Epistemic scaffolding: understanding and designing the support for epistemic growth in science

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper, we introduce an epistemic scaffolding framework for understanding the nature of support for epistemic growth in science. Our framework distinguishes between two patterns of epistemic scaffolding: implicit and explicit. Implicit epistemic scaffolding encompasses support integrated into contexts, activities, discourse, or tools, exerting an unconscious influence on learners’ epistemic thinking and practices. On the other hand, explicit epistemic scaffolding involves intentionally explicating the underlying epistemology of learners’ knowledge work. This can manifest in various ways, such as explicit in epistemic structure, explicit in epistemic criteria, and explicit in epistemic goals. Building on the distributed and synergistic scaffolding framework, we also propose a design model to illustrate how explicit and implicit epistemic scaffolding can work together to optimise the support for epistemic growth in science.