The process of writing is often just as important as the product. A strong process supports a strong product and helps students practice critical thinking, time management, self-reflection, and communication and interpersonal skills. Scaffolding is the term for building process parts into an assignment and holding students accountable for the individual parts in addition to the product.

Types of Scaffolding

How many and what types of process parts to require from students is variable based on the project goal and scope. A typical composition project requires three to four pieces of formal process work: an initial activity prompting students to think about topic and assignment options, aspects, and perspectives; some source/research work when applicable; a mid/late stage draft; and then the final project itself. By requiring these parts, we prompt students to think early and critically about topic options, which also pushes them to start considering the assignment’s goals and structure, in addition to rewarding smart time management. More complicated projects may lend themselves to additional process parts to help students navigate tricky academic moves. Regardless, the goal is to show students the value of following a process for their writing and support more effective final projects. It also helps assure us, as instructors, that our students are understanding the assignment and parameters correctly, especially when students are learning new disciplinary genres, giving us time to adjust our teaching in response to their understanding.

Formal vs. Informal Scaffolding 

While many composition classes require only a few formal process parts for each project, we often collect many more informal process parts. These activities, which usually include group work and peer feedback, ask students to practice a variety of aspects of the upcoming assignment. Because these parts are informal, they are usually formative in nature. The purpose of the activity is for students to complete it, not necessarily for them to receive feedback, and for us to be able to gauge the understanding of the class as the work on the project. The act of completing the activity gives students the practice they need. As such, these informal pieces do not require intensive grading. They may be credit/no-credit or similar and may not receive any instructor feedback at all. And if peer feedback is utilized, students get all the benefits of practicing the moves and receiving feedback without increased instructor work loads.

Accountability for the Process

While noting that not all process parts need be intensively graded, also remember that accountability is important. Students need to recognize that we value this process and will hold them responsible for completing it. Many parts of scaffolding work well as informal pieces, but some of the parts need to be formalized and assessed for students to both recognize the importance and receive valuable guidance.

Another option for scaffolding is actively working with models and outlines and in the next article we’ll address the use of models and outlines to support student writing. In the final article, we’ll wrap up this series by looking at how transparency in assessment is good for both us and our students.

(See also My students can’t write! Part 1: Crafting Effective Writing Assignments; My students can’t write! Part 3: Outlines and Models; and My students can’t write! Part 4: Grading and Rubrics.)