Dynamic scaffolding in a cloud-based problem representation system : Empowering pre-service teachers’ problem solving

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue for the need to develop pre-service teachers’ problem solving ability, in particular, in the context of real-world complex problems.

Design/methodology/approach

To argue for the need to develop pre-service teachers’ problem solving skills, the authors describe a web-based problem representation system that is embedded with levels of scaffolding to support the claim.

Findings

The authors’ conceptualisation of this cloud-based environment is also very much aligned with the development of pre-service teachers’ systems thinking. Teacher learning itself is a complex system that involves many processes, mechanisms and interactions of elements, and the outcomes may be highly unpredictable (Opfer and Pedder, 2011). As a result of the complex nature of teacher learning, it would be meaningful to frame teacher learning as a complex system. An approach to enable pre-service teachers to be aware of this complexity is to situate them in a systems thinking context.

Originality/value

This paper discusses a system which was developed for problem solving. The levels of adaptive scaffoldings embedded within the system is an innovation which is not found in other similar research projects.

Citation

Beng Lee, C., Voon Ling, K., Reimann, P., Ahmad Diponegoro, Y., Heng Koh, C. and Chew, D. (2014), "Dynamic scaffolding in a cloud-based problem representation system : Empowering pre-service teachers’ problem solving", Campus-Wide Information Systems, Vol. 31 No. 5, pp. 346-356. https://doi.org/10.1108/CWIS-02-2014-0006