Instructional scaffolding

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is written like a research paper or scientific
journal. Please help improve the article by rewriting it in encyclopedic
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Instructional scaffolding is the support given to a student by an instructor throughout

the learning process. This support is specifically tailored to each student; this
instructional approach allows students to experience student-centered learning, which
tends to facilitate more efficient learning than teacher-centered learning.[1][page needed] This
learning process promotes a deeper level of learning than many other common teaching
strategies.[citation needed]

Instructional scaffolding provides sufficient support to

promote learning when concepts and skills are being first introduced to students. These
supports may include resource, compelling task, templates and guides, and/or guidance
on the development of cognitive and social skills. Instructional scaffolding could be
employed through modeling a task, giving advice, and/or providing coaching.

These supports are gradually removed as students develop autonomous learning

strategies, thus promoting their own cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning skills
and knowledge. Teachers help the students master a task or a concept by providing
support. The support can take many forms such as outlines, recommended documents,
storyboards, or key questions.

Essential features[edit]
There are three essential features of scaffolding that facilitate learning.[2][3]

1. The first feature is the interaction between the learner and the expert.
This interaction should be collaborative for it to be effective.
2. The second is that learning should take place in the learner's zone of
proximal development. To do that the expert needs to be aware of the
learner's current level of knowledge and then work to a certain extent
beyond that level.
3. The third feature of scaffolding is that the scaffold, the support and
guidance provided by the expert, is gradually removed as the learner
becomes more proficient.
The support and guidance provided to the learner are compared to the scaffolds in
building construction where the scaffolds provide both "adjustable and temporal"
support to the building under construction.[4] The support and guidance provided to
learners facilitate internalization of the knowledge needed to complete the task. This
support is weaned gradually until the learner is independent.[4]

Effective scaffolding[edit]
For scaffolding to be effective teachers need to pay attention to the following:

1. The selection of the learning task: The task should ensure that learners
use the developing skills that need to be mastered.[5] The task should also
be engaging and interesting to keep learners involved.[6] This task should
be neither too difficult nor too easy for the learner.
2. The anticipation of errors: After choosing the task, the teacher needs to
anticipate errors the learners are likely to commit when working on the
 task. Anticipation of errors enables the scaffolder to properly guide the
learners away from ineffective directions.[7]
3. The application of scaffolds during the learning task: Scaffolds could be
organized in "simple skill acquisition or they may be dynamic and
generative"[clarification needed].[7]
4. The consideration of emotional issues: Scaffolding is not limited to
a cognitive skill and can also support emotional responses (affect). For
example, during a task the scaffolder (expert) might need to manage and
control for frustration and loss of interest that could be experienced by the
learner.[5] Encouragement is also an important scaffolding component.[8]
Theory of scaffolding[edit]
Scaffolding theory was first introduced in the late 1950s by Jerome Bruner,
a cognitive psychologist. He used the term to describe young children's oral language
acquisition. Helped by their parents when they first start learning to speak, young
children are provided with informal instructional formats within which their learning is
facilitated. A scaffolding format investigated by Bruner and his postdoctoral student Anat
Ninio, whose scaffolding processes are described in detail, is joint picture-book reading.
[9]
By contrast, bed-time stories and read-alouds are examples of book-centered
parenting events[10] without scaffolding interaction. Scaffolding is inspired by Lev
Vygotsky's concept of an expert assisting a novice, or an apprentice. Scaffolding is
changing the level of support to suit the cognitive potential of the child. Over the course
of a teaching session, one can adjust the amount of guidance to fit the child's potential
level of performance. More support is offered when a child is having difficulty with a
particular task and, over time, less support is provided as the child makes gains on the
task. Ideally, scaffolding works to maintain the child's potential level of development in
the zone of proximal development (ZPD). An essential element to the ZPD and
scaffolding is the acquisition of language. According to Vygotsky, language (and in
particular, speech) is fundamental to children's cognitive growth because language
provides purpose and intention so that behaviors can be better understood.[11] Through
the use of speech, children are able to communicate to and learn from others through
dialogue, which is an important tool in the ZPD. In a dialogue, a child's unsystematic,
disorganized, and spontaneous concepts are met with the more systematic, logical and
rational concepts of the skilled helper.[12] Empirical research suggests that the benefits of
scaffolding are not only useful during a task, but can extend beyond the immediate
situation in order to influence future cognitive development.[13] For instance, a recent
study recorded verbal scaffolding between mothers and their 3- and 4-year-old children
as they played together. Then, when the children were six years old, they underwent
several measures of executive function, such as working memory and goal-directed
play. The study found that the children's working memory and language skills at six
years of age were related to the amount of verbal scaffolding provided by mothers at
age three. In particular, scaffolding was most effective when mothers provided explicit
conceptual links during play. Therefore, the results of this study not only suggest that
verbal scaffolding aids children's cognitive development, but that the quality of the
scaffolding is also important for learning and development.[14]
A construct that is critical for scaffolding instruction is Vygotsky's concept of the zone of
proximal development (ZPD). The zone of proximal development is the field between
what a learner can do on their own (expert stage) and the most that can be achieved
with the support of a knowledgeable peer or instructor (pedagogical stage).[15][page needed]
[16]
Vygotsky was convinced that a child could be taught any subject efficiently using
scaffolding practices by implementing the scaffolds through the zone of proximal
development. Students are escorted and monitored through learning activities that
function as interactive conduits to get them to the next stage. Thus the learner
obtains or raises [clarify] new understandings by building on their prior knowledge through
the support delivered by more capable individuals.[17] Several peer-reviewed studies
have shown that when there is a deficiency in guided learning experiences and social
interaction, learning and development are obstructed.[18] Moreover, several things
influence the ZPD of students, ranging from the collaboration of peers to technology
available in the classroom.[19]

In writing instruction, support is typically presented in verbal form (discourse). The

writing tutor engages the learner's attention, calibrates the task, motivates the student,
identifies relevant task features, controls for frustration, and demonstrates as needed.
[20]
Through joint activities, the teacher scaffolds conversation to maximize the
development of a child's intrapsychological functioning. In this process, the adult
controls the elements of the task that are beyond the child's ability, all the while
increasing the expectations of what the child is able to do. Speech, a critical tool to
scaffold thinking and responding, plays a crucial role in the development of higher
psychological processes[21] because it enables thinking to be more abstract, flexible, and
independent.[22][23] From a Vygotskian perspective, talk and action work together with the
sociocultural fabric of the writing event to shape a child's construction of awareness and
performance.[24][25] Dialogue may range from casual talk to deliberate explanations of
features of written language. The talk embedded in the actions of the literacy event
shapes the child's learning as the tutor regulates his or her language to conform to the
child's degrees of understanding.[26] [clarification needed]shows that what may seem like casual
conversational exchanges between tutor and student actually offer many opportunities
for fostering cognitive development, language learning, story composition for writing,
and reading comprehension. Conversations facilitate generative, constructive,
experimental, and developmental speech and writing in the development of new ideas.
[27]

In Vygotsky's words, "what the child is able to do in collaboration today he will be able to
do independently tomorrow".[28]

Some ingredients of scaffolding are predictability, playfulness, focus on meaning, role

reversal, modeling, and nomenclature.[10]

Levels and types in the educational setting[edit]

According to Saye and Brush, there are two levels of scaffolding: soft and hard. [29] An
example of soft scaffolding in the classroom would be when a teacher circulates the
room and converses with his or her students.[30] The teacher may question their
approach to a difficult problem and provide constructive feedback to the students.
According to Van Lier, this type of scaffolding can also be referred to as contingent
scaffolding. The type and amount of support needed is dependent on the needs of the
students during the time of instruction.[31][page needed] Unfortunately, applying scaffolding
correctly and consistently can be difficult when the classroom is large and students
have various needs.[32][full citation needed] Scaffolding can be applied to a majority of the students,
but the teacher is left with the responsibility to identify the need for additional
scaffolding.

In contrast with contingent or soft scaffolding, embedded or hard scaffolding is planned

in advance to help students with a learning task that is known in advance to be difficult.
[29]
For example, when students are discovering the formula for the Pythagorean
Theorem in math class, the teacher may identify hints or cues to help the student reach
an even higher level of thinking. In both situations, the idea of "expert scaffolding" is
being implemented:[33] the teacher in the classroom is considered the expert and is
responsible for providing scaffolding for the students.

Reciprocal scaffolding, a method first coined by Holton and Thomas, is a method that
involves a group of two or more collaboratively working together. In this situation, the
group can learn from each other's experiences and knowledge. The scaffolding is
shared by each member and changes constantly as the group works on a task.
[33]
According to Vygotsky, students develop higher-level thinking skills when scaffolding
occurs with an adult expert or with a peer of higher capabilities.[34] Conversely, Piaget
believes that students discard their ideas when paired with an adult or student of more
expertise.[35][full citation needed] Instead, students should be paired with others who have different
perspectives. Conflicts would then take place between students allowing them to think
constructively at a higher level.

Technical scaffolding is a newer approach in which computers replace the teachers as

the experts or guides, and students can be guided with web links, online tutorials, or
help pages.[36] Educational software can help students follow a clear structure and allows
students to plan properly.[37]

Directive and supportive scaffolding[edit]

Silliman and Wilkinson distinguish two types of scaffolding: 'supportive scaffolding' that
characterises the IRF (Initiation-Response-Follow-up) pattern; and 'directive scaffolding'
that refers to IRE (Initiation-Response-Evaluation).[38] Saxena (2010)[39] develops these
two notions theoretically by incorporating Bhaktin's (1981)[40] and van Lier's (1996)
[31]
works. Within the IRE pattern, teachers provide 'directive scaffolding' on the
assumption that their job is to transmit knowledge and then assess its appropriation by
the learners. The question-answer-evaluation sequence creates a predetermined
standard for acceptable participation and induces passive learning. In this type of
interaction, the teacher holds the right to evaluate and asks 'known-information'
questions which emphasise the reproduction of information. The nature and role of the
triadic dialogue have been oversimplified and the potential for the roles of teachers and
students in them has been undermined.[41]
If, in managing the talk, teachers apply 'constructive power'[42] and exploit students'
responses as occasions for joint exploration, rather than simply evaluating them, then
the classroom talk becomes dialogic.[43][page needed] The pedagogic orientation of this talk
becomes 'participation orientation', in contrast to 'display/assessment orientation' of
IRE.[31][page needed] In this kind of pattern of interaction, the third part of the triadic dialogue
offers 'follow-up' and teachers' scaffolding becomes 'supportive'. Rather than producing
'authoritative discourse',[40] teachers construct 'internally persuasive discourse' that
allows 'equality' and 'symmetry'[31]: 175 wherein the issues of power, control, institutional
managerial positioning, etc. are diffused or suspended. The discourse opens up the
roles for students as the 'primary knower' and the 'sequence initiator',[41] which allows
them to be the negotiator and co-constructor of meaning. The suspension of asymmetry
in the talk represents a shift in the teacher's ideological stance and, therefore,
demonstrates that supportive scaffolding is more than simply a model of instruction. [39]: 167

The role of guidance[edit]

Guidance and cognitive load[edit]
Learner support in scaffolding is known as guidance. While it takes on various forms
and styles, the basic form of guidance is any type of interaction from the instructor that
is intended to aid and/or improve student learning.[44] While this a broad definition, the
role and amount of guidance is better defined by the instructor's approach.
Instructionists and constructionists approach giving guidance within their own
instructional frameworks. Scaffolding involves presenting learners with proper guidance
that moves them towards their learning goals. Providing guidance is a method of
moderating the cognitive load of a learner. In scaffolding, learners can only be moved
toward their learning goals if cognitive load is held in check by properly administered
support.

Traditional teachers tend to give a higher level of deductive, diadactic instruction, with
each piece of a complex task being broken down. This teacher-centered approach,
consequently, tends to increase the cognitive load for students.

Constructivist instructors, in contrast, approach instruction from the approach of guided

discovery with a particular emphasis on transfer. The concept of transfer focuses on a
learner's ability to apply learned tasks in a context other than the one in which it was
learned.[44] This results in constructivist instructors, unlike classical ones, giving a higher
level of guidance than instruction.

Amount of guidance[edit]
Research has demonstrated that higher level of guidance has a greater effect on
scaffolded learning, but is not a guarantee of more learning.[45] The efficacy of higher
amount of guidance is dependent on the level of detail and guidance applicability.
[44]
Having multiple types of guidance (i.e. worked examples, feedback) can cause them
to interact and reinforce each other. Multiple conditions do not guarantee greater
learning, as certain types of guidance can be extraneous to the learning goals or the
modality of learning. With this, more guidance (if not appropriate to the learning) can
negatively impact performance, as it gives the learner overwhelming levels of
information.[44] However, appropriately designed high levels of guidance, which properly
interact with the learning, is more beneficial to learning than low levels of guidance.