Book Chapter

Scaffolding Inquiry

Chris Quintana, Quintana, Chris

2021

Overview

This chapter discusses the dual notions of scaffolding form and function to support different aspects of inquiry learning. The chapter begins with a retrospective describing theoretical perspectives that have shaped different descriptions of the core aspects of scaffolding. This retrospective also grounds a discussion of \"scaffolding function\" to describe what types of support are needed for different inquiry practices in a growing set of content domains. In addition, as technology platforms evolve, from mobile technologies to technology-augmented physical spaces, new tools for these platforms continue to be explored to show different ways to support inquiry practices. These platforms are forcing new thinking about the \"scaffolding forms\" that implement scaffolding in previously unforeseen ways. Looking at both scaffolding function and form, the chapter concludes by discussing representational mechanisms that integrate these perspectives on the \"what\" and the \"how\" of scaffolding to encapsulate: the complexities of inquiry, the conceptual scaffolding approaches that support those complexities, and the manner in which those conceptual approaches are implemented in a variety of settings, all serving to broaden and explicate scaffolding for inquiry learning.

• Publisher: Routledge
• ISBN: 1138922595, 9781138922594, 1138922609, 9781138922600