Towards a knowledge-sharing scaffolding environment based on learners' questions

This article describes a web-based communicative space (a Dynamic Frequently Asked Questions environment—DFAQ) in which learners consult one another using questions, and in which both the flow of interaction and its artefacts become a resource available to a community of learners. Anecdotal evidence suggests that learners embarking on their first year of university study enter a world that is essentially text-based and are inclined to view text as an authority, as something fixed that closes rather than opens up enquiry. Motivated by the need to scaffold learners’ engagement with academic text, we developed the DFAQ in which learners asked questions and other learners responded. The article discusses the learning activity that led to student consultation and provides a critical review of the environment based on student interviews. Our conclusion is that the environment provides learners with a unique ‘space’ in which to access questions and responses that they might not have generated themselves. Furthermore, given the environment’s capacity to recruit, hold and focus attention as well as model appropriate questioning behaviour, we think that it does indeed provide a space that scaffolds learners’ engagement with the text. Introduction In order to meet the diverse learning needs of heterogeneous learners, we devised a project which aimed to scaffold learners’ engagement with textuality. Mindful of the cognitive complexity of a classroom, we sought to develop an environment that would emancipate learners to question text without feeling inhibited and for this, anonymity was important. Bell and Davis (1996) have noted that a classroom is a complex cognitive environment because each learner has different knowledge, skills, abilities and experience. We saw this individuality as a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge bjet_5 1/7/04 15:08 Page 1