Taxonomy is and how it works, check out ourfull articleAbout the subject. What is Bloom's 2 sigma problem? Discovered in 1984, Bloom's 2-sigma problem proposes an educational approach that can improve the performance of a group of students. The research concluded that, in a conventional classroom, the average performance of students did not present large levels of dispersion, represented graphically by a standard deviation (identified by the Greek letter sigma σ). To understand better, see graph 1. The curve represents the standard deviation of results in a traditional classroom. Most students are in the center of the curve, while a few students perform well and a few perform poorly. Bloom's 2 sigma problem graph However, when introducing mastery learning and individual tutoring , student performance improved by up to 98%, shifting the curve to the right.
Graph 2 represents the results obtained in a class using the technique discovered by Bloom. The majority of students achieve above average results. 2 sigma bloom problem graph This result is obtained through the combination of two educational Austria Phone Number approaches studied by Bloom: mastery learning and individual tutoring. What is mastery learning? In mastery learning , each student must take the time necessary to learn the content of the subjects. Individually, the student advances as they achieve mastery over a topic. Even if a student takes longer than others to fully understand the subject, they should study at their own pace. Unlike traditional classroom contexts, teaching takes place in a personalized way , giving space for students with different learning rates and individual needs to develop equally.
How does individual tutoring work? In individual tutoring, the student is guided by a personal tutor , who guides their learning with suggestions, personalized exercises and resolution of doubts. With the help of a tutor, students can develop their skills at their own pace, respecting each person’s individuality. Despite the high performance rate observed by Bloom, the use of his learning and teaching technique is low. And the reasons are not difficult to understand. Bloom's approach demands much more time and financial resources from schools, which need to hire a team of tutors to assist students. Furthermore, invest in training teachers to work with mastery learning. Most traditional classrooms depend on students having the same learning pace , as seen in the curve in graph 1: while some students excel, others fail to learn and the majority remain average.