Diagnosis, Supporting, and Fading: A Scaffolding Design Framework for Adaptive E-Learning Systems

This chapter presents a design framework of scaffolding that can be applied in designing adaptive e-learning systems. The framework is primarily grounded in socio-cultural theory and built on a critical analysis of literature on scaffolding. It addresses three key processes in scaffolding (i.e., diagnosis, supporting, and fading) and four conditions for designing scaffolding (i.e., who, what, how, and when). From the historical perspective, this chapter also provides a literature review of adaptive systems. The characteristics of adaptive systems from different paradigms are specifically examined through the lens of scaffolding. To illustrate the application of the scaffolding framework in system adaptation, four web-based e-learning systems are described to demonstrate how various scaffolding strategies are implemented through the design of the systems. In conclusion, issues related to designing scaffolds for adaptive e-learning systems are discussed, and research gaps are identified for future investigation.