According to UDL On Campus, many students fail not due to a lack of intelligence, but due to barriers in their Strategic Network—the part of the brain responsible for executive functioning (planning, organizing, and self-monitoring). CAST’s research on "Scaffolding" suggests that providing low-stakes tools, such as rubrics and checklists, is essential for developing these internal cognitive skills.
For Discussion:
Innovation in peer pedagogy argues that a tutor’s job isn't just to teach the subject matter, but to teach the process of learning.
- Is it the responsibility of a collegiate TA to provide scaffolds for executive functioning (e.g., helping a student break down a massive project into smaller tasks)?
- How can tutors use "low-stakes" scaffolds like checklists to help a student build their own internal monitoring skills?
- When does providing a scaffold (like a template or rubric) cross the line from "support" to "doing the work for them"?
