight of practice, the teacher can set 10 mastery exercises to be assessed.

Perhaps there are teachers who have no skill nor understanding of how to prepare sequences of mastery exercises.

One day, I would like to conduct seminars around the country to help teachers master Mastery Learning design and Outcome Based Learning.

They would practice my sequences in mastery learning and design their own. I have never worked harder in teaching by Outcome based Learning.

All my teaching in my teaching career has been based on Mastery Learning. How else can we teach? If we scrap Outcome Based Education, what else is there?

Sunday 25 September 2011

MASTERY LEARNING OF TOK PISIN PATTERN

Outcome: Mastery Learning of the "I gat" form of Tok Pisin

This is a picture exercise from the Tok Pisin classes at the RAAF School of Languages in Melbourne. It is a Mastery Learning sequence to drill the usage of the structure "I gat...i stap" which means "There is" "There are", "Is there? or "Are there?""

Picture a church. It has 3 windows on the side. There are 3 windows on the other side. There is a wooden cross on the roof. There are two birds on the roof. There are 3 trees in the yard. There is a man under the church reading a Bible. There is a utility outside. There are many people in the back.

Dispela em i haus.

Em i wanem kain haus?

Em i haus lotu.

Yumi mekim wanem long hia?

Yumi lotu.

I gat hamas windo i stap long sait?

I gat tripela windo i stap.

I gat hamas windo i stap long hapsait?

I gat tripela windo i stap.

I gat hamas diwai kros i stap?

I gat wanpela diwai kros i stap.

I gat wanpela tasol a?

Yes. Em tasol.

I gat hamas pisin i stap long ruf?

I gat 2pela pisin i stap long ruf.

I gat hamas diwai i stap?

I gat 3 pela diwai i stap.

I gat hamas man i stap aninit long sios?

I gat wanpela man i stap.

Em i mekim wanem?

Em i ritim Baibel i stap.

I gat wanem kain ka i stap?

Em i kain ka ol i kolim utility.

I gat hamas wil i stap long fron?

I gat tupela wil i stap long fron.

I gat hamas wil i stap long baksait?

I gat tupela wil i stap long baksait.

I gat hamas wil i stap olgeta?

I gat 4pela wil i stap olgeta.

I gat hamas manmeri i stap long baksait?

I gat planti manmeri i stap.

By the time the teacher has drilled this pattern 5 times in the first week, two times in the second week and one time in the remaining weeks, the outcome is mastery of the pattern. It will not be forgotten by students who have an interest.

SCHOOLS MUST GET IT RIGHT

We read in the PNG media that students at high schools who are expelled by the Board of Governors often take the school to Court. A high percentage of students win their case and are returned to school.

It may well be partly the fault of the Board of Governors in not setting up a strong case. For misbehaviour of students, there should be 3 steps.

The student accompanies the Class Patron to the Headmaster who interviews, records the proceedings in his diary and gives the student a warning letter with a file copy held by the school. The letter is to be given to the parents.

If misbehaviour occurs again, the student is interviewed, given a second letter and sent to bring parents to school for a meeting with the Headmaster. If the student does not do this, this is all part of evidence to be produced in Court. The school still holds the letters on file.

If a student does return with parents but misbehaves again, there is suspension with another letter and copy on file. If offence is serious, there can be immediate suspension with possible police action. This process will be difficult to overturn in Court. The school has the evidence.

Misbehaving students must not hold the school to ransom. They must not disturb the process of learning of other students. Burning a school destroys the learning process.

POSITIVE LIVING BLOCKED BY POST COURIER

Readers may not know that the AIDS Holistics message of Positive Living first appeared in the Post Courier in about December 2002. We had a letter to the editor followed by the Positive Living check list in a paid advertisement.

But further letters to the editor ceased though regularly sent to the Post Courier. This was at a time when AIDS Holistics under the terror of two family members infected with HIV, had sought to advise the nation about how to live long with the virus.

At this time, we had no idea that we had enemies. We thought that all people would respond to the family message. We had no idea there was an anti-family infrastructure being set up in the national HIV/AIDS response by AusAID gays and lesbians. We were lambs to the slaughter.

We had been counselled by a doctor at POMGH and were determined to share the message with the nation. But the letters stopped permanently. So after several months we wrote to the Post Courier expressing that the newspaper was "cold, distant and uncaring". It was published by an editor.

From that time until now, the Positive Living message has remained banned by the Post Courier, first by a vindictive Managing Director who was followed by an anti-family gay Managing Director. A family approach remains closed though there is now the Weekend Courier and NewAgeWoman that fill in the gap.

So in an era when the Packer newspapers are reeling overseas by hacking into voice mails, the Post Courier has been hacking into families by refusing to print a family message. Hon. Jamie Maxtone-Graham writes of nutrition but this is only part of Positive Living. We have not had a letter to the editor in 9 years.

It is easy to understand why Post Courier circulation is down. It lacks the warmth of a family approach that we see in other newspapers.

I am sure that Rupert Murdoch does not know how individual vindictiveness and sexuality had such a negative influence on his PNG newspaper. This has undoubtedly affected sales.

POST COURIER GETTING IT RIGHT

The Post Courier, daily newspaper of Papua New Guinea is starting to build up its circulation as the result of the family approach of the Weekend Courier and NewAgeWoman. Over the years, the Post Courier has been as cold as a fish with dark print and little human interest, particularly in relation to family living.

But the warmth has come in recent times through the Weekend Courier and NewAgeWoman. It gives a good feeling to read these papers as there is a balanced focus on men and women. Men have written articles on marriage relationships.

NewAgeWoman has a woman as an editor and this makes all the difference. She has a sense of humour and sees the funny side of marriage as well as the sadness. There is balance in focus on men and women being a success through commitment and hard work.

It would be good if the warmth of these two newspapers was distributed to the Post Courier during the week. Family issues are touched upon during the week but only if an announcement is made from the community.

Saturday 24 September 2011

RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR PNG

AIDS Holistics has promoted responsibilities to accompany the rights that the overseas advisors to the UN and AusAID have brought into PNG.

RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF FAMILIES - FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING ...
1 Jul 2011 ... United Nations of the rights and responsibilities of families? ... FAMILY
RESPONSIBILITIES OVERSEAS - FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS . ...

familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../rights-and-responsibilities-of-families.html
8 Jul 2011 ... The rights and responsibilities is the decision of PNG family adults. Posted by
HIV/AIDS: FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING at 23:05 ...
familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../responsibilities-of-older-children.html - Cached - Similar


RESPONSIBILITIES OF OLDER CHILDREN - FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS ...
8 Jul 2011 ... Young children have few responsibilities and are just required by family to be
happy, play and be well behaved. Young children still tend to ...

familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../responsibilities-of-older-children.html - Cached - Similar

This country has been suffering from so many people ignoring responsibilities. The founder of AIDS Holistics is not free from this too.

Responsibilities are ignored at all levels. We have rights and responsibilities from the Prime Minister to a young child in a family. Parents have responsibilities. Employees have responsibilities to do their job a s best they can.

But the past Government has taught us that it is not what is right that matters. It is what we can get away with. Papua New Guinea has to awaken to a sense of responsibilities.

Now we find that women are drinking homebrew and smoking marijuana. What of their responsibilities to family? Young people are joining cults.

HIGHLANDS WOMEN AND GIRLS DRINK HOMEBREW - FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING ...
15 Sep 2011 ... Posted by HIV/AIDS: FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING at 16:43 . ... Labels: HIGHLANDS
WOMEN AND GIRLS DRINK HOMEBREW ...

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- Cached - Similar

FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: CULT ACTIVITY IN ...
20 Jun 2011 ... CULT ACTIVITY IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA SCHOOLS.
The National 21 ... Posted by HIV/AIDS: FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING
at 17:23 · Email This ...familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/.../cult-activity-
in-papua-new-guinea.html - Cached - Similar

16 Sep 2011 ... Adults in Papua New Guinea have no idea on what is going on
with the young boys and ... He says there are cults in every high school even
some church schools. FAMILY POSITIVE LIVING - AIDS HOLISTICS: CULT
ACTIVITY IN . ...familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/2011/09/girls-have-cults
-too.html - Cached - Similar

Women would ask what about the responsibilities of husbands and fathers? That is true too. Surely schools can teach responsibilities to children from elementary level upwards. How can you help your mother at home? What can you do to help your little sister?

We have to understand that all this may be no accident. There are overseas advisors working in the UN and AusAID who are happy to find that families are dropping in family unity.

That is why they never talk of responsibilities - only rights.They want the entire community to be dysfunctional and for all morality and ethics to drop to a low level. That will give them access to the children. Then PNG will not be the land of the unexpected. It will be the land of the expatriate and national paedophiles.