Presented by Deborah Schlacks
WAC Coordinator
November 5, 2012
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a temporary or movable platform for workers (as
bricklayers, painters, or miners) to stand or sit on
when working at a height above the floor or
ground
a supporting framework
In WAC, it is a practice that facilitates the climb
from one complex phase to the next slightly more
complex phase of a project (“Scaffolding”)
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It breaks up a complex cognitive task into more
manageable chunks
It allows you as the instructor to intervene as
needed because you can tell where
misunderstandings or other difficulties are arising
It promotes global revision (“Scaffolding”)
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Novices do not know the field. They have not learned
what is understood as common knowledge, what is
unknown, and how information and ideas are typically
presented in the field.
They do not know the forms of discourse of the field:
what a piece of writing in the field typically looks like,
how it is organized, what counts as evidence, etc.
They do not know much about their readers. The
instructor is the only audience they know of, and thus
they are writing for an audience they perceive of as
knowing more than they do—a very difficult scenario.
(D’Errico)
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List the cognitive skills required to complete the
assignment.
List what content knowledge is needed.
Work smaller assignments into the course that will
prepare students to do the assignment—more
specifically, that will
◦ Help them to think in the way the assignment requires
◦ Give them or reinforce the knowledge they need
(“Scaffolding”)
http://ww2.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms
_taxonomy.htm
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Reflective journals
Responses to structured or unstructured questions
Freewriting
Double-entry journal on readings
Small-group discussions (“Ideas”)
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Modeling: provide samples of the type of writing
you want to see in response to an assignment.
Discuss with them the features of writing that
work and don’t work in the sample and why.
(“Ideas”)
Provide (with the assignment sheet) a set of
criteria or rubric that helps reveal what is valued
in the discourse you are asking the students to
produce
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Project proposal: Have students first submit a
proposal explaining the scope of the project, the
question they will pursue, and their plan for how
to proceed
Thesis workshop (“Ideas”)
Have one-on-one or small-group conferences with
students early in the process (Bean 315-16)
Rough-draft workshop: Set up peer review groups
(in class or online) and provide guidelines for
response.
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Have student submit papers to you at the draft
stage; give feedback on the drafts (“Ideas”)
Encourage students to visit the Writing Center
with their drafts (or at earlier stages); give the
Center your assignment sheet for reference (Bean
315-16)
Cover letters: Have students submit copies of their
drafts with their final work as well as a cover letter
discussing the process of their research, writing,
and revision. (“Ideas”)
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Consider online, out-of-class options for some
steps in the process.
Decide which steps or measures are the most
important to dwell on for a given project. (Use
backward design to help you do so.)
Remember that if you get better papers in the end,
your grading task at that point will go much faster.
Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to
Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active
Learning in the Classroom. 2nd ed. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.
D’Errico, John. “Better Student Essays through Staging
and Scaffolding.” Teaching Concerns. University of
Virginia Teaching Research Center. Spring 2001.
Web.
“Ideas for Scaffolding High-Stakes Assignments.”
Lehman College Writing Fellows, 2005. Web.
“Scaffolding Formal Assignments.” Colorado School of
Mines Campus Writing Program, 2005. Web.