Self-regulated Fading in On-line Learning

Self-regulation and scaffolding are two important techniques for improving student performance in on-line learning systems. An experiment was carried out to see whether students could effectively regulate their own scaffolding and fading when using a system for improving their understanding of OO programming. During the learning phase, Students were given the opportunity of either controlling their fading, or using all the support available to carry out the tasks. In a subsequent test phase, when all scaffolding was removed, students who had regulated their use of fading performed significantly better than those who had practised with all the scaffolding turned on.