Which type of scaffolding encourages students to connect existing knowledge with new information?

Content scaffolding is a strategy that encourages students to connect their existing knowledge with new information by making the subject matter more accessible and relatable. This approach provides specific content-related support, helping learners draw on their prior knowledge and experiences to enhance their understanding of new concepts. By linking new information to what they already know, students can create a more cohesive understanding of the material, facilitating deeper learning.

This type of scaffolding often involves strategies such as providing examples that relate to students’ prior experiences, using visuals that connect with previously learned material, or explicitly linking new content to existing frameworks in the student's mind. By doing so, learners can more effectively integrate new information and enhance their cognitive structures.

Other forms of scaffolding, like functional, process, and metacognitive scaffolding, serve different purposes, such as supporting task execution, developing skills in problem-solving processes, or fostering self-regulation and awareness of learning strategies, and thus do not primarily focus on connecting new information to existing knowledge in the same targeted way that content scaffolding does.