A study to explore the potential of designing teaching activities to scaffold learning: Understanding circular motion

Keith S. Taber*, Richard Brock

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Scaffolding allows a learner to succeed in tasks beyond their current developmental level, through sharing in activities that can facilitate the learner to internalise that activity through social mediation. This guides the learner's development towards autonomous success in the activity. The process is effective to the extent that the shared activity supports the learner in meaningfully engaging in, and eventually mastering, the activity. The notion of scaffolding was introduced in the context of a single child being supported by an adult who is giving them their full attention - where teaching, and so learning, can occur implicitly within the context of everyday interactions such as play. Extending the principle of scaffolding to the planning of teaching and the design of learning activities in formal whole-class contexts is challenging. The present paper reports one small scale study that explored an attempt to design materials using principles of scaffolding in an aspect of upper secondary physics known to present learning difficulties to students. An activity to potentially scaffold new conceptual understanding (a scaffolding POLE) was prepared to be undertaken after a short activity to reactivate prerequisite learning (a scaffolding PLANK). The materials were administered to students (n = 122, c.16-17 years of age) taking an elective upper secondary (high school) physics course. The results demonstrate the difficulty of estimating the level at which to pitch learning materials intended to scaffold learning, but also suggest that such materials may contribute to shifting student thinking even when they are not optimally 'tuned'. The results of this small-scale study indicate both the difficulty and the potential of transferring the scaffolding principle from dyadic (e.g., parent-child or tutor-single student) contexts to formal classroom teaching.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEffective Teaching and Learning
Subtitle of host publicationPerspectives, Strategies and Implementation
EditorsMatthais Abend
PublisherNova Science Publishers Inc
Pages45-86
Number of pages42
ISBN (Electronic)9781536139440
ISBN (Print)9781536139433
Publication statusPublished - 13 Jul 2018

Keywords

  • Classroom teaching
  • Orbital motion
  • Scaffolding
  • Scientific explanation
  • ZPD

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A study to explore the potential of designing teaching activities to scaffold learning: Understanding circular motion'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this