Exploring the differences in response characteristics to teacher scaffolding between the high- and low-performing groups during collaborative problem solving

Abstract

Studies have highlighted the crucial role of student response to teacher scaffolding in achieving effective instructional intervention. This response, encompassing what students have said and done after receiving teacher scaffolding, can be categorized as either immediate uptake or delayed use according to the length of responding time. However, the empirical exploration of this statement in collaborative problem solving (CPS) context remains scarce, with few in-depth research investigating the specific differences in student response to teacher scaffolding within the context of CPS, especially in terms of immediate uptake and delayed use. This study aims to investigate student response to teacher scaffolding in a comprehensive perspective by comparing the immediate uptake and delayed use between high- and low-performing groups in CPS. Specifically, the distinction between high- and low-performing groups is based on the academic outcomes of their completed collaborative problem solving tasks. Employing an integrated method combining content analysis and sequential analysis, videos and discourse data were collected and analyzed to reveal the response characteristics of selected groups to teacher scaffolding throughout the activity. The results indicated that: (1) For immediate uptake, the high-performing groups were more likely to repeat, ask questions, and apply the teacher scaffolding, whereas the low-performing groups tended to respond, ignored or kept silent to the teacher scaffolding; (2) For delayed use, the low-performing groups exhibited less delayed use to teacher scaffolding compared to the high-performing groups, and the high-performing groups had a higher proportion of delayed uses in repeating and applying. (3) For response sequence from immediate uptake to delayed use, the high-performing groups tend to consistently use teacher scaffolding, whereas low-performing groups prefer to use it after responding or repeating the content of teacher scaffolding. Drawing upon these findings, this study proposed implications for educators on the use of teacher scaffolding in CPS, which will aid learners in more effectively engaging in collaborative problem solving tasks.