Any number of specific pedagogical strategies, large and small, can fall under the umbrella of scaffolding. All function within a larger framework requiring that instructors: (1) understand their students’ current abilities, (2) commit to regularly communicating and interacting with their students (this involves reciprocal feedback), and (3) structure activities, lessons, and assignments so that students are given the greatest support when they are beginning a novel task and increasing independence as they become more proficient.
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Examples of commonly-used scaffolding strategies:
- Give clear, step-by-step instructions
- Give feedback and allow revision (multiple times if possible!)
- Utilize reflective writing to support learners’ metacognition
- Ask learners questions
- Give hints and clues
- Show learners how to do something before asking them to do it
- “Think out loud” as you demonstrate a task, especially if you record yourself performing the task
- Provide clear rubrics
- Provide examples of finished work to serve as a model
- Include your own notes or highlights in the readings you assign
- Discuss the steps to problem solving
- Have students work in groups to solve problems (facilitated by instructor!)
- Peer-to-peer feedback
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Hint: Even finding where on your Blackboard page you’ve posted an assignment might be a component skill. Don’t assume that your students all have the digital fluency to navigate this! Outlining these steps clearly in your instructions or showing students how to do this can go a long way.
#2 Focus students’ cognitive effort on the specific skills you want them to practice
Set up your assignments, activities, and readings so that students spend their energy on exactly what you want them to be able to do and nothing else. If you want them to be able to read and summarize a research article, then maybe don’t make them also have to find an appropriate article. Give them a list of articles to choose from instead. If you want your students to be able to apply a course concept to real life, then maybe don’t grade them on their ability to write in a fully formal, professional style. Designing your course assignments to build on one another helps a lot with this, because earlier activities and assignments can help ensure you that your students have the component skills to then apply in future assignments.
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