IN VYGOTSKY'S SOCIAL ENCULTURATION THEORY, learning is seen as an active and social process. Learning takes place through learner interactions with more knowledgeable people. The goal of social enculturation is for the learner to internalize processes that are modeled. Once the processes are internalized the learner then becomes self-reliant. 

Sometimes the only way a learner can satisfactorily perform a task is with the support of an expert. The expert should take into account the initial abilities of the learner, the instructional goals, and the task complexity. At the beginning, the learner needs a great deal of support. This support is gradually taken away, as time passes, to allow the learner to experience independency.

The process of gradual reduction of support is called fading. Fading support provides student with feedback about his or her proficiency level of a specific task. 

This animation represents the support relationship between a learner and an expert.

Support fades as the learner performs the task (walking).

The Modeling concept is credited to Bandura. This type of learning occurs by first observing the expert's behavior. After that, the learner tries to reproduce the actions performed by the expert. Imitation is an important place of the learning process.

In modeling the focus resides on the performance of an expert.

Modeling consists in demonstrating to the learner why and how to perform the activities necessary for the completion of some task or objective. This can be accomplished by providing examples of the desired performance. The objective is to articulate the reasoning and decision-making involved in each step of the process. When the model has finally faded, meaning that the students have followed their own thoughts instead of following an example, the modeling becomes has become part of a scaffolding process.

In coaching the focus resides on the learner's performance.

"Coaching can be defined as the learning support aimed at improving the performance of a student during the carrying out of a task" (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989) "…with the goal of bringing this performance closer to expert performance" (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989).

Coaching should intervene at critical points in the instruction in order to provide the learner with encouragement, diagnosis, directions and feedback. Coaching can be as simple as providing a series of timely pre-programed hints, or as complex as analyzing what the learner is doing and offering help if the learner seems to be lost. Coaching is highly interactive and situated.

A coach needs to be receptive to the learner's current level of performance and realize that learners should become self-reliant during performance of the task. Eventually, a coach will fade the support that is given. So, in the case where coaching has faded, coaching is a part of the scaffolding process. 

The main objective of scaffolding is to adjust the task complexity for the learner to match his or her level of performance. In the long run, the objective is to remove all support systems when the learner is ready to think on his or her own. 

In scaffolding the focus resides on the characteristics of

 the particular task, the environment, the instructor and the learner.

Scaffolding is not a static, predetermined instructional condition. Rather, the degree of scaffolding changes with the abilities of the learner, the goals of instruction and the complexities of the task. On new or difficult tasks, scaffolding may be substantial at first and then can be gradually removed. The student should do the majority of the work while the expert simply provides the outer structures. A gradual release of responsibility is involved in scaffolding. Scaffolding principal characteristics are listed below:

           Provides clear direction and reduces students’ confusion. 
           Clarifies purpose. 
            Keeps students on task. 
            Clarifies expectations and incorporates assesment and feedback. 
            Points students to worthy sources. 
            Reduces uncertainty, surprise, and disappointment.

Traditionally, scaffolding occurred through personal interaction between students and instructors. However, scaffolding also is also being integrated into electronic learning environments.

 Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development 

 Bandura: Social Learning Theory

Van Der Stuyf,R. (2002).Scaffolding as a teaching strategy. Retrieved November 23, 2004, from http://condor.admin.ccny.cuny.edu/~group4/

Winnips,K. (2001). Scaffolding by design: A model for www-based learner support. University of Twentes, The Netherlands. Retrieved November 20, 2004, from http://scaffolding.edte.utwente.nl/download/chapters.pdf

Rosalio Marin , Graduate Student
SDSU Educational Technology

Marin, R. (2004). Modeling, coaching, and scaffolding. In B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Retrieved July 14, 2010, from file:///D:/实验室/eet/articles/learnstrategy/start.htm