Your Professional Development Power Point

Module 4 Discussion-Scaffolding and Shaping Student’s Learning

The last decade has witnessed an increase in the online student population due to several factors, such as the covid-19 pandemic and an increase in the number of working professionals as students. The increase in online education has increased diversity among the learners in terms of age, work experience, and educational background. However, the challenge with online education is that educators will have challenges identifying areas where the students are struggling, making it difficult to support each student. One of the ways to address these challenges is through contextualized learning, where scaffolding is used or shaping, which can be used to allow the student to solve problems and understand what is being taught in classrooms. This essay describes situations in which shaping and scaffolding will be the most appropriate for online students and explain what they would do and why.

Shaping

Shaping is an instructional approach used in online education by breaking down information or skills into smaller components. It entails reinforcing behaviors closer to the desired behavior, often referred to as successive approximations ("Scaffolding Vs. Shaping", n.d.). An example of a situation where shaping would be most appropriate with online students is when an educator is teaching mathematical concepts such as calculus. Calculus entails the study of continuous change and is divided into differential and integral calculus. The majority of calculus concepts are complex, and it can be difficult for students to grasp this concept if it is not taught well during online classes.

When teaching calculus, I start with the smallest and simplest calculus concepts, such as finding limits where the students will be taught how to examine numerical and graph approaches. It will then be followed with the concept of continuity, where they will be taught stepwise function. The students will be provided with weekly mathematical exercises related to calculus to master calculus concepts as they advance to more complex calculations such as double integration and application of integration in real-life scenarios. I will ensure that I have clearly defined the objectives and goals that the students are supposed to achieve at the end of the learning period. I will also ensure I know when to deliver or withhold the reinforcement needed to master the integration concept. I will do this to ensure that all the online students can learn and understand calculus and its applications, which will result in them succeeding academically.

Scaffolding

Scaffolding is a teaching method that allows the student to increase their independence and understanding during the learning process. This strategy allows the teacher to use a supportive structure to help the students with learning outcomes. The supports often used include continuous assessments and feedback to help students gain and understand the expected learning outcome (Jančařík, n.d.). A situation where scaffolding can be used is when an educator teaches evidence-based practice in healthcare. In this case, the educator should teach the student the steps used in evidence-based practice, how they can incorporate it in healthcare, and demonstrate verbally and visually how to use evidence-based practice. The students will then be shown the thought process involved in using an evidence-based practice that they are required to familiarize themselves with to use in nursing practice successfully. The educator will then start by giving the students assignments that they will be required to complete to show their progress and provide feedback as he continuously reduces the feedback with time. The students will then know how they can use evidence-based practice independently. These steps will ensure that the students understand the concept of evidence-based practice and can carry it out independently on their own.

Scaffolding and shaping are some of the strategies educators can use in eLearning sessions. Shaping breaks down information or skills into smaller components, while scaffolding increases the independence of students and their ability to understand and understand during the learning process. Shaping and scaffolding ensure that students understand what is being taught and apply these concepts.

References

Jančařík, A. Scaffolding in e‐Learning Environment. Retrieved 9 January 2022 Scaffolding Vs. Shaping. Star. Retrieved 9 January 2022, from  https://star.ehe.osu.edu/scaffolding-module/vygotsky/scaffolding-vs-shaping/ .