Scaffolds
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[edit] Definition
Vygotsky's basic idea is that cognitive development occurs through the child's conversations and interactions with more capable members of the culture, adults or more able peers. These people serve as guides and teachers, providing the information and support necessary for the child to grow intellectually. Jerome Bruner called this adult assistance scaffolding (Woolfolk, 1995, p. 49).
Scaffolds help support a learner as they attempt to learn new skills and/or concepts. These scaffolds are designed to help integrate new information into a student's existing framework of knowledge. These scaffolds help a student construct meaningful connections and relationships between concepts. This type of constructionist teaching allows a student to better incorporate new information into their previous experiences. Scaffolds may be removed as a student gains competency and understanding of the material.
Scaffolding is an important teaching theory proposed by Vygotsky. The theory is generally used to facilitate young children's emerging skills in the early childhood setting. Scaffolding is " A changing level of support in which assistance is adjusted to fit a child's current abilities and needs. (Foster child's autonomy and mastery skills.) The goals of scaffolding are 1) Joint problem solving, 2) Shared understanding between instructors and learners, 3) Achievement of warmth and responsivenss in a learning process, 4) Keeping children in the Zone of Proximal Development, and 5) Promoting children's self-regulation.
[edit] Application in Classroom and Similar Settings
The folowing two websites give specific examples of the use of scaffolding
[edit] Evidence of Effectiveness
From Now On The Educational Technology Journal
Vol 9|No 4|December|1999
Scaffolding for Success
by Jamie McKenzie
about the author
This article is an excerpt from Jamie McKenzie's new book, Beyond Technology: Questioning, Research and the Information Literate School Community due in January. (click to learn more) Chapter 19 - Scaffolding for Success
Some (but not all) schools and teachers have been trying for decades to engage students in challenging research projects. The history of such efforts extends back prior to the efforts of John Dewey and more recent leaders such as Hilda Taba and John Fenton.
The best of all of these efforts always made significant use of scaffolding to organize and support the student investigation or inquiry, to keep students from straying too far off the path while seeking "the truth" about whatever issue, problem or question was driving the project.
The least successful efforts assumed too much about student skills, organizational abilities and commitment. Young ones were sent off on expeditions with little in the way of structure or guidance.
We should have learned by now that exploration by students progresses most effectively when those students have been well equipped, well prepared and well guided along the path. In this chapter, the focus is upon the scaffolding techniques that have proven especially worthwhile in an electronic context. Matters of Definition
What do we mean by scaffolding in the context of student research in school?
There is no appropriate (educational) definition in a dictionary. The term is relatively new for educators, even though the concept has been around for a long time under other names.
We tend to think of structures thrown up alongside of buildings to support workers in their skyward efforts.
"Structure" is the key word. Without clear structure and precisely stated expectations, many students are vulnerable to a kind of educational "wanderlust" that pulls them far afield.
The dilemma? How do we provide sufficient structure to keep students productive without confining them to straight jackets that destroy initiative, motivation and resourcefulness?
It is, ultimately, a balancing act. The workers cleaning the face of the Washington Monument do not confuse the scaffolding with the monument itself. The scaffolding is secondary. The building is primary.
The same is true with student research. Even though we may offer clarity and structure, the students must still conduct the research and fashion new insights. The most important work is done by the student. We simply provide the outer structure. Characteristics of Educational Scaffolding
There are at least eight characteristics of scaffolding: 1) Scaffolding provides clear directions
Web based research units offer step-by-step directions to explain just what students must do in order to meet the expectations for the learning activity. Instructional designers try to anticipate any problems or uncertainties, writing user-friendly directions in ways that minimize confusion, place a premium on clarity and speed students toward productive learning.
The operating concept here is the "teflon lesson," a learning experience that has been well tested in advance so that anything that might go wrong is considered in advance and eliminated if possible.
We don't want our students wandering about like prospectors on the desert. 2) Scaffolding clarifies purpose
"Why are we doing this?"
Scaffolding keeps purpose and motivation in the forefront. Rather than offering up one more empty school ritual like the state report, the scaffolded lesson aspires to meaning and worth. Built around essential questions, the scaffolding helps to keep the "big picture" central and in focus.
"We are looking at this question because it is central to being human."
No "trivial pursuit" here.
Students are let in on the secret early. They are told why the problem, issue or decision is important and they are urged to care about it. They do not lapse into simple collecting or gathering. They are not caught up in mindless activity traps. Their work remains purposeful and planful. Each time they act, it is in service to the thought process, the discovery of meaning and the development of insight.
Traditional school research placed too much emphasis upon collection, while scaffolding requires continuous sorting and sifting as part of a "puzzling" process - the combining of new information with previous understandings to construct new ones. Students are adding on, extending, refining and elaborating. It is almost as if they are building a bridge from their preconceptions to a deeper, wiser, more astute view of whatever truth matters for the question or issue at hand. 3) Scaffolding keeps students on task
By providing a pathway or route for the learner, the scaffolded lesson is somewhat like the guard rail of a mountain highway. The learner can exercise great personal discretion within parameters but is not in danger of "off road" stranding. Each time a student or team of students is asked to move along a path, the steps are outlined extensively. No need to wander, stray or stumble. Students may "take the curves" without fear of going over the edge.
This is more than a matter of clear directions that could just as easily be printed out on paper. The Web based lesson provides structure and guidance coincident with each step of the journey. The progression of activities is liberating yet controlling at the same time. The student moves through something like a garden, taking each Web page like flag stones. There may be more than one path wandering through the garden, but none of them leads into the jungle or a swamp or a tiger pit. 4) Scaffolding offers assessment to clarify expectations
From the very start, scaffolded lessons provide examples of quality work done by others. Right from the beginning, students are shown rubrics and standards that define excellence. In traditional school research, students were often kept in the dark until the product was completed. Without clearly stated criteria, it was difficult to know what constituted quality work.
Is it a matter of length? the number of sources cited?
Does originality count?
Does the logic and coherence of my argument matter?
What constitutes adequate evidence?
There are a dozen issues, all of which deserve attention and elaboration. As an example, consider the online rubrics for successful multimedia reports available at http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/cep/midlink/rub.multi.htm 5) Scaffolding points students to worthy sources
Most educators complain that the Internet suffers from a low "signal to noise ratio" - the confusing, weak and unreliable information (noise) outweighs and threatens to drown out the information most worthy of consideration. Wary of wasting time, teachers have little tolerance for "data smog" and "Infoglut." They want to see students putting their energy into interpretation rather than wandering.
Scaffolding identifies the best sources so that students speed to signal rather than noise. Looking for the best Web sites on Columbus, Drake or Magellan to decide which would have been a better leader, the scaffolded lesson created by fifth grade teacher, Gretchen Offutt, identified 4-5 sites for each captain.
Explorer Homeport http://wwwsil.bham.wednet.edu/Curriculum/homeport.htm
Knowing that the Web is filled with sites not worth visiting because of quality, bias or reading level concerns, the teacher visits 100+ sites per captain before winnowing the list down to 4 or 5 per captain.
Does this mean the student has no options? It depends upon the teacher. And it depends upon the school. In some cases, students must stick to the sources pre-selected by the teacher. In other cases, the student may use these sites as a starting point, extending further out into Cyberspace in search of something unusual. The scaffolding serves as an introduction, not as a corral. 6) Scaffolding reduces uncertainty, surprise and disappointment
The operating design concept for scaffolded lessons is the "teflon lesson" - no stick, no burn and no trouble. Lesson designers are expected to test each and every step in the lesson to see what might possibly go wrong. The idea is to eliminate distracting frustrations to the extent this is possible. The goal is to maximize learning and efficiency. Once the lesson is ready for trial with students, the lesson is refined at least one more time based on the new insights gained by watching students actually try the activities. 7) Scaffolding delivers efficiency
If done well, a scaffolded lesson should nearly scream with efficiency. Teachers and students should shake their heads in disbelief.
"It felt like we completed ten hours of work in just two!"
"How did we get so much done?"
This perception is achieved, in part, by virtue of comparison with the old kind of school research that was mostly about wandering and scooping. Boredom fed by irrelevance slowed the passage of time. It took forever to get the job done.
Scaffolded lessons still require hard work, but the work is so well centered on the inquiry that it seems like a potter and wheel. Little waste or wobbling. Scaffolding "distills" the work effort. Focus. Clarity. Time on task. The student is channelled. No mud flats, shoals or other navigational hazards. 8) Scaffolding creates momentum
In contrast to traditional research experiences, throughout which much of the energy was dispersed and dissipated during the wandering phases, the channelling achieved through scaffolding concentrates and directs energy in ways that actually build into momentum. It is almost like an avalanche of thoughts, accumulating insight and understanding.
In resolving the dissonance described in Chapter 4, "Students in Resonance," the work gathers speed. The drive toward meaning is accelerated. The essential question and its subsidiary questions create suction, drive, urgency and motivation. The search for understanding inspires and provokes. One loses sleep. One awakens in the middle of the night, wondering, pondering, considering. Examples of Scaffolding
Explorers' Homeport (5th grade) http://wwwsil.bham.wednet.edu/Curriculum/homeport.htm Fifth grade science (Planets) http://wwwsil.bham.wednet.edu/Curriculum/paBASECAMP.HTM Grand Prairie, Texas, Research modules http://www.gpisd.org Baltimore County Research modules http://www.bcplonline.org/online New South Wales Research modules http://www.cap.nsw.edu.au/bb_site_intro/bbcap_intro.html Module Maker - Offers a step-by-step method for the construction of online research modules with an emphasis upon scaffolding. http://fromnowon.org/module/module.html WebQuest - Offers pages describing a step-by-step method for the creation of WebQuests with an emphasis upon scaffolding. http://webquest.sdsu.edu Victorian WebQuests http://goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au/~linpa/EPI/Conf/ Blue Web'n http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn
Credits: The photographs were shot by Jamie McKenzie. Copyright Policy: Materials published in From Now On may be duplicated in hard copy format if unchanged in format and content for educational, nonprofit school district and university use only and may also be sent from person to person by e-mail. This copyright statement must be included. All other uses, transmissions and duplications are prohibited unless permission is granted expressly. Showing these pages remotely through frames is not permitted. FNO is applying for formal copyright registration for articles.
[edit] Critics and their Rationale
The main opposition to scaffolding seems to be that the process takes too long to show results and that the results are not always evident on standardized testing.
Other arguments against Vygotsky's theories seem to be general in nature. Author Lisa Oakley in her book, Cognitive Development lists three such arguments:
- The quality of help from expert others is difficult to quantify; specifically the degree and whether or not the quality of assistance remains consistent.
- With the growing increase in class sizes, current teacher staffing levels are insufficient to meet the demands; and as a result, additional staff would need to be hired in school systems that are already financially strapped.
- While peer tutoring has shown some benefits overall, especially when compared to individual performances, one of the main limitations of peer tutoring is that students of higher status and greater ability appear to benefit the most.
[edit] Alternative Explanations due to Diversity Considerations
[edit] Signed Life Experiences, Testimonies , and stories
I used shaping on one of my daughters once. She was about three or four years old, and was afraid to go down a particular slide. So I picked her up, put her at the end of the slide, asked if she was okay and if she could jump down. She did, of course, and I showered her with praise. I then picked her up and put her a foot or so up the slide, asked her if she was okay, and asked her to slide down and jump off. So far so good. I repeated this again and again, each time moving her a little up the slide, and backing off if she got nervous. Eventually, I could put her at the top of the slide and she could slide all the way down and jump off. Unfortunately, she still couldn’t climb up the ladder, so I was a very busy father for a while. C.George Boeree
I have found the practice of scaffolding to be extremely successful in the course I teach, Instructional Technology, to pre-service teachers. For most students in my class the course is the first formal experience with computers and technology. The first quarter of the semester is designed to scaffold computer applications. I start with M.S. Word, move on the M.S. PowerPoint, than M.S. Publisher and on to M.S. Excel. By the time they get to Excel they are much more at ease because they are used to the M.S. layout and functions. If I were to introduce Excel first they have a much more difficult time with it. After the M.S. Office Suite I move onto Inspiration Software and then Netscape Composer. Most of the time students will make the connection that Netscape Composer is very similar to M.S. Word without me having to point it out. I find that scaffolding builds the confidence of my students so they are willing to be more daring with the next application because they see the simularities. --Benish 20:33, 3 May 2005 (CDT)
[edit] References and Other Links of Interest
Woolfolk, A. E. (1995), Educational Psychology (6th ed). Allyn and Bacon.
