Original Definition of Scaffolding

Original Definition of Scaffolding
The metaphor of scaffolding was first applied to educational contexts when Wood, Bruner, and Ross (1976) wanted to explain how adults help infants learn to solve problems. They found that adults did not simply tell the infants how to solve the problem or just demonstrate how to do it. Rather, the adults used six strategies—“recruitment, reduction in degrees of freedom, direction maintenance, marking critical features, frustration control, and demonstration”—to temporarily support children’s efforts until they gain sufficient skill (Wood et al., 1976, p. 98). Of note, three of the six original scaffolding strategies are motivational (recruitment, direction maintenance, and frustration control) and the other three are cognitive (reduction in degrees of freedom, marking critical features, and demonstration). Thus, scaffolding in its original sense was equal parts motivational and cognitive support.

Source: A Framework for Designing Scaffolds That Improve Motivation and Cognition by Brian R. Belland , ChanMin Kim & Michael J. Hannafin

Brian R. Belland , ChanMin Kim & Michael J. Hannafin (2013) A Framework for Designing Scaffolds That Improve Motivation and Cognition, Educational Psychologist, 48:4, 243-270, DOI: 10.1080/00461520.2013.838920