Sal Khan captures the efficacy of mastery learning in a conversation with Jennifer Gonzalez, the author of Cult of Pedagogy:Īrguably it’s the oldest way of learning, that you should learn at a pace that’s comfortable for you and then master concepts as you go on. Only once they demonstrate a solid understanding of the idea of skill at hand can they continue to the next lesson.

When students aren't able to attain levels of proficiency in a subject, progress is halted, lots of feedback gets generated, and students have multiple opportunities to try again. Over the span of many successive units, students develop gaps in their understanding that compound until they aren't able grasp new concepts at all. Students are tested, and then it's on to the next unit-regardless of student performance. Under the traditional classroom model, teachers deliver instruction for a given unit over the course of weeks or months. And I learned more that applies to what I do today than in the five other hours of the day combined.' (1)

I like puzzles.” She said, “OK, have you used oil paints? Have you done Mind Benders?” Soon I looked forward to that hour more than I did to spending the night at my friend’s house. I walked up to Miss Rouselle’s desk, and she asked, “What do you like to do?” I was like, I’m seven years old-shouldn’t you be telling me what to do? But I said, “I like to draw. The first time I went, I thought it was the biggest racket. In an interview for the Harvard Business Review, he cites one transformative example:Įvery day, starting in second grade, they took me out of class for an hour, and I would go to another room, with a mixed age group. Sal Khan also believes that having blocks of time to pursue individual interests can ignite one's desire to learn. However, the best ideas often arise when you shift between intense focus and creative mind-wandering. We've learned-both through experience and education-that working on a problem requires a constant barrage of effort until it is completed.

Barbara Oakley, creator of the massively popular Learning How to Learn course, refers to this process as diffuse mode thinking. By carving out time to engage in tasks that are seemingly unrelated to your line of work, you can free up your mind to think divergently and approach problems from new angles.

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