Abstract
We can consider a lecture to have a structure consisting of elementssuch as theme, background, evidence, conclusion, and the relationships among them. Although learning such a structural schema can enhance lecture comprehension,the schema itself is highly abstract and hard for novices to use. This study examines the effectiveness of collaborative use of visual scaffolds, adaptable to atarget lecture. In order to create such scaffolds, the author analyzed its structure andvisualized it schematically on two dimensional sheets. I asked five pairs of undergraduates (10 students in total) to lay out lecture elements on the scaffolds and to discuss the content as well as the structure of the whole lecture. I compared this condition with a control condition of free note-taking, also consisting of five pairs of undergraduates. The results indicated that the experiment condition increased understanding of the lecture content and structure.Thevisual scaffolds were used in diverse ways among the pairs, demonstrating their active learning of the target lecture as well as initial acquisition of the general structure of lectures. These findings can enrich our instructional repertoireof introductory college education.
