SCAFFOLDING IN EDUCATION.   Term Paper ID:24908 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines method of individualized instruction. Theory & practice, objectives, effectiveness, cognitive factors.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines method of individualized instruction. Theory & practice, objectives, effectiveness, cognitive factors. Paper Introduction: Scaffolding is a method that helps teachers provide students with individualized instruction. While engaged in scaffolding, teachers become facilitators of learning in an instructional dialogue based on flexibility. Scaffolding fosters student academic achievement, self-esteem, and social skills. With scaffolding, a teacher concentrates on developing student competencies. In the classroom, the teacher explains, step-by-step, how a decision was made or a conclusion reached. This explanation often takes the form of group discussion. The discussion is a stream-of-consciousness interaction with students and teacher. Later, the instructor shifts from teacher to coach as the students take over the particular skill. The performance of the student is coached until the mastery of the skill develops. At this stage, the student role resembles that of the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Intraditional teaching, the acquisition of knowledge often retains an aura ofmystery for slower learners. Scaffolding is a method that helps teachers provide students withindividualized instruction. Gradually, theinstructor reduces support, a process known as fading. 9). Classroom instructional tactics. New York: John Wiley. and Gamble, M. Scaffolding is a teaching method based on the theoretical frameworkof Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Putnam, J. 86). 5 -54. With scaffolding, a teacher concentrates on developing studentcompetencies. (1997). The foundation of the scaffolding process is communication. Ultimately, supportis no longer needed. When other students read their goals andplans, a cycle of critiquing, revision, and review is set up which can leadto improved understanding: "Just as people learn through variousmodalities, such as the auditory, kinesthetic, or visual channels, theyalso learn in a variety of interpersonal or intrapersonal contexts"(Putnam, 1997, p. Scaffolding is a method that helps the teacher meet the student'sindividual needs for learning. The more problems the student solves, themore skills he or she has in their problem-solving arsenal. The teacheris coach, facilitator, and tutor. The scaffolding remains in place until thefoundation and framing of the building has been secured so that it canstand on its own. The objective of scaffolding is to give the student just enoughsupport to help him or her achieve their current goal. With the traditional method, instructors teach facts andgrade tasks. Flavell, J. . Scaffolding fosters student academic achievement, self-esteem, and socialskills. "(Bollentin, 1998, p. Vygotsky, L. 46).The scaffolding process can be visualized precisely as a scaffold used inthe construction of a building. Scaffolding facilitates the development ofstudent independence and increases self-confidence. As one teacher puts it, "Thecomputer is an infinitely malleable tool, and it has the potential toenable us to teach things we were never able to teach before . Vygotsky further assertedthat the potential for cognitive development is limited to a certain timespan which he calls the zone of proximal development: "It is the distancebetween the actual developmental level as determined by independent problemsolving and the level of potential development as determined throughproblem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capablepeers" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. He claimed thatdevelopment is complex and is affected by social and cultural contexts.Piaget believed that concepts should not be taught until children are inthe appropriate developmental stage whereas Vygotsky promoted cognitivedevelopment within the student's zone of proximal development. 52). With scaffolding, the teacher can adapt tostudents taking multiple learning paths. Scaffolding is a highly individualized approach toteaching: "Almost all classroom teachers believe that instructionalapproaches which are attentive to the differences among individual learnerswill be superior to those schemes which are oblivious of such differences"(Popham and Baker, 1973, p. The teacher, of course, is instrumental in thisprocess: "[the teacher] provides guidance, when requested by users, on howto integrate the skills together seamlessly" (Acovelli and Gamble, 1997, p.46). Educom Review, pp. At this stage, the student role resembles that of theapprentice, working under the guidance of the instructor. (1973). Scaffoldingdemands much from a teacher, and the incorporation of computers into theprocess can ease the instructional burden. Even the smartest students, aftermemorizing volumes of facts and data, can turn out to be poor problemsolvers when presented with a task that requires critical thinking. Mind in society. They feel compelled to keep up by pretense,guessing, copying the work of others, or just getting by. (1963). . Classroom collaboration also facilitates scaffolding and vice versa.When students collaborate, they articulate their goals and plans, a processwhich encourages self-reflection. 27). (1962). Campbell, Sarah. With scaffolding, instructors teach skills and thoughtprocesses. (March-April 1997). (January/February 1998). The discussion is a stream-of-consciousnessinteraction with students and teacher. Later, the instructor shifts fromteacher to coach as the students take over the particular skill. While engaged in scaffolding, teachers becomefacilitators of learning in an instructional dialogue based on flexibility. (1976). Vygotskyalso disagreed with Piaget's assertion that development could not beimpeded or accelerated through instruction. Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press. 71). References Acovelli, M. Students gainconfidence early in the process by solving simple problems, using oneskill. Both Vygotsky and Jean Piaget focused on cognitive development, butVygotsky (1962) believed that there were certain flaws in Piaget's methods. The more interactive scaffolding is, the more the student candevelop his or her own powers of prediction in a non-threateningenvironment. 57). . This explanation often takesthe form of group discussion. and lose ownership ofthe task on which they are working" (Acovelli and Gamble, 1997, p. (1978). Student self-dialogue is very important in the process ofscaffolding. Student note-taking facilitates the process of self-dialoguebecause it assists students in transferring their ideas to paper andconsidering concepts in concrete form. Vygotsky, L. Whereas when first taught, a skill might be meaningless to astudent, by the time he or she has progressed through the integration ofthe skill in complex problems and in interaction with teachers and fellowstudents, an interpersonal connection results that enhances learning. It can be applied in one-on-one settings orin collaborative environments. The developmental psychology of Jean Piaget.Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand. 44-48. Vygotsky believed thatdevelopmental growth was independent of experience. . Students equilibrate newinformation when meanings have connection to real life: "Piaget'sequilibration model seems to say that you get out of an encounter with theenvironment what you put into it; an active engagement with data, involvinga certain intracognitive Sturm und Drang, is what leads to stable and quasi-permanent structural change" (Flavell, 1963, p. Thisapplies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to theformation of concepts" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. Full development within this zone dependsupon full social interaction. After solvinga series of individual problems the student must now integrate those skillsto solve complex problems. In the traditionalmethod of instructional feedback, the teacher helps students progress alonga linear learning path. Thought and language. The teacher is concerned with what priormindset exists in a learner that might influence the assimilation of a newconcept, and how the new concept might agree with or replace the priormindset. Cooperative learning in diverse classrooms.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. In the classroom, the teacher explains, step-by-step, how adecision was made or a conclusion reached. After demonstrating and modeling a taskto students, the teacher assigns the tasks, and offers feedback wherenecessary. Educational Technology, pp. The skill levels that can be developed withadult guidance or peer collaboration exceeds what can be attained alone. Cambridge, MA: MITPress.----------------------- 8 and Baker, E. For instance, Piaget theorized that child development occurs in distinct,measurable, and observable stages, focusing on what children have, not whatthey lack, "Basically, the mental development of the child appears as asuccession of three great periods. Scaffolding promotes maximum student self-confidence because themethod builds on the foundation of student success. With scaffolding, students can learn at their own pace. In terms of cognitive development,socialization plays an important role in Vygotsky's theories: "Everyfunction in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on thesocial level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people(interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). Althoughthe traditional focus has been personal interaction between student andteacher, the growing influence of computers in the classroom has extendedscaffolding to electronic multimedia simulations as well. In contrasting scaffolding to traditional ways of learning, it isclear that scaffolding is a superior teaching method. A coaching agentfor learners using multimedia simulations. When theysucceed they don't know why because they are unable to connect reasoningwith inquiry. Can information technologyimprove education? The timeframe of the traditional feedback process is immediatewhereas the timeframe of the scaffolding process appears at a particularpoint of need for the student. 418). Thus many modern examples of scaffolding areoften found in computerized instruction. Piaget sampler: An introduction to JeanPiaget through his own words. Piaget used the term equilibration todescribe the mental process of synthesizing new information withinsufficient or inaccurate prior knowledge. Then the student progresses to more complex problems in whichmultiple skills are required. Too much supportcan be stifling while too little support can leave the student fumbling tocatch up or merely pretending to have acquired the particular skill: "Ifthe [teacher] intruded on [the student] constantly, giving too muchguidance, they might become overly dependent . Piaget's cognitive construction is the cornerstone of manytraditional teaching methods. Each of these extends the precedingperiod, reconstructs it on a new level, and later surpasses it to an evergreater degree" (Campbell, 1976, p. Bollentin, W. Popham, W.J. Such teachers focus on creating learning situations that enhancestudents' adoption of new ideas. Theperformance of the student is coached until the mastery of the skilldevelops. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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