This study implements a design-based research approach to design and evaluate different scaffolding strategies for supporting student learning as well as promoting student agency within a computational science course. The course introduces computational methods and tools in the context of disciplinary problems for materials science and engineering students. Initial course offerings suggested that students were overwhelmed by the interdisciplinary nature of the course. Therefore, the research team evaluated different scaffolding strategies for supporting students’ learning, and how those may have provided students with agency to self-scaffold when needed. Three rounds of data collection included 17 students who participated in individual semi-structured interviews to explore how they used (or not) different scaffolds. Five of the participants were recruited for the first iteration; six of them were recruited in the second iteration, and six more in the third one. The iterative process allowed us to adapt the scaffolding procedures for the third iteration from the data collected in iterations 1 and 2. The purpose of this study is to understand how students used different scaffolds, and what implementation strategies were effective according to student uses of these scaffolds in the context of computational science. The results suggest that students developed agency to self-scaffold when needed, as they benefited from multiple scaffolds at different steps of the problem-solving process. Moreover, providing worked examples without engaging students in their active exploration can be ineffective, but this engagement can be achieved using written explanations. Additional support may be needed at an early stage of skill development, so students have an idea of how to validate their model.

这项研究采用基于设计的研究方法来设计和评估不同的脚手架策略，以支持学生学习以及在计算科学课程中促进学生能力。本课程针对材料科学和工程专业的学生，​​在学科问题的背景下介绍了计算方法和工具。最初的课程建议表明，学生对课程的跨学科性质不知所措。因此，研究团队评估了支持学生学习的不同脚手架策略，以及这些策略如何在需要时为学生提供了自我脚手架的代理权。三轮数据收集包括17名学生，他们参加了个别的半结构式访谈，以探讨他们如何使用（或不使用）不同的脚手架。第一次迭代招募了五名参与者；在第二次迭代中招募了六名，第三次又招募了六名。迭代过程使我们能够根据迭代1和2收集的数据对第三次迭代的脚手架程序进行调整。本研究的目的是了解学生如何使用不同的脚手架，以及根据学生对这些脚手架的使用情况有效的实施策略计算科学背景下的支架。结果表明，学生在需要时发展了自行搭建脚手架的能力，因为他们在解决问题过程的不同步骤中受益于多个脚手架。此外，在没有让学生积极探索的情况下提供工作示例可能是无效的，但是可以通过书面说明来实现这种参与。