A Meta-Analysis of Scaffolding Effects in Online Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

The significance of scaffolding in education has received considerable attention. Many studies have examined the effects of scaffolding with diverse groups of participants, purposes, learning outcomes, and learning environments. The purpose of this research was to conduct a meta-analysis of the effects of scaffolding on learning outcomes in an online learning environment in higher education. This meta-analysis included studies with 64 effect sizes from 18 journal articles published in English, in eight countries, from 2010 to 2019. The meta-analysis revealed that scaffolding in an online learning environment has a large and statistically significant effect on learning outcomes. The meta-cognitive domain yielded a larger effect size than did the affective and cognitive domains. In terms of types of scaffolding activities, meta-cognitive scaffolding outnumbered other types of scaffolding. Computers as a scaffolding source in an online learning environment were also more prevalent than were human instructors. In addition, scholars in the United States have produced a large portion of the scaffolding research. Finally, the academic area of language and literature has adopted scaffolding most widely. Given that effective scaffolding can improve the quality of learning in an online environment, the current research is expected to contribute to online learning outcomes and learning experiences.

How collaboration influences the effect of note-taking on writing performance and recall of contents

“…These pieces of writing were the main focus of the course and involved students completing an individual paper related to their own area of research interest. The present study's results do not support research that shows that collaboration can help students notice gaps in their knowledge and allows scaffolding and feedback from other learners (Doo et al, 2020). However, the present study's results do correspond to those of Leidner and Fuller (1997), who found that although students who worked in collaborative groups expressed more interest in the learning content and perceived learning, while students who worked individually exhibited better learning performance.…”

“…Despite the cognitive transactional cost as well as retrieval strategy disruption, the act of working in groups has the potential to aid practice and performance of a task. Through the activity itself, participants in a group may recognize gaps in their own learning and seek guidance from their peers (Doo et al, 2020;Shin et al, 2020). Those more knowledgeable about a subject may give information or suggestions, such as ways to approach a goal or an explanation for information another student finds confusing.…”

Hands-on experiences for remotely taught analytical chemistry laboratories

“…Scaffolding activities throughout the semester (Fig. 1 ) to prepare students for the research project proved particularly important for an online lab course [ 12 ]. The semester began with students participating in workshops on topics such as analytical figures of merit and calibration, spectroscopy, and statistical analysis.…”

Using Online Information Support to Decrease Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

“…Most previous studies on online education have focused on the socialization process. These studies have emphasized socialization performance, such as lecture satisfaction and learning effects [4]. Unlike such studies focused on socialization performance, this paper focuses on individual growth.…”