Work in progress - implications of the Mastery approach for rates of learning and assessment

The mastery approach has been used successfully to improve both performance and success of students learning Circuit Analysis, a foundational, one-year sequence for Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering majors. Students work toward mastering secure, online modules, which can be retaken when a student fails to earn a perfect score. Preliminary results indicate that the total number of modules mastered by the class doubles every two to four weeks during the first semester, suggesting that learning is also nonlinear. Results also show that different students follow very different trajectories toward mastery. In this paper, we report on these findings and others, and discuss the implications for assessments in foundational courses.