Principle 4 scaffolded explanations
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The document discusses the importance of appropriately scaffolded explanations in educational materials to support student learning and autonomy. It emphasizes breaking content into manageable chunks, providing clear structure, and ensuring that explanations are tailored to the students' prior knowledge and needs. Additionally, it highlights the significance of logical organization, summarization, and the use of visuals in enhancing understanding.
Principle 4 scaffolded explanations
- 1. Principle 4 Scaffold explanations Glenn Martin March 2017
- 2. Ensure that explanations are scaffolded appropriately for the student cohort.
- 3. The concept of scaffolding is that the materials provide sufficient explanation and assistance to enable students to acquire concepts or perform tasks.
- 4. Students should receive as much or as little support for learning as they need. Don’t explain things your audience already knows. Don’t explain things your audience doesn’t need to know.
- 5. The materials should exhibit a progression – scaffolding is provided in the earlier stages, , and students are gradually given more autonomy (removing the scaffolding) as they gain confidence.
- 6. Appropriate scaffolding is created firstly through good structure – breaking the course materials into logical sections, giving clear descriptive headings to sections, topics and sub- topics. This helps students to plan their work, and allows them to skim over topics they already know.
- 7. Break material down into chunks – the idea of a chunk is that it is to some extent a standalone piece – a concept or a step, for example.
- 8. Each new topic or section, should begin with an overview of the material, including structure, learning outcomes and estimated study time. At the end of each topic or section, a summary ensures that students have identified the key points.
- 9. Explanations should show knowledge of the field and evidence of some research. Paragraphs should be clearly organised and logically sequenced. Visuals should contribute to understanding of the text.
- 10. Language should introduce technical words appropriately and address students directly.
- 11. Explanations target the “zone of proximal development” of your students, which is “the distance between what students can do by themselves and the next learning they can be helped to achieve with competent assistance.” • - Eileen Richmond