Scaffolding is a temporary entity which enables the novice to achieve his/her potential and then is eliminated when they enhance their learning. Accordingly, this project aimed to investigate the ...impact of teacher and peer scaffolding on the participants' argumentative writing ability. To this end, one hundred students at Imam Khomeini International University were randomly assigned to four groups: teacher scaffolding, peer scaffolding, teacher and peer scaffolding, and the control group. The treatment lasted for six sessions for each group in three months for the experimental groups. The participants in the control group, however, received no scaffolding treatment. The results of one-way ANOVA conducted on the participants' post-test writings indicated that the total argumentative writing ability of the participants in the three experimental groups significantly improved compared to the control group. The treatment was effective, and the difference between the four groups was statistically significant. The results of the MANOVA also corroborated the ANOVA results. The argumentative writing ability of the participants in terms of the total organization and linguistic accuracy was significantly enhanced through scaffolding, and the difference between the four groups was statistically significant. However, among the three experimental groups, the group receiving teacher scaffolding made the most significant improvement. The results of this study imply that teachers should apply more scaffolding strategies while instructing. The materials developers and syllabus designers should also produce materials which entail more teacher and peer scaffolding in class.
Simulation-based learning offers a wide range of opportunities to practice complex skills in higher education and to implement different types of scaffolding to facilitate effective learning. This ...meta-analysis includes 145 empirical studies and investigates the effectiveness of different scaffolding types and technology in simulation-based learning environments to facilitate complex skills. The simulations had a large positive overall effect: g = 0.85, SE = 0.08; CIs 0.69, 1.02. Technology use and scaffolding had positive effects on learning. Learners with high prior knowledge benefited more from reflection phases; learners with low prior knowledge learned better when supported by examples. Findings were robust across different higher education domains (e.g., medical and teacher education, management). We conclude that (1) simulations are among the most effective means to facilitate learning of complex skills across domains and (2) different scaffolding types can facilitate simulation-based learning during different phases of the development of knowledge and skills.
Although scaffolding is an important and frequently studied concept, much discussion exists with regard to its conceptualizations, appearances, and effectiveness. Departing from the last decade's ...scaffolding literature, this review scrutinizes these three areas of scaffolding. First, contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility are discerned in this review as the three key characteristics of scaffolding. Second, an overview is presented of the numerous descriptive studies that provided narratives on the appearances of scaffolding and classifications of scaffolding strategies. These strategies are synthesized into a framework for analysis, distinguishing between scaffolding means and intentions. Third, the small number of effectiveness studies available is discussed and the results suggest that scaffolding is effective. However, more research is needed. The main challenge in scaffolding research appears to be its measurement. Based on the encountered and described measurement problems, suggestions for future research are made.
Over the past decade, there has appeared a surge of research interest in language learners’ academic engagement and psychological well-being as important factors in improving the quality of ...education. However, research on the roles of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ affective scaffolding in enhancing the academic engagement and psychological well-being of their students is relatively scant. Inspired by this gap, the current study aimed to investigate the impact of Chinese EFL teachers’ affective scaffolding on their learners’ academic engagement and psychological well-being. To this end, a total number of 1968 Chinese EFL learners participated in this questionnaire survey. The results of the study showed that EFL teachers’ affective scaffolding positively and significantly predicted students’ academic engagement and psychological well-being. More specifically, it was found that teachers’ affective scaffolding explained about 73% and 65% of variances in EFL students’ academic engagement and psychological well-being. Moreover, it was found that psychological well-being and academic engagement were positively correlated and predicted 56% of each other’s variances. In accordance with these findings, educators are recommended to build up a harmonious teacher-student relationship to foster students’ psych-emotional development.
Although widely used, video lectures may have negative effects on maintaining student interest. When content is presented in video lectures, information processing issues can contribute to a decrease ...in interest and engagement. One solution is to scaffold instruction so that information is processed efficiently, and interest is maintained. While extant research examines two known scaffolding strategies (strategic and conceptual) in isolation, the current study combines the two to see if a more complete instructional scaffolding model leads to higher levels of maintained situational interest. A group of university students studying online in South Korea (n = 2,183) were surveyed about their perceptions of the way in which scaffolding occurred in their courses, with items focusing on the presence of the following: explanatory direct instruction early in the lectures, reduction of instructional support involving worked examples in the heart of the lecture (conceptual scaffolding) and an overall separation of content in a simple to the complex manner (strategic scaffolding). The results show a positive relationship between these combined instructional scaffolding strategies and the maintained situational interest of the students. Therefore, these strategies can be used to maintain student interest and engagement with online learning materials.
Collaborative problem-solving (CPS) engages students in solving ill-structured problems, creating group knowledge, and developing self-regulation and collaboration skills. Different scaffoldings, ...such as minimal-guided, task-oriented, and idea-oriented, can be used to facilitate students’ CPS activities, but their effects have not been comprehensively explored. In this research, we use minimally-guided, task-oriented, and idea-oriented scaffoldings to promote Chinese university students’ online CPS activities and use a multi-method approach to analyze the effects of three scaffolding on collaboration. The results indicate relatively complicated collaborative processes and outcomes supported by three scaffoldings. It is initially shown that the idea-centered scaffolding strengthens students’ connections between idea contribution, metacognitive regulation, and knowledge artifact behaviors, which are critical factors for improving the CPS quality. Based on the empirical research results, we conclude that future instructional design should carefully consider the educational culture, time constraint, and student regulation to better facilitate CPS practices.
PDF
