SCAFFOLDING AS EVINCIVE ON SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT

Abstract

Scaffolding i.e. making a difcult task simpler by the variation in momentary assistance on demand is a useful strategy for learning science. Children gradually become the independent learners keeping instructor as facilitator after the responsibility for task performance transferred to their cognitive reach. The present study is experimentally designed to enquire the effects of scaffolding on science achievement after the incorporation of specic experimental manipulations. Eighty 6th standard learners of a WBBSE run Bengali medium regular govt.-aided co-educational rural HS school in South 24 Parganas district, W. B. constitute the sample of the study – divided into two equivalent halves through randomisation after the administration of entry-level pre-test – impartially for one half (40) treated with Problem Solving Method (PSM) of teaching and the rest (40) by Play Way Method (PWM) of instruction for the transaction of selected science lessons in three units. The data collection process involves the administration of two scales PPPSSLQ and SAT in three units to assess peers scaffolding and achievement respectively of the two groups after the instructions of nearly two months duration. Peers scaffolding is found to be independent of the applied variation in teaching methods i.e. PSM and PWM of teaching. The study discloses peers scaffolding to be signicantly effective merely on Unit III science achievement for the learners instructed by PSM of teaching and for the analysis merged for the differentially treated all the sample. But no signicant effect of peers scaffolding on achievement is observed in case of PWM of teaching.