有至少8個腳手架的特點：
1）腳手架提供了明確的方向
基於Web的科研單位提供了一步一步的指示，解釋正是學生必須做的，為了滿足對學習活動的期望。 教學設計者嘗試預見任何問題或不明朗因素，書面的方式，最大限度地減少混亂，將學生的清晰度和速度向生產力的學習溢價用戶友好的方向。
這裡的經營理念是“特富龍的教訓，”一個學習的經驗，已提前做好測試任何可能出問題，所以被認為是提前淘汰如果可能的話。
我們不希望我們的學生遊蕩像沙漠上的勘探者約。
2）腳手架澄清目的
“我們為什麼要這樣做呢？”
棚架保持在前列的目的和動機。 而不是提供了一個更空如學校儀式的國家報告，腳手架教訓渴望意義和價值。 圍繞基本問題，的腳手架有助於保持的“大畫面”在中央和重點。
“我們正在研究這個問題，因為它是人類的核心。”
沒有“平凡的追求”。
讓學生在對早期的秘密。 他們被告知為什麼是很重要的問題，問題或決定，並敦促他們關心。 他們不陷入簡單的收集或收集。 他們沒有趕上在無意識的活動陷阱。 他們的工作仍然針對性和planful。 每次，他們的行為，它是服務的思想過程中，發現的意義和發展的有識之士。
傳統的學校的研究放在後收集過分強調，而需要不斷進行排序和篩選，作為一個“令人費解”的過程的一部分 - 結合新的信息與先前的理解，構建新的腳手架。 學生增加，擴大，完善和制定。 它彷彿他們正在建設的橋樑更深，更聰明，更精明的任何真理重要的問題，或手頭的問題的看法，從他們的成見。
3）腳手架使學生在任務
通過為學習者提供了一個途徑或路線，腳手架的教訓是有點像一個山區公路的護欄。 學習者可以行使極大的個人決定，但在參數是不是在“越野”擱淺的危險。 每個學生或學生團隊要求沿路徑移動的時間，步驟，廣泛概述。 無需徘徊，迷路或絆倒。 學生可以“曲線”，而不必擔心邊緣。
這是一個明確的方向可能只是很容易被印在紙上的問題多。 基於Web的教訓提供旅程的每一步重合的結構和指導。 活動的進展，但在同一時間控制是解放。 學生移動通過像花園裡的東西，每個網頁的標誌石頭一樣。 可能有超過一個徘徊在花園的路徑，但它們都沒有進入叢林或沼澤或虎坑導致的。
4) Scaffolding offers assessment to clarify expectations
From the very start, scaffolded lessons provide examples of quality work done by others. Right from the beginning, students are shown rubrics and standards that define excellence. In traditional school research, students were often kept in the dark until the product was completed. Without clearly stated criteria, it was difficult to know what constituted quality work.
Is it a matter of length? the number of sources cited?
Does originality count?
Does the logic and coherence of my argument matter?
What constitutes adequate evidence?
There are a dozen issues, all of which deserve attention and elaboration. As an example, consider the online rubrics for successful multimedia reports available at http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/cep/midlink/rub.multi.htm
5) Scaffolding points students to worthy sources
Most educators complain that the Internet suffers from a low “signal to noise ratio” – the confusing, weak and unreliable information (noise) outweighs and threatens to drown out the information most worthy of consideration. Wary of wasting time, teachers have little tolerance for “data smog” and “Infoglut.” They want to see students putting their energy into interpretation rather than wandering.
Scaffolding identifies the best sources so that students speed to signal rather than noise. Looking for the best Web sites on Columbus, Drake or Magellan to decide which would have been a better leader, the scaffolded lesson created by fifth grade teacher, Gretchen Offutt, identified 4-5 sites for each captain.
Explorer Homeport
Knowing that the Web is filled with sites not worth visiting because of quality, bias or reading level concerns, the teacher visits 100+ sites per captain before winnowing the list down to 4 or 5 per captain.
Does this mean the student has no options? It depends upon the teacher. And it depends upon the school. In some cases, students must stick to the sources pre-selected by the teacher. In other cases, the student may use these sites as a starting point, extending further out into Cyberspace in search of something unusual. The scaffolding serves as an introduction, not as a corral.
6) Scaffolding reduces uncertainty, surprise and disappointment
The operating design concept for scaffolded lessons is the “teflon lesson” – no stick, no burn and no trouble. Lesson designers are expected to test each and every step in the lesson to see what might possibly go wrong. The idea is to eliminate distracting frustrations to the extent this is possible. The goal is to maximize learning and efficiency. Once the lesson is ready for trial with students, the lesson is refined at least one more time based on the new insights gained by watching students actually try the activities.
7) Scaffolding delivers efficiency
If done well, a scaffolded lesson should nearly scream with efficiency. Teachers and students should shake their heads in disbelief.
“It felt like we completed ten hours of work in just two!”
“How did we get so much done?”
This perception is achieved, in part, by virtue of comparison with the old kind of school research that was mostly about wandering and scooping. Boredom fed by irrelevance slowed the passage of time. It took forever to get the job done.
Scaffolded lessons still require hard work, but the work is so well centered on the inquiry that it seems like a potter and wheel. Little waste or wobbling. Scaffolding “distills” the work effort. Focus. Clarity. Time on task. The student is channelled. No mud flats, shoals or other navigational hazards.
Scaffolding creates momentum
In contrast to traditional research experiences, throughout which much of the energy was dispersed and dissipated during the wandering phases, the channelling achieved through scaffolding concentrates and directs energy in ways that actually build into momentum. It is almost like an avalanche of thoughts, accumulating insight and understanding.
In resolving the dissonance described in Chapter 4, “Students in Resonance,” the work gathers speed. The drive toward meaning is accelerated. The essential question and its subsidiary questions create suction, drive, urgency and motivation. The search for understanding inspires and provokes. One loses sleep. One awakens in the middle of the night, wondering, pondering, considering
