The DOI matches its Crossref record; 25 of the 25 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The 2 Sigma Problem: The Search for Methods of Group Instruction as Effective as One-to-One Tutoring
Abstract
T w o University of Chicago doctoral students in education, Anania (1982, 1983) and Burke (1984), completed dissertations in which they compared student learning under the following three conditions of instruction: 1. Conventional. Students learn the subject matter in a class with about 30 students per teacher. Tests are given periodically for marking the students. 2. Mastery Learning. Students learn the subject matter in a class with about 30 students per teacher. The instruction is the same as in the conventional class (usually with the same teacher). Formative tests (the same tests used with the conventional group) are given for feedback followed by corrective procedures and parallel formative tests to determine the extent to which the students have mastered the subject matter. 3. Tutoring. Students learn the subject matter with a good tutor for each student (or for two or three students simultaneously). This tutoring instruction is followed periodically by formative tests, feedback-corrective procedures, and parallel formative tests as in the mastery learning classes. It should be pointed out that the need for corrective work under tutoring is very small.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“skills vary within individuals based on goals, emotional states, and contextual supportsproducing a child's developmental range”
From Malleability, plasticity, and individuality: How children learn and develop in context1 (2019) · cites this paper as Bloom, 1984
In the citing paper
“a child's performance within that range can be optimized under conditions of high, personalized support”
From Malleability, plasticity, and individuality: How children learn and develop in context1 (2019) · cites this paper as Bloom, 1984
In the citing paper
“Bloom found that students who received effective one-on-one tutoring through a mastery learning framework performed two standard deviations better than students who did not.”
From Malleability, plasticity, and individuality: How children learn and develop in context1 (2019) · cites this paper as Bloom, 1984
In the citing paper
“One-to-one tutoring is an effective teaching method (Bloom, 1984).”
From Towards the Pedagogical Steering of Large Language Models for Tutoring: A Case Study with Modeling Productive Failure (2025) · cites this paper as Bloom, 1984
In the citing paper
“We believe that the increased learning from structured AI tutoring is largely due to its ability to offer personalized feedback on demand—just as one-on-one tutoring from a (human) expert is superior to classroom instruction15.”
From AI tutoring outperforms in-class active learning: an RCT introducing a novel research-based design in an authentic educational setting (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
In the citing paper
“While the advantages of personalized instruction are clear, this model of education cannot scale to meet the needs of a large number of students15.”
From AI tutoring outperforms in-class active learning: an RCT introducing a novel research-based design in an authentic educational setting (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
In the citing paper
“Working with an expert personal tutor is generally regarded as the most efficient form of education15.”
From AI tutoring outperforms in-class active learning: an RCT introducing a novel research-based design in an authentic educational setting (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
In the citing paper
“More focused effort on developing computer-based tutoring systems in particular started following the findings of Bloom (Bloom, 1984)—students who received tutoring in addition to group classes fared two standard deviations better than those who only participated in group classes.”
From Proactive and reactive engagement of artificial intelligence methods for education: a review (2023) · cites this paper as Bloom, 1984
Citations
Cites
From dissertation abstracts international
(1974) · ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics · doi:10.1145/988616.988619 · Cited by 12,208
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain
Bloom, B., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1966) · Cited by 4,624
Self-citationThe use of advance organizers in the learning and retention of meaningful verbal material.
Ausubel, D. P. (1960) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0046669 · Cited by 1,457
Educational Outcomes of Tutoring: A Meta-analysis of Findings
Cohen, P. A., Kulik, J. A., & Kulik, C.-L. C. (1982) · American Educational Research Journal · doi:10.3102/00028312019002237 · Cited by 1,138
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain
Blyth, W. A. L., Bloom, B., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1966) · British Journal of Educational Studies · doi:10.2307/3119730 · Cited by 1,123
Self-citationBrophy, J. E., & Good, T. L. (1970) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0029908 · Cited by 922
Slavin, R. E. (1980) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/00346543050002315 · Cited by 771
Improving the Productivity of America's Schools.
Walberg, H. J. (1984) · Educational leadership · Cited by 731
Jackson, D. R. (2023) · Sage eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781071840801.n92 · Cited by 418
Socio‐psychological Environments and Learning: a quantitative synthesis
Haertel, G. D., Walberg, H. J., & Haertel, E. H. (1981) · British Educational Research Journal · doi:10.1080/0141192810070103 · Cited by 354
Research works printed but not linked: 13
- Anania J, 1982, Dissertation Abstracts International, 42, 4269A
- Bloom BS, 1980, Phi Delta Kappan, 61, 6
- Burke AJ, 1984, Dissertation Abstracts International, 44, 2025A
- DaveRHThe identification and measurement of environment process variables that are related to educational achievement1963(Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago)
- DolanLJThe affective correlates of home concern and support, instructional quality, and achievement1980(Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago)
- JanhomSEducating parents to educate their children1983(Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago)
- Leyton FS, 1983, Dissertation Abstracts International, 44, 974A
- MevarechZRThe role of teaching-learning strategies and feed-back-corrective procedures in developing higher cognitive achievement1980(Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago)
- NordinABThe effects of different qualities of instruction on selected cognitive, affective, and time variables1979(Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago)
- Nordin AB, 1980, Evaluation: in Education: An International Review Series, 4, 2
- Tenenbaum G, 1982, Dissertation Abstracts International, 43, 1822A
- WolfRMThe identification and measurement of home environmental process variables that are related to intelligence1964(Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago)
- Wolf RM, 1966, Testing Problems in Perspective
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–300 of 1,005
A review and synthesis of recent research in intelligent computer-assisted instruction
Dede, C. (1986) · International Journal of Man-Machine Studies · doi:10.1016/s0020-7373(86)80050-5 · Cited by 113
Individualized exercises for self-assessment of programming knowledge
Brusilovsky, P. L., & Александрович, С. С. (2005) · Journal on Educational Resources in Computing · doi:10.1145/1163405.1163411 · Cited by 109
“Such a result is typically considered to be very strong evidence in favor of an educational technology [Bloom 1984].”
BackgroundEfficacy of a Web-Based Intelligent Tutoring System for Communicating Genetic Risk of Breast Cancer
Wolfe, C. R., Reyna, V. F., Widmer, C. L., Cedillos, E. M., Fisher, C. R., Brust-Renck, P. G., & Weil, A. M. (2014) · Medical Decision Making · doi:10.1177/0272989x14535983 · Cited by 109
Pearson, N. K., Kreuz, R. J., Zwaan, R. A., & Graesser, A. C. (1995) · Cognition and Instruction · doi:10.1207/s1532690xci1302_1 · Cited by 108
Mann, D., Shakeshaft, C., Becker, J. D., & Kottkamp, R. B. (1999) · VCU Scholars Compass (Virginia Commonwealth University) · Cited by 107
An Open Repository and analysis tools for fine-grained, longitudinal learner data.
Koedinger, K. R., Cunningham, K., Skogsholm, A., & Leber, B. (2008) · Educational Data Mining · Cited by 108
What Are You Feeling? Investigating Student Affective States During Expert Human Tutoring Sessions
Lehman, B. A., Matthews, M., D’Mello, S. K., & Person, N. K. (2008) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-69132-7_10 · Cited by 106
“Furthermore, it is also documented that accomplished (or expert human tutors) have a higher impact on learning than unaccomplished tutors (novices), and Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) [1, 2, 3].”
BackgroundFlipped Learning As A New Educational Paradigm: An Analytical Critical Study
Ahmed, H. O. K. (2016) · European Scientific Journal ESJ · doi:10.19044/esj.2016.v12n10p417 · Cited by 103
“On the contrary, Bloom discovered that an educator could reach all learners in a classroom if he makes use of formative assessments, feedback, remedial procedures, and if he provides individual instruction to the individual student (Bloom, 1984).”
BackgroundProductivity tools for simulation-centered training development
Munro, A., & Towne, D. M. (1992) · Educational Technology Research and Development · doi:10.1007/bf02296900 · Cited by 103
“cesses in some laboratory ITS projects (Anderson & Reiser, 1986; Bloom, 1984; Lesgold, Lajoie, Bunzo, & Eggan, 1990; Shute & Glaser, 1990), there has been limited success in porting the techniques developed for one ITS application to another domain.”
Background“Guru: a computer tutor that models expert human tutors,”
Olney, A. M., D’Mello, S., Person, N., Cade, W., Hays, P., Williams, C., Lehman, B., & Graesser, A. (2012) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-30950-2_32 · Cited by 102
Patterns, correlates, and reduction of homework copying
Palazzo, D. J., Lee, Y.-J., Warnakulasooriya, R., & Pritchard, D. E. (2010) · Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research · doi:10.1103/physrevstper.6.010104 · Cited by 102
Technology functions for personalized learning in learner-centered schools
Lee, D., Huh, Y., Lin, C.-Y., & Reigeluth, C. M. (2018) · Educational Technology Research and Development · doi:10.1007/s11423-018-9615-9 · Cited by 101
“With almost two decades of research, he demonstrated that the average learner under the traditional school model could reach a higher performance level by two sigmas under an individual tutoring system (Bloom 1984).”
BackgroundDaily Online Testing in Large Classes: Boosting College Performance while Reducing Achievement Gaps
Pennebaker, J. W., Gosling, S. D., & Ferrell, J. D. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0079774 · Cited by 114
Designing Adaptive Instruction for Teams: a Meta-Analysis
Sottilare, R. A., Burke, C. S., Eduardo Salas, A., Sinatra, A. M., Johnston, J. H., & Gilbert, S. B. (2017) · International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education · doi:10.1007/s40593-017-0146-z · Cited by 101
“…human tutoring has claimed to be significantly more effective than one-to-many instructional methods (e.g., traditional classroom instruction; Bloom 1984; VanLehn 2011), it is neither a practical nor affordable solution in large organizations (e.g., academic, corporate, or military;…”
BackgroundRobot tutor and pupils’ educational ability: Teaching the times tables
Konijn, E. A., & Hoorn, J. F. (2020) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103970 · Cited by 112
Spoken Versus Typed Human and Computer Dialogue Tutoring
Litman, D. J., Rosé, C. P., Forbes-Riley, K., VanLehn, K. A., Bhembe, D., & Silliman, S. (2004) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-30139-4_35 · Cited by 102
“It is widely believed that the best human tutors are more effective than the best computer tutors, in part because Bloom (1984) found that human tutors could produce a larger difference in the learning gains, 2.0 standard deviations, than current computer tutors (e.g., (Anderson et al., 1995;…”
BackgroundInfluentialTeaching the tacit knowledge of programming to noviceswith natural language tutoring
Lane, H. C., & VanLehn, K. A. (2005) · Computer Science Education · doi:10.1080/08993400500224286 · Cited by 101
“Students working one-on-one with expert human tutors often score 2.0 standard deviations higher than students working on the same topic in classrooms (Bloom, 1984).”
BackgroundInfluentialEvidence for an oblique social intelligence factor established with a Likert-based testing procedure
Legree, P. J. (1995) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/0160-2896(95)90016-0 · Cited by 101
Kulik, J. A., & Kulik, C. C. (1989) · International Journal of Educational Research · doi:10.1016/0883-0355(89)90052-9 · Cited by 100
Training with AI: Evidence from chess computers
Gaessler, F., & Piezunka, H. (2023) · Strategic Management Journal · doi:10.1002/smj.3512 · Cited by 83
“This is because responsive training is usually bilateral (Bloom, 1984); that is, training with a human partner is hard to scale.”
BackgroundTHE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION
Marston, D. (1988) · The Journal of Special Education · doi:10.1177/002246698802100405 · Cited by 99
An intelligent tutoring system for visual classification problem solving
Crowley, R. S., & Medvedeva, O. (2006) · Artificial Intelligence in Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.artmed.2005.01.005 · Cited by 98
“The instructional ‘‘gold standard’’ is considered to be one-on-one human tutoring, which is associated with a 2-sigma effect over classroom learning(1) [11].”
BackgroundKochmar, E., Vu, D. D., Belfer, R., Gupta, V., Serban, I. V., & Pineau, J. (2022) · International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education · doi:10.1007/s40593-021-00267-x · Cited by 112
“Personalized tutoring helps students achieve their learning goals effectively (Anania, 1983; Bloom, 1984; Burke, 1983; Hrastinski et al., 2019; Hume et al., 1996).”
BackgroundWang, X., Huang, R., Sommer, M., Pei, B., Shidfar, P., Rehman, M. S., Ritzhaupt, A. D., & Martin, F. (2024) · Journal of Educational Computing Research · doi:10.1177/07356331241240459 · Cited by 170
“However, efforts soon shifted towards creating adaptive learning experiences, in fl u-enced by human tutoring concepts (Bloom, 1984), aptitude-treatment interaction effects (Cronbach & Snow, 1977), and the rise of arti fi cial intelligence (Buchanan, 2005).”
A Player Model for Adaptive Gamification in Learning Environments
Monterrat, B., Desmarais, M. C., Lavoué, É., & George, S. (2015) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-19773-9_30 · Cited by 96
Konstantopoulos, S. (2008) · The Elementary School Journal · doi:10.1086/528972 · Cited by 95
“, tutoring, mastery learning, and conventional) have also reported differences among the three conditions in average achievement as well as in achievement variability (Bloom, 1984).”
BackgroundA Bayesian Diagnostic Algorithm for Student Modeling and its Evaluation
Millán, E., & Pérez-de-la-Cruz, J.-L. (2002) · User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction · doi:10.1023/a:1015027822614 · Cited by 95
“It is precisely this ability to adapt to each student that allows these programs to improve the teaching/learning process, as it has already been shown that the best learning method is individualized learning (Bloom, 1984).”
BackgroundTeaching EBP Using Game‐Based Learning: Improving the Student Experience
Davidson, S., & Candy, L. (2016) · Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing · doi:10.1111/wvn.12152 · Cited by 93
Cen, H., Koedinger, K. R., & Junker, B. W. (2007) · Cited by 94
Learning Anytime, Anywhere: Advanced Distributed Learning and the Changing Face of Education
Fletcher, J. D., Tobias, S., & Wisher, R. A. (2007) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x07300034 · Cited by 93
“As noted by Fletcher (1992, 1997, 2004) and others (e.g., Corbett, 2001), Benjamin Bloom (1984) laid down the gauntlet with his 2-sigma challenge.”
BackgroundStudent Coaching: How Far Can Technology Go?
Oreopoulos, P., & Petronijevic, U. (2017) · The Journal of Human Resources · doi:10.3368/jhr.53.2.1216-8439r · Cited by 90
“While structured, one-on-one support services can have large effects on student outcomes,theyare oftencostlytoimplementanddifficult toscale uptothe studentpopulation at large (Bloom 1984).”
BackgroundHuffman, S. B., & Laird, J. E. (1995) · Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research · doi:10.1613/jair.150 · Cited by 92
Student skill and goal achievement in the mapping with google MOOC
Wilkowski, J., Deutsch, A., & Russell, D. M. (2014) · Proceedings of the first ACM conference on Learning @ scale conference · doi:10.1145/2556325.2566240 · Cited by 89
Personalisation in educational technology: The absence of underlying pedagogies
Bartolomé, A., Castañeda, L., & Adell, J. (2018) · International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education · doi:10.1186/s41239-018-0095-0 · Cited by 150
“The idea of adapting teaching to the learner can be ascribed to the tradition of pupil-centred pedagogies (Coll, 2016), and to the work of authors as far removed from this tradition as Bloom (1984).”
BackgroundZiegler, A., Chandler, K. L., Vialle, W., & Stoeger, H. (2017) · journal for the education of the gifted · doi:10.1177/0162353217734376 · Cited by 109
“The important role of one-on-one instruction was already emphasized by Bloom (1984), who compared a number of instructional methods and clearly showed that individual instruction provided by a pedagogically trained tutor or mentor represented the most effective didactical capital.”
Tan, D. Y., & Cheah, C. W. (2021) · Computers and Education Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.caeai.2021.100032 · Cited by 103
Personalized learning: The simple, the complicated, the complex and the chaotic
Gunawardena, M., Bishop, P. A., & Aviruppola, K. (2023) · Teaching and Teacher Education · doi:10.1016/j.tate.2023.104429 · Cited by 91
Status of Problem-Based Learning Research in Pharmacy Education: A Call for Future Research
Cisneros, R. M., Salisbury‐Glennon, J. D., & Anderson-Harper, H. M. (2002) · American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education · doi:10.1016/s0002-9459(26)01313-6 · Cited by 91
The Transition From Intelligent to Affective Tutoring System: A Review and Open Issues
Hasan, M. A., Noor, N. F. B. M., Rahman, S. S. B. A., & Rahman, M. M. (2020) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2020.3036990 · Cited by 103
Effective learning with a personal AI tutor: A case study
Baillifard, A., Gabella, M., Lavenex, P. B., & Martarelli, C. (2024) · Education and Information Technologies · doi:10.1007/s10639-024-12888-5 · Cited by 168
“…plays a crucial role, in particular by determining appropriate spacing intervals for each learner, by selecting the desirable levels of difficulty for retrieval practice exercises, and by interleaving and connecting concepts in a way that is adapted to individual progress (Bloom, 1984).”
An Overview of Progress and Problems in Educational Technology
Spector, J. M. (2001) · Revistes Científiques de la University of Barcelona (University of Barcelona) · Cited by 90
SmartTutor: An intelligent tutoring system in web-based adult education
Cheung, B., Hui, L. C. K., Zhang, J., & Yiu, S. (2003) · Journal of Systems and Software · doi:10.1016/s0164-1212(02)00133-4 · Cited by 90
“Research result in education indicates that private tutoring has proven to be as much as four times educationally effective as a normal classroom setting, and 98% of the students perform better with private tutors (Bom, 1984).”
BackgroundWang, D., Han, H. D., Zhan, Z., Xu, J. B., Liu, Q., & Ren, G. (2014) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2014.10.003 · Cited by 110
Johnson, M., & Ward, P. (2001) · Journal of Teaching in Physical Education · doi:10.1123/jtpe.20.3.247 · Cited by 90
Deploying Intelligent Tutors on the Web: An Architecture and an Example
Alpert, S. R., Singley, M. K., & Fairweather, P. G. (1999) · Cited by 90
Wenk, M., Waurick, R., Schotes, D., Wenk, M., Gerdes, C., Van Aken, H. K., & Pöpping, D. M. (2009) · Advances in Health Sciences Education · doi:10.1007/s10459-008-9098-2 · Cited by 88
“Bloom et al. argued that an effect size d = 2.0 should be required, where wholesale curriculum and organizational change is implied ( Bloom 1984 ).”
BackgroundInfluentialAn Ambient Awareness Tool for Supporting Supervised Collaborative Problem Solving
Alavi, H. S., & Dillenbourg, P. (2012) · IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies · doi:10.1109/tlt.2012.7 · Cited by 88
“This is measured mainly in terms of overall understanding, motivation, and task completion time [1], [2], [3].”
BackgroundEffects of Mastery Learning Approach on Secondary School Students’ Physics Achievement
Changeiywo, J. M., & Wambugu, P. W. (2008) · Eurasia Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education · doi:10.12973/ejmste/75352 · Cited by 88
“Bloom (1984) in his research on group instruction showed scores of students taught through MLA were around the ninety-eighth percentile, or approximately two standard deviations above the mean.”
BackgroundInfluentialLearning SQL with a computerized tutor
Mitrović, A. (1998) · ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) · doi:10.1145/273133.274318 · Cited by 87
Behaviorism and Instructional Technology.
Burton, J. K., Moore, D. M., & Magliaro, S. G. (2004) · Cited by 87
Durak, H. Y. (2018) · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning · doi:10.1111/jcal.12281 · Cited by 85
Hartley, K., Hayak, ., & Ko, U. H. (2024) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci14020120 · Cited by 136
“While controlled studies will need to verify this, achievement gains produced by AI tutors can rival Bloom’s human tutor findings from 40 years ago [16].”
BackgroundA comparative evaluation of socratic versus didactic tutoring
Rosé, C. P., Moore, J. D., VanLehn, K. A., & Allbritton, D. W. (2001) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 83
A Cognitive Tutor for Genetics Problem Solving: Learning Gains and Student Modeling
Corbett, A. T., Kauffman, L. R., MacLaren, B., Wagner, A. Z., & Jones, E. (2010) · Journal of Educational Computing Research · doi:10.2190/ec.42.2.e · Cited by 84
“This is about twice the achievement effect size of typical human tutors (Cohen, Kulik, & Kulik, 1982) and conventional computer-based instruction (Kulik, 1994), and about half the effect of the best human tutors (Bloom, 1984; Kulik, 1994).”
BackgroundOpen for Learning: The CMS and the Open Learning Network
Mott, J., & Wiley, D. A. (2013) · in education · doi:10.37119/ojs2009.v15i2.53 · Cited by 83
Going Beyond the Problem Given: How Human Tutors Use Post-Solution Discussions to Support Transfer
Katz, S., Allbritton, D. W., & Connelly, J. (2003) · International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education · doi:10.3233/irg-2003-13(1)07 · Cited by 85
“One-on-one human tutoring is a case in point, although several studies in recent years have made significant strides in uncovering some of the reasons for the observed two-sigma effect of tutoring over classroom instruction (Bloom, 1984)—for example, co-construction of knowledge (Chi, Siler, Jeong, Yamauchi, & Hausman…”
Task Engagement as Personalization Feedback for Socially-Assistive Robots and Cognitive Training
Tsiakas, K., Abujelala, M., & Makedon, F. S. (2018) · Technologies · doi:10.3390/technologies6020049 · Cited by 80
“Based on the famous Bloom’s two sigma result [6], one-to-one tutoring presents better learning effects than group (conventional) tutoring.”
BackgroundNunnery, J. A., Ross, S. M., & McDonald, A. (2006) · Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR) · doi:10.1207/s15327671espr1101_1 · Cited by 81
“Meta-analyses conducted by Walberg (1984) and Bloom (1984) have confirmed the effectiveness of adjusting instruction to address the individual needs of students.”
MethodPromoting Constructive Activities that Support Vicarious Learning During Computer-Based Instruction
Gholson, B., & Craig, S. D. (2006) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-006-9006-3 · Cited by 83
“There is evidence that the gains from tutoring, when compared to classroom instruction, are generally in the range of 0.4 to 2.0 standard deviation units, depending on the expertise of the tutor ( Bloom, 1956, 1984; Cohen, Kulik, & Kulik, 1982; Corbett, 2001; Graesser & Person, 1994).”
BackgroundInfluentialCodechella: Multi-user program visualizations for real-time tutoring and collaborative learning
Guo, P. J., White, J., & Zanelatto, R. (2015) · IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC) · doi:10.1109/vlhcc.2015.7357201 · Cited by 80
Escape from the Skinner Box: The case for contemporary intelligent learning environments
du Boulay, B. (2019) · British Journal of Educational Technology · doi:10.1111/bjet.12860 · Cited by 80
“This feature is based, in part, on the finding that the most effective tutoring is provided one-to-one by a skilled-human tutor who tailors the interaction to the specific capabilities, progress and needs of the tutee in order to achieve mastery at each stage (B. S. Bloom, 1984).”
BackgroundA web-based bayesian intelligent tutoring system for computer programming
Butz, C. J., Song, H., & Maguire, R. B. (2006) · Web Intelligence and Agent Systems An International Journal · doi:10.5555/1239784.1239789 · Cited by 79
Examining Correlates of Diversity
Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (1987) · Journal of Educational Statistics · doi:10.3102/10769986012003241 · Cited by 78
Lee, J. (2007) · Teachers College Record The Voice of Scholarship in Education · doi:10.1177/016146810710900507 · Cited by 77
“…focused on individual academic needs and learning aspects, and also demonstrated the strongly positive effects of tutoring on academic outcomes at the individual student level (see Bloom, 1984; Cohen, Kulik, & Kulik, 1982; Juel, 1996; McArthur, Stasz, & Zmuidzinas, 1990; Topping & Whitley, 1990).”
BackgroundThe self-instructive process in classroom learning contexts
Wang, M. C., & Peverly, S. T. (1986) · Contemporary Educational Psychology · doi:10.1016/0361-476x(86)90031-7 · Cited by 87
Over the Shoulder Learning: Supporting Brief Informal Learning
Twidale, M. B. (2005) · Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) · doi:10.1007/s10606-005-9007-7 · Cited by 116
“OTSL is a form of one-to-one tutoring, and so can benefit from analysis of this highly effective (Bloom, 1984) but extremely expensive form of pedagogy.”
BackgroundHock, M. F., Pulvers, K. A., Deshler, D. D., & Schumaker, J. B. (2001) · Remedial and Special Education · doi:10.1177/074193250102200305 · Cited by 76
Feng, M., Heffernan, N. T., & Koedinger, K. R. (2006) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/11774303_4 · Cited by 77
Tienken, C. H., Goldberg, S., & Dirocco, D. (2009) · Kappa Delta Pi Record · doi:10.1080/00228958.2009.10516690 · Cited by 75
“Several studies and meta-analyses conducted in the 1980s and 1990s reported positive influences of productive, higher-order questions on student achievement (Redfield and Rousseau 1981; Wise and Okey 1983; Bloom 1984; Hamaker 1986; Walberg 1999). The influences on achievement ranged from 12 to 27 percentile points gai…”
BackgroundOnline Learning Based on Essential Concepts and Formative Assessment
Lawton, D. T., Vye, N. J., Bransford, J. D., Sanders, E. A., Richey, M., French, D., & Stephens, R. (2012) · Journal of Engineering Education · doi:10.1002/j.2168-9830.2012.tb00050.x · Cited by 79
“While summative assessments are useful for categorization, ranking, and licensing, and can even be motivating in some instances, they are not optimal for providing detailed and timely feedback which is essential for learning (Bloom, 1984, Shute, 2008; Sadler, 1989).”
BackgroundDB-Suite: Experiences with Three Intelligent, Web-Based Database Tutors.
Mitrović, A., Suraweera, P., Martin, B., & Weerasinghe, A. (2004) · Cited by 75
Craig, S. D., Driscoll, D. M., & Gholson, B. (2004) · Journal of educational multimedia and hypermedia · Cited by 75
TEx-Sys model for building intelligent tutoring systems
Stankov, S., Rosić, M., Žitko, B., & Grubišić, A. (2007) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2007.10.002 · Cited by 74
Pressley, M. G., Gaskins, I. W., Solic, K., & Collins, S. (2006) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.98.2.282 · Cited by 78
“Consistent with the finding that the very maximum achievement benefits come from one-on-one tutoring (Bloom, 1984), teacher scaffolding is a large part of every student’s day at Benchmark, often resulting in de facto one-on-one tutoring as students do their in-class assignments.”
BackgroundKnowledge and Situational Feedback in a Learning Environment for Algebra Story Problem Solving
Nathan, M. J. (1998) · Interactive Learning Environments · doi:10.1080/1049482980050110 · Cited by 74
“Student modeling and the expert-like feedback that ITSs attempt to provide are intended to bring about the large gains brought about by human tutoring (Bloom, 1984).”
BackgroundEvaluation of animalwatch: An intelligent tutoring system for arithmetic and fractions
Beal, C. R., Arroyo, I., Cohen, P. R., & Woolf, B. P. (2010) · Cited by 74
Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes among Adolescents
Guryan, J., Ludwig, J., Bhatt, M. P., Cook, P. J., Davis, J. M. V., Dodge, K., Farkas, G., Fryer, R. G., Mayer, S., Pollack, H., et al. (2023) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.20210434 · Cited by 77
Ai-Driven Personalized Learning Systems: Enhancing Educational Effectiveness
Katiyar, N., Awasthi, M. V. K., Pratap, D. R., Mishra, M. K., Shukla, M. N., singh, M. R., & Tiwari, M. (2024) · doi:10.53555/kuey.v30i5.4961 · Cited by 108
AdELE: A Framework for Adaptive E-Learning through Eye Tracking
García-Barrios, V. M., Gütl, C., Preis, A., Andrews, K., Pivec, M., Mödritscher, F., & Trummer, C. (2004) · Cited by 73
My science tutor: A conversational multimedia virtual tutor.
Ward, W., Cole, R., Bolaños, D., Buchenroth-Martin, C., Svirsky, E., & Weston, T. (2013) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0031589 · Cited by 81
ICT Supporting the Learning Process: The Premise, Reality, and Promise
Lai, K. (2008) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-0-387-73315-9_13 · Cited by 74
“For example, Bloom (1984) reported a general difference in achievement of two standard deviations favouring tutoring.”
BackgroundAn Economic Appraisal of MOOC Platforms: Business Models and Impacts on Higher Education
Belleflamme, P., & Jacqmin, J. (2015) · CESifo Economic Studies · doi:10.1093/cesifo/ifv016 · Cited by 80
“In the context of MOOCs, the Internet facilitates the implementation of a mastery learning environment thanks to the use of tests and possible remedial systems (Bloom, 1984).”
BackgroundSocial Robots for (Second) Language Learning in (Migrant) Primary School Children
Konijn, E. A., Jansen, B., Bustos, V. M., Hobbelink, V. L. N. F., & Preciado, D. F. (2021) · International Journal of Social Robotics · doi:10.1007/s12369-021-00824-3 · Cited by 80
The importance and perspectives of international studies in educational effectiveness
Creemers, B. (2006) · Educational Research and Evaluation · doi:10.1080/13803610600873978 · Cited by 71
“It was also the basis for Bloom’s concept of mastery learning (Bloom, 1984) and is also related to ‘‘direct instruction’’ as described by Rosenshine (1983).”
BackgroundSmart MOOC integrated with intelligent tutoring: A system architecture and framework model proposal
Yılmaz, R., Yurdugül, H., Yılmaz, F. G. K., Şahi̇n, M., Sulak, S., Aydın, F., Tepgeç, M., Müftüoğlu, C. T., & Oral, Ö. (2022) · Computers and Education Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.caeai.2022.100092 · Cited by 88
Comparison of Reading Intervention Approaches for Students with Mild Disabilities
Marston, D., Deno, S. L., Kim, D., Diment, K., & Rogers, D. (1995) · Exceptional Children · doi:10.1177/001440299506200103 · Cited by 71
Chi, M., VanLehn, K. A., & Litman, D. J. (2010) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-13388-6_27 · Cited by 70
“Human one-on-one tutoring is one of the most effective educational interventions in that tutored students often perform significantly better than students in classroom settings[4].”
BackgroundAttali, Y. (2015) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2015.08.011 · Cited by 70
Instructional Grouping for Reading for Students with LD
Vaughn, S. R., Hughes, M. T., Moody, S. W., & Elbaum, B. E. (2001) · Intervention in School and Clinic · doi:10.1177/105345120103600301 · Cited by 70
Simulating Human Tutor Dialog Moves in AutoTutor
Person, N. K., Graesser, A. C., Kreuz, R. J., Victoria, V., & Parkway, N. (2003) · Cited by 70
Suzuki, R., Salehi, N., Lam, M. S., Marroquin, J. C., & Bernstein, M. S. (2016) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2858036.2858121 · Cited by 69
A Web-Based Intelligent Tutoring System for Computer Programming
Butz, C. J., Song, H., & Maguire, R. B. (2004) · Web Intelligence · doi:10.1109/wi.2004.15 · Cited by 69
Yusuf, B., Walters, L. M., & Sailin, S. N. (2020) · International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET) · doi:10.3991/ijet.v15i03.11849 · Cited by 68
“Comparisons between robots and humans are rare in the literature; so, no meta-analysis data were available to compare the cognitive learning effect size [43], [44].”
BackgroundEducational technology: what it is and how it works
Dron, J. (2021) · AI & Society · doi:10.1007/s00146-021-01195-z · Cited by 68
Inferring what the student knows in one-to-one tutoring: The role of student questions and answers
Person, N. K., Graesser, A. C., Magliano, J. P., & Kreuz, R. J. (1994) · Learning and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/1041-6080(94)90010-8 · Cited by 68
Leveraging Parents through Low-Cost Technology
Bergman, P., & Chan, E. W. (2019) · The Journal of Human Resources · doi:10.3368/jhr.56.1.1118-9837r1 · Cited by 79
“In contrast to the intervention tested here, this set of tools often includes high-touch interventions, such as intensive tutoring (Bloom 1984; Cook et al. 2015; Fryer 2017) or one-on-one advising (Oreopoulos and Petronijevic 2018), but their scale may be limited by high costs.”
ResultIreson, J., & Rushforth, K. (2009) · Research Papers in Education · doi:10.1080/02671520903191170 · Cited by 67
“In contrast, experimental studies such as those of Mischo and Haag (2002) and Bloom (1984) found that tutoring raised achievement.”
ResultLearnersourcing Personalized Hints
Glassman, E. L., Lin, A., Cai, C. J., & Miller, R. C. (2016) · ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) · doi:10.1145/2818048.2820011 · Cited by 67
A possible future for next generation adaptive learning systems
Essa, A. (2016) · Smart Learning Environments · doi:10.1186/s40561-016-0038-y · Cited by 77
“In order to set the stage for our discussion of Deep Learner Models, let's review an important implication of Bloom's findings in " The 2-Sigma Problem " (Bloom 1984).”
BackgroundInstructional design for distance learning
Jacqueline Bourdeau, B., & Bates, A. (1996) · Journal of Science Education and Technology · doi:10.1007/bf01677124 · Cited by 67
“tive as mastery learning and one-to-one tutoring ( Bloom, 1984 ).”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- BLOOM, B. S.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Corresponding author
- BLOOM, BENJAMIN S.
- Venue
- Educational Researcher
- Published
- 1984-06
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 4-16
- ISSN
- 0013-189X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-102X
- OpenAlex
- W2172010324
- Cited by
- 2,734
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 195 · 2025: 144 · 2024: 131 · 2023: 99 · 2022: 103 · 2021: 84 · 2020: 129 · 2019: 88 · 2018: 122 · 2017: 79 · 2016: 97 · 2015: 119 · 2014: 112 · 2013: 107 · 2012: 103
- FWCI
- 39.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Educational Researcher (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Learning Styles and Cognitive Differences
- Keywords
- group instruction, one-on-one tutoring, learning mastery, conventional instruction, corrective procedures, academic performance, tutoring effectiveness
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
