Scoffoling refers to the instructional support that instructors or more skillful peers offer learners to bridge the gap between their current skill levels and the desired level. An aspect of scaffolding that is olften ignored is the fading of support as the learner masters the skill. It has been suggested that there is a risk of over-relying on the support of integrated media in computer-assisted instruction. A three-dimension (3-D) model of scaffolding that incorporates level of subtask, level of support, and number of repititions of practice has been proposed to vary the technology support systematically in response to the learner's performance. The 3-D contingent scaffolding model was implemented in a comptuer-based instructional program for statistics called "Hypothesis Testing--the Z-test" in order to establish baseline data for integrated media-based instruction or a hypermedia learning environment. The scaffolded instruction was evaluted in terms of knowledge maintenance and transfer by comparing it to full-support instruction and least-support instruction. Findings from 75 college students provide evidence that the scaffolded computer-based instruction promoted knowledge maintenance and improved independent knowledge application, while promoting learning consistently across individuals. Results also show that a dynamic measure of the learner's ability is a better predictor of the learning outcome for subjects using this scaffolded instruction than static measures. The model provides a systemic way to link the concept of scaffolding to integrated media design features using both support building and support fading techniques.
The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education