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activities in order for them to develop cognitively. Vygotsky (1962, as cited in Poole,
Warren & Nunuz, 2007) mentioned that children gain more skills and widen their
knowledge through interaction and socialization with more competent peers and
teachers in the classrooms. Students also develop more systematic, logical, and
rational concept when they engage with more skilled people around them (Santrock,
2008). Students are able to enhance their cognitive development because they receive
support or guidance from more skilled and knowledgeable individuals around them. This
In this essay, the writer will define the terms ‘scaffolding’ and ‘cognitive
development’. Then, the writer will discuss several types of scaffolding namely
questioning, graphic organizers and cooperative learning that may enhance Malaysian
students’ cognitive development. Next, the writer will discuss the reasons that inhibit
development. Finally, the writer will conclude the role of scaffolding in enhancing
Malaysian students’ cognitive development which also represents the stand of the writer
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Definition of terms
Scaffolding
material to build tall buildings in the construction site (Wikipedia, 2008). However, in
support learning (Lipscomb, Swanson & West, 2008). In the process of scaffolding,
teachers will scaffold the students to master the task or the concept that the students
are initially unable to grasp independently. After the students are able to master the
skills and to solve the problems faced, scaffolding is gradually removed. When the
students are able to solve the problems they previously could not solve, it shows that
their level of zone of proximal development has also increased (Vygotsky, 1978).
Cognitive development
reasoning processes. Ccognitive development also refers to the gradual and orderly
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Scaffolding enhances Malaysian students’ cognitive development
There are three types of scaffolding namely questioning, graphic organizers and
cooperative learning which will be discussed in this essay to show whether scaffolding
Questioning
According to Boyd and Robin (2006), questioning can increase students’ level of
comprehension in the learning of literature and can engage them to talk in classrooms.
classrooms, teachers should begin by asking clear and specific questions, which might
only require yes or no answers (Aps, 1996). For example, “Was environmental pollution
responsible for the dead fish in the lake?” Then, teachers may ask students questions
that require them to clarify their answers such as “How did the pollution kill the fish?”
Finally, teachers should ask students questions that they can relate to the lessons or
other important concepts that they have learned before such as “What are the contents
of chemical that contribute to the water pollution?” The steps indicated above help
students to think critically and this will enhance their understanding towards the lessons.
Boovaneswari’s study showed that students are able to follow the lessons in the
classrooms better when teachers keep asking those questions to them. They become
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more aware of the lessons taught and thus understand the lessons better. This study is
based on Year Five students of two primary schools in Malaysia. Another study
conducted by Klinger and Rauphn (1996) also showed that questioning strategies
encouraged students to develop critical thinking skills in order to answer the questions
and those strategies are also better to relate one concept to the other since the
development.
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers can be defined as visual and graphic display which shows
relationship between facts, terms and ideas (Hall & Strangman, 2002). There are variety
of graphic organizers such as concept map, sequence chain, table, flowchart and Venn
diagram. Graphic organizers have the ability to increase students’ comprehension which
facilitate them in relating to the new knowledge, thus help them to learn within their zone
of proximal development (Snowman & Biehler, 2003). It also enables the students to
enhance their thinking since they can easily organise and relate the concepts and facts
subjects that require students to remember a lot of facts such as History, Science and
Commerce because it will help students to get a clear holistic view on every topic.
Graphic organizers are also important for the students to have a quick and effective
revision since they can just go through the tables or the diagrams that they have made.
This will bring out their prior knowledge and hence they can relate the concept and
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remember the facts longer and better. In classrooms, teachers may ask students to
bring articles about science to share with the classmates. To know the students’
understanding toward the articles they bring, teachers can ask them to create graphic
organizers. Firstly, the teachers will show how the graphic organizers are done. Several
examples of graphic organizers like mind map, Vann diagram and table will help the
students to creatively think of the suitable graphic organizers to be done. If the students
are not able to create graphic organizers, teachers can show them the steps one by
one.
Aziz (n.d) mentioned that by making and doing graphic organizers, students will
be more aware of the key concepts and relationships among them and hence they
become more conscious of conveying a clear holistic picture of the content and the
relationships between different parts of the content. Another study done by Mohammad
Abdullah (1995, as cited in Jawikaur, 2005) mentioned that students who use graphic
vocabulary development. Thus, it is clear that graphic organizers can help students to
Cooperative learning
method of working with others to attain a shared goal. Jacobs, Lee and Ng (1997)
defined cooperative learning as an organised and managed group work in which students
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In Malaysia, based on a study conducted by Rahimah (1977), to perform
cooperative learning in classrooms, the teachers should explain all the related concepts
and illustrate a few examples to students. After explaining, teachers place students in
groups and ask them to solve problems. However, they are not allowed to solve the
problems during the first fifteen minutes. This is to ensure that students cooperatively
discuss and brainwash the solutions based on the explanation given by the teachers.
Students may only start answering questions after fifteen minutes or after they have
Rahimah further reveals that the discussion among students in a group enhanced
their thinking skills since they can help each other if any of them are stuck in expressing
ideas. The members of the groups also help their friends to trigger new ideas if any of
them are lacking of ideas. Discussion in cooperative learning also provides opportunities
for the students to observe and imitate others’ cognitive processing strategies, thereby
increasing their mastery of higher level reasoning process and understanding (Kok,
1989). Thus, it shows that the cognitive development of students enhances when they
Apart from the effectiveness of the three types of scaffolding mentioned above,
there are impediments that inhibit the process of scaffolding to be effective. Two
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Lack of pedagogical skills
An effective teacher is the one who has acquired high quality knowledge content
and able to apply the knowledge to novel types of problems and situations (Mohanan,
2005). According to Sheffield (1974), effective teachers should enthusiast about his or
her subject and use teaching aid effectively. Teacher should serve as a person who can
enlighten others and have all the skills in making lesson an enjoyable experience.
that teachers are lacking of teaching skills when they teach students. They only ask the
students to read from the textbooks and do homework alone. Teachers should ask
students more than reading in order to develop and enhance their cognitive processes.
In terms of teachers’ mastery in subjects they teach, for example in Living Skills, Abu
Husain (1997) revealed that only 20% of schools in Malaysia have more than three
trained teachers in Living Skills. Thus, it can be said that many teachers who are
teaching Living Skills do not have good pedagogical skills because they are not trained
education system seems complicated for students who cannot bear with this system.
Those students will be out casted from this system if they cannot catch up. A study
conducted by Rajini (2004), claimed that Malaysian education system emphasizes too
much on examination without concerning about other soft skills. Thus, the priority for
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teachers is to finish syllabus and other values are put aside. The examination-oriented
culture is occurring in our Malaysian classroom, whereby all the teachers are rushing to
finish the syllabus by the month of September to prepare the students for the final and
public examinations (Rahimah, 1977). When the teachers rush to finish the syllabus,
Rajini (2004) says that they will focus on students being able to remember all the facts
rather than understand the concept they teach. Thus, students’ cognitive development is
Conclusion
development. The teachers should find the best method of teaching for their students to
make learning fun. Rajagopal (2006), states that teachers can manipulate the strategies
and techniques in the classroom in order to suits the students’ need. Teachers should
look forward to adapt the three types of scaffoldings in the classroom such as
cognitive development and promoting critical thinking skills. Nonetheless, teachers also
should take into consideration of obstacles in making scaffolding a success such as lack
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