The Effect of Scaffolding on Learning Outcomes in the Bachelor of
Education Program for the In-Service Teachers through ICT-Based
Distance Learning
The Bachelor of Education Program for the Elementary School Teachers by distance learning (abbreviated to BEPIT) uses the ICT system. The problems in this study were: 1) What level of success did the BEPIT achieve to graduate Bachelor’s Degree, and 2) How has scaffolding determined the quality of the BEPIT-ICT? This study was conducted on the basis of the assessment on alumni who had attended BEPIT. The data source came from 33 graduate alumni of BEPIT, Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU). Data were collected through a self-rating scale consisting of 40 items that have been proven valid and reliable. Data analysis was descriptive and used the regression analysis aided by SPSS for windows version 20. Based on the achievement measurement, the performance of BEPIT graduates are at high level. The high success has been determined by the quality of scaffolding in the
Classes of the Bachelor of Education Program for In-service Teachers (BEPIT) were
conducted by Distance Learning (DL) is meant to offer undergraduate education that is
equivalent to the regular on-campus undergraduate program. The BEPIT is an accelerated
program in the effort to increase teachers' academic qualification to the equivalence of S-1
degree program. In Indonesia such a program has been executed by 55 universities since
2009. This effort is to support the acceleration of the academic qualifications of the in-service
teachers based on the National Education Minister Regulation Num. 58, 2008 on the
implementation of the BEPIT. To increase the academic qualification of the primary school
teachers through this program, the program uses a Distance Learning system, known as the
BEPIT-ICT.
Quality of Teaching and Learning (QTL) is a form of communication between
communication there are transformation and transfer of knowledge, skills or attitudes and
values of the communicator (teacher educator, lecturer) to the communicant (subject learners,
students) in accordance with its intended purpose (Prihatono, 2014). The process of learning
is learning activities undertaken by the systems of lectures, mediated or non-mediated, and
self-learning.
A lecture is the process of a directed and scheduled interaction between a lecturer and
students to achieve an objective and a competence. A mediated lecture is a process of a
scheduled interaction between a lecturer and students to achieve an objective or competence
with the use of various types of media and technology. Self-learning does not mean learning
alone but learning initiated by themselves or groups. Students can study in small learning
groups or alone by using a variety of learning resources and learning media that are available.
Independent study is based on intrinsic motivation and discipline learning. To that end,
students need to have the ability to plan their own learning activities, to determine the
schedule of learning, as well as to conduct learning by studying teaching materials or other
sources, and to carry out tasks. Independent learning is the process of interaction of students
with learning resources conducted by use of self-learning materials, either with the help of a
tutor or without. A tutorial session is a form of an academic learning aid that is directly
related to teaching materials, and can be conducted face-to-face or through mediation.
ICT is expected to improve efficiency and increase access to knowledge and
expertise. Thus, it would appear that an inclusive information society will strengthen
democracy, increase social participation, remove barriers to modernization, and empower
populations who might have been left out of the development process (UNESCO 2006).
The success will also depend on the acceptance of ICT by citizens. Key factors that
may influence the extent to which ICT can create a permanent culture of transparency include
1) ICT access: the wider the access to ICT in a society, the greater the connection between
different parts of the society; 2) Trust: research has shown that the provision of a greater
access to government information and increased transparency through the use of ICT
increases trust among citizens; 3) Empowerment: as has been detailed above, using ICT to
increase citizens‟ engagement makes them empowered to participate in open initiatives and to
promote cultural support for transparency; 4) Social capital: the social networks and
affiliation within a society that can collaborate to promote social well-being as a social capital
benefit from increased access to information through ICT; 5) Bureaucratic acceptance of
cultural impact if they are embraced and actively used within the government bureaucracy
(John C. Bertot, Paul T. Jaeger, Justin M. Grimes. 2010).
Quality teaching in a university can be defined as one that engages the students in an
in-depth and comprehensive approach to the subject matter; that is, in an active, durable, and
critical construction of knowledge which is integrated with his or her previous knowledge
and is put to action (Entwistle, N. and Ramsden. 1987 ). However, the measure of quality
teaching and learning needs focus on the dimensional factors that directly influence the
delivery process of the instructional design and the course outcome.
Pennington and O'Neil (1994) proposed eight principles that underscore effective
teaching. These are (1) enhancing students' general capabilities and work-related skills, (2)
using student experience as a learning resource, (3) encouraging active and co-operative
learning, (4) promoting responsibility in learning, (5) engaging with feelings, values and
motives (the affective domain) including intellectual development, (6) fostering open,
flexible, reflexive and outcome-based assessment, (7) evaluating teaching and learning to
encourage reflective teaching, and (8) developing organization-wide strategies to establish
congruence of policies to enhance physical and material learning environment.
Effective teaching and learning requires the teacher to scaffold learning (Ian
Diamond. 2015). Teachers should provide activities and structures of intellectual, social and
emotional support to help learners to move forward in their learning so that when these
supports are removed the learning is secure. Based on his research finding, the way that
teachers plan and structure activities in the classroom, and the role of classroom dialogue in
scaffolding, was a theme of a number of projects. For example, activities characterised as
„highly organised based on ideas‟ were found to be an important new dimension of
assessment for learning practice to set alongside with the more familiar emphasis on
questioning, feedback, sharing criteria and self-assessment (Project 6). The teachers‟ role in
scaffolding learning was found to be crucial in early years of learning with ICT (Project 8).
This was confirmed by older pupils too, across the whole range of school subjects (Project 7;
Project 9 continues this work) because it promoted sustained mindful engagement. The role
of mediating tools and artefacts to support such collaborative dialogue, such as a
computerbased concept-mapper (Project 10), showed gains in learning and achievement.
Academic achievement refers to student's success in meeting short- or long-term goals
in education. In a wider perspective, academic achievement means completing high school or
earning a college degree. In a given semester, high academic achievement may mean a
Academic achievement (was indexed in 12 of these studies) as the college grade point
average (CGPA) on a four-point scale. One study included a nine-point scale with nine as a
representation for the grade “A” (Thelma Young Monk, 1998). Learning outcomes are broad,
yet direct statements that describe the competences that students should possess (i.e. what
students should know and be able to demonstrate) upon completion of a course or program
(Harden, 2002; Kennedy et al., 2006). They focus on broadly defined complex abilities that
can be both demonstrated and observed (Harden, 2002). Learning outcomes may be presented
separately to represent the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains, but often cover a
range of interacting knowledge, skills and attitudes that reflect the complexities inherent to
the process of learning, and represent the essential, enduring and integrated learning that a
graduate of a course or programme should possess (Harden, 2002; Soulsby, 2009).
Monitoring and evaluation is an important part in a program management cycle. The
purpose of monitoring and evaluation is to determine the level of achievement and the
suitability between a predetermined plan in the program planning with the results achieved
through activities and/or programs on a regular basis. If in the implementation of the
monitoring and evaluation any problems or irregularities are discovered, guidance,
suggestions and ways to combat and report periodically to the stakeholders can be done
directly. Satya Wacana Christian University‟s Bachelor of Primary Teacher Education
Program since 2009 has embarked on organizing BEPIT program. The program is to improve
the academic qualifications of primary school teachers through this system by Distance
Learning or known by BEPIT-ICT. Despite the monitoring and evaluation conducted by the
Ministry of Education, there are still certain parties who doubted this program; so far studies
have not been done that specifically explore the various factors associated with the success of
the program that can only be achieved through Quality of Teaching and Learning. Thus it is
necessary to conduct a study.
The Problems
Problems in this study are:
1) How is the effect of scaffolding as an indicator of Quality Teaching and Learning of
BEPIT-ICT for teachers through distance learning in graduating S-1 Bachelor‟s degree?
2) What factors in scaffolding determine the quality of BEPIT-ICT in order to graduate S-1
Methods
This study was based on the assessment of the alumni who had completed the
BEPIT-ICT. The data source is taken from the 33 graduated alumni of BEPIT, SWCU. Data
were collected through a self-rating scale consisting of 40 items that have been proven valid
and reliable. Score validity is 0,199 to 0, 827, with a reliability index at Cronbach's Alpha =
0.93. Data analysis used descriptive and regression analysis with the SPSS for Windows
version 20.
Results
After the descriptive analysis of the data collected for each variable, the results are
shown as follows.
Table 1. Results of the descriptive analysis of all variables under study.
Mean Median Std. Deviation Minimum Maximum
Y Learning Outcomes 2,7273 3 0,62614 2 4
X Scaffolding 2,5758 3 0,90244 1 4
Based on the analysis presented in Table 1 above, the average value of the variables Y
(Learning Outcomes) and X (Scaffolding) is smaller than the figure in the median, which
means that the spread of each variable question has a tendency toward lower figures.
Furthermore, to determine the Learning Outcome of the BEPIT-ICT graduates, the result of
the descriptive analysis is presented in Table 2 below.
Table 2. Frequency distribution of learning outcome
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid 2,00 12 36,4 36,4 36,4
3,00 18 54,5 54,5 90,9
4,00 3 9,1 9,1 100,0
Total 33 100,0 100,0
The result of the analysis presented in Table 2 above shows that the rates of the Learning
Outcome of the BEPIT-ICT are high (54.50%), very high (9.10%), and moderate (36.40%).
After testing for normality and homogeniety, a regression analysis of the effect of
Scaffolding (variable X) to the Learning Outcomes was performed in order to graduate
Bachelor‟s Degree holders (Y). The result is shown in the following Table 3.
Table 3 Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square
Std. Error of the Estimate
1 ,662a 0,438 0,410 0,48479
a. Predictors: (Constant), Scaffolding
Based on the result of the analysis as presented in Table 3 above, a summary of the
Scaffolding (X) to be the determinant of the learning outcome of BEPIT-ICT in order to
graduate Bachelor‟s Degree holders (Y) obtained 41%. Furthermore, to examine the
significance of the findings, an ANOVA analysis was performed and it gives the following
result as shown in Table 4 below.
Table 4. The result of the ANOVAd analysis
Model Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 3,663 1 3,663 15,586 ,001a
Residual 4,701 20 ,235
Total 8,364 21
a. Predictors: (Constant), Scaffolding b. Dependent Variable: Learning outcome
Based on the results of regression analysis models as presented in Table 4 above, the value
of F is 15.586 with a significance level of 0.001. This means that the Scaffolding variable
becomes the determinant of the learning outcome of the BEPIT-ICT in graduating the
Bachelor‟s Degree holders (Y) to meet the level of significance.
To give a comparison on the effect of the Scaffolding variable to the learning
outcome, the Beta coefficient (B) was performed, both standardized and non-standardized,
Table 5. Coefficient of the influential variable in BEPIT-ICT on the Learning outcome
Based on the result of the analysis presented above, it turns out that the performance of the
BEPIT-ICT in graduating Bachelor‟s Degree holders (Y=learning outcome) is determined by
the variation of Scaffolding in the teaching-learning process.
Discussion
The performance of BEPIT-ICT in order to graduate Bachelor‟s degree holders is quite
surprising as indicated by the high level rate (54.50%), very high (9.10%), moderate
(36.40%). None was at the low level. The assessment of the learning outcome gives value to
the process and the results of student learning, both in the face-to-face lectures and/or
mediated and independent learning. The assessment of the learning outcome is based on the
process and outcome of the student learning, both in face-to-face lectures and/or mediated
and independent learning (Kepmendiknas, 2011). The assessment of the learning outcome is
carried out in accordance with the provisions applicable in each college, such as assessment
of the course activities, assignments, Mid-Semester Exams, and Final Semester Exams. The
high performance of the BEPIT-ICT to graduate Bachelor‟s degree holders was supported by
the Scaffolding factor, having the influence of 41%.
According to Rong Zhao and Jianlin Chen (2014), scaffolding was originally defined as
“a process that enables a child or a novice to solve a problem, carry out a task or achieve a
goal which would be beyond his unassisted efforts” (D. Wood, J. S. Bruner, and G. Ross,
1976). As for the features and functions of scaffolding, there are different versions (C.
McLoughlin, 2002; R. D. Pea, 2004; Aı´da Walqui, 2006). Generally speaking, there are
three categories. The first category is about the nature of scaffolding, including contingency
and granularity. Contingency means scaffolding which is progressively adjusted, gradually
withdrawn until the learners realize self-regulation. Granularity indicates that scaffolding
belongs to different pedagogical scales, from a program of activities to a procedure of
moment-to-moment interactions. The second category illustrates the outcome of scaffolding,
learners‟ flow experience; “recruitment and frustration control” means that scaffolding can
enlist learners‟ interest, and reduce their disappointment; and goal-orientation indicates the
purpose of scaffolding which is for the self-regulation of a clarified goal. The third category
highlights how to construct scaffolding, including continuity, “contextual support”,
collaboration, modeling, “channeling and focusing” and multiplicity. Continuity means
alignment between the steps of instruction, such as between directions and assistances,
different tasks, different programs, etc.; “contextual support” is the provision of different
means to expose a learner to more authentic experiences; collaboration means working
collaboratively with the instructor, other learners or on-line content for the perception of
encouragement, confidence, or even advance in study; modeling is the demonstration of an
idealized form of the act to be performed in order to pinpoint discrepancies between the
produced and the ideal solution; “channeling and focusing” means marking relevant sources
in order to simplify the task, recruit and focus a learner‟s attention; multiplicity is the
provision and application of multiple learning strategies, both direct and indirect. Acording to
Rong Zhao and Jianlin Chen (2014), scaffolding in on-line learning which can affect learners‟
perceived usefulness and satisfaction directly as well their continuance intention indirectly.
End Note
The performance of the BEPIT-ICT in order to graduate Bachelor‟‟s degree holders
are at a high level. The high performance (learning outcome) is determined by such factors,
namely, the quality of Scaffolding in teaching and learning, which gives the effect of a
variable of 41%; therefore, the development of distance learning institutions should focus on
the lecturer, how to create the high quality of ICT-based teaching and learning with the focus
on Scaffolding.
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