Scaffolding and Achievement in Problem-Based and Inquiry Learning: A Response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006)
Educational Psychologist, 42 (2):
99--107 (2007)http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/hmelo_ep07.pdf
-- last visited $14^th$ March 2008.Abstract
Many innovative approaches to education such as problem-based learning (PBL) and inquiry
learning (IL) situate learning in problem-solving or investigations of complex phenomena.
Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006) grouped these approaches together with unguided discovery
learning. However, the problem with their line of argument is that IL and PBL approaches
are highly scaffolded. In this article, we first demonstrate that Kirschner et al. have mistakenly
conflated PBL and IL with discovery learning. We then present evidence demonstrating that
PBL and IL are powerful and effective models of learning. Far from being contrary to many
of the principles of guided learning that Kirschner et al. discussed, both PBL and IL employ
scaffolding extensively thereby reducing the cognitive load and allowing students to learn in
complex domains. Moreover, these approaches to learning address important goals of education
that include content knowledge, epistemic practices, and soft skills such as collaboration
and self-directed learning.
