SCAFFOLDING
INSTRUCTION
A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
David Kaus,
Instructional
Designer
Instructional
Media
You will need a piece of paper and a pen
for this activity. Do not write until
instructed to do so.
Focus your attention
on the middle of the screen.
For the following words, count how many
syllables are in each word.
Onyx
Millennium
Husband
Light-year
Bronze
Essay
Admiral
Mule
Denim
Toaster
Ankle
Raspberry
Write the words now!
What
What
What
What
What
font was mule?
font was ankle?
font was husband?
word was bolded?
word was in italics?
Was this difficult to recall without knowing
what to look for?
OBJECTIVES
 Learn about/reinforce theoretical learning principles
 Forgetting curve
 Anchoring ideas
 Chunking
 Assessment/reflection
 *Learn how to apply these principles into instruction
THINK BACK…
Have you ever been told directions that
contain too many details?
Have you ever studied for a test and forgotten
the content days later?
FORGETTING CURVE
 German psychologist named Herman Ebbinghaus
 Studied memory and forgetting
 Created and memorized 2300 “nonsense words”
http://helpingpsychology.hubpages.com/hub/Ebbinghaus-ForgettingCurve-The-Theory-of-Memory
Retrieved from: http://www.gov.mb.ca/tce/es/archive/oct05/spaced_review.htm
FORGETTING CURVE: HOW CAN WE
IMPROVE THIS?
 Repetition – the more you repeat something, the more likely
it will be remembered
 Practical application
 Review previously covered material with students at the beginning of
class
 Revisit challenging concepts with your students throughout your
lecture
 Create assignments that require students to reexamine earlier
material
FORGETTING CURVE: HOW CAN WE
IMPROVE THIS?
 Quality of memory representation – create relevant,
meaningful connections with new information
 Learning is more ef fective when it is important to you
 Practical application
 When introducing a new concept, explain a situation where it is used,
or has been relevant in the real world
 Allow students to research articles and newspapers that relate to the
topic (e.g. NCLB in newspapers)
 Show a news clip dealing with the topic
 Administer an interest survey at the beginning of the semester
DISCUSSION
What materials could you provide to your students that
allow them to see the importance of what they are
about to learn?
KEEPERS (WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS)
Keepers is a strategy of that focuses on reinforcing the crucial
parts of an idea or topic.
 Repetition assists in memory retention. Frequently revisit
earlier, important material with your students.
 Find examples of how your topic is applicable to real life.
ANCHORING IDEAS
 American psychologist David Ausubel
 Anchoring ideas are content specific ideas already embedded
in one’s cognitive structure (e.g. what a student understands
about cell division)
 Need to link new material with students prior knowledge
 Learning is much more ef fective when you weave the
knowledge you are learning into something you already know
 Learning is much more difficult when you have to create an
entirely new anchoring idea
ANCHORING IDEAS
 Practical application
 Administer a pre-assessment the first week of class or at the
beginning of each lesson (Clickers or Poll Everywhere)
 Make a list of what everyone knows
 Create a concept map with students while they are learning the
new material
 Create an outline for students to follow during the lecture
 Review information from a previous lesson and explain how it
relates to the lesson you are about to teach
DISCUSSION
Think about ways you could introduce a topic to your
students that connects to their prior knowledge.
KEEPERS
 Learning is much more ef fective when one can build upon or
modify their prior knowledge (anchoring ideas)
 Before you introduce your topic, find a way to tap into
something the students already know and teach from there
QUICK REVIEW
 Repetition - frequently revisit earlier, important material with
your students.
 Quality of memory representation - create relevant,
meaningful connections with new information (learning is
more ef fective when it is important to you.)
 Link new material with students’ prior knowledge (anchoring
ideas).
CHUNKING
 Breaking down large pieces of information into
smaller sections
 Much easier for the brain to digest the information
 Divide your content into related sections
 For online modules, break down larger modules into
sections (e.g. Immunizations Part I and
Immunizations Part II)
 For face-to-face courses, take small breaks after
about 45 minutes of lecture
Retrieved from: http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/chunking-information/
KEEPERS
 Students will have a dif ficult time retaining information if
they are presented with too much material.
 Chunk your content into manageable sections.
ASSESSMENT AND REFLECTION
 Formative vs. summative assessment
 Ability to monitor student progress
 Students actively engaged in acquiring knowledge, instead of
passively receiving it
 Reflection provides students with an opportunity to expand on
what they have just learned
 Allows students to focus on what they already understand, and
what they need to study
ASSESSMENT AND REFLECTION
 Practical application
 Include questions on your topic throughout your
presentation/lecture (can use Clickers or Poll Everywhere)
 Provide students with opportunities to reflect on what they
have learned (e.g. learning logs). Ask students questions such
as:
 In what ways do you think you need to improve?
 What barriers did you encounter during this module?
 What do you think you need to work on?
 What part of the lesson are you most comfortable with? How
would you explain this to someone who knows nothing about the
topic?
 Include Articulate elements in your presentations
DISCUSSION
Can you think of some content-specific assessment or
reflection questions you can ask your students during
lectures?
KEEPERS
 Include assessment questions throughout your lectures
 Provide students opportunities to reflect on their learning
OVERALL REVIEW
 Repetition - frequently revisit earlier, important material with
your students.
 Create relevant, meaningful connections with new information
(learning is more ef fective when it is important to you.)
 Link new material with students’ prior knowledge (anchoring
ideas).
 “Chunk” your presentations into manageable sections.
 Include questions throughout your presentations.
 Provide students with opportunities to reflect on their
learning.
WORKSHOP TIME!
Open your course presentation and try to incorporate
some of the learning strategies we just discussed.
Feel free to share ideas with others!
IN CLOSING
 What did you like about this workshop?
 Is there anything you will now try dif ferently in your courses?
 Is there anything you would like to learn about that we did not
cover today?
 Contact David Kaus dkaus@howardcc.edu or Instructional
Media IMfacultylab@howardcc.edu for more information
SOURCES/ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
 http://helpingpsychology.hubpages.com/hub/Ebbinghaus Forgetting-Cur ve-The-Theor y -of-Memor y
 http://www.gov.mb.ca/tce/es/archive/oct 05/spaced_review.htm
 http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/chunking information
 http://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone -of-ProximalDevelopment.html
 http://helpingpsychology.hubpages.com/hub/Ebbinghaus Forgetting-Cur ve-The-Theor y -of-Memor y
 http://sidsavara.com/personal -productivity/the -ebbinghaus-cur veof-forgetting
 http://www.edutopia.org/assessment -guide-importance
 http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative summative.html