Theory of Scaffolding
Theory of Scaffolding
Literature around Scaffolding:
There have been several discussions around scaffolding, in an attempt to define what it means for education. At the early stages of the theory of scaffolding, Wood, Bruner, and Ross (1976) explain the importance of the interactive, instructional relationship that tutors/teachershave in a learner's development, supporting that the attendance of others is significant for scaffolding skills acquisition and problem solving. They also emphasize on the importance for realizing the value of a solution to generate the sequence of steps that will lead to the solution of the problem, without scaffolding by an adult. As argued, this realization will result in effective feedback, as the learner will be able to value every step towards the solution, and therefore, in order for scaffolding to be effective the learner needs to generate solutions to the problem that are identifiable to them (Wood, Bruner, and Ross, 1976). However, in this scaffolding process, the tutor does not necessarily need to be a human; it can be a virtual, non-player character (NPC) as well. In this project, the scaffolding process takes place in the virtual environment of Quest Atlantis, where learners embark on a mission to resolve a problem, part of which requires the decryption of Mayan signs, and interpretation of them in English. The facilitators in this case are the NPCs that learners/players come across during their mission.
A rich experience is what a leaner needs to develop to a knowledgeable individual, and the impact of the surrounding environment and the scaffolds in it are important for learning. Vygotsky (1978) has proposed that the learner needs to be scaffolded in order to acquire all the skills that would have been difficult to acquire independently. The Vygotskian theoretical perspective holds that learners, and especially children can perform more challenging tasks when assisted, and that they can reach a high level of
Literature around Scaffolding:
There have been several discussions around scaffolding, in an attempt to define what it means for education. At the early stages of the theory of scaffolding, Wood, Bruner, and Ross (1976) explain the importance of the interactive, instructional relationship that tutors/teachershave in a learner's development, supporting that the attendance of others is significant for scaffolding skills acquisition and problem solving. They also emphasize on the importance for realizing the value of a solution to generate the sequence of steps that will lead to the solution of the problem, without scaffolding by an adult. As argued, this realization will result in effective feedback, as the learner will be able to value every step towards the solution, and therefore, in order for scaffolding to be effective the learner needs to generate solutions to the problem that are identifiable to them (Wood, Bruner, and Ross, 1976). However, in this scaffolding process, the tutor does not necessarily need to be a human; it can be a virtual, non-player character (NPC) as well. In this project, the scaffolding process takes place in the virtual environment of Quest Atlantis, where learners embark on a mission to resolve a problem, part of which requires the decryption of Mayan signs, and interpretation of them in English. The facilitators in this case are the NPCs that learners/players come across during their mission.
A rich experience is what a leaner needs to develop to a knowledgeable individual, and the impact of the surrounding environment and the scaffolds in it are important for learning. Vygotsky (1978) has proposed that the learner needs to be scaffolded in order to acquire all the skills that would have been difficult to acquire independently. The Vygotskian theoretical perspective holds that learners, and especially children can perform more challenging tasks when assisted, and that they can reach a high level of