Name : Jiyeon Lee
Title : Solution Designer
Organization : Education Innovation Institute
Date : Nov. 6th, 2023

 My name is Jiyeon Lee, affectionately known as Joy, here at Taejae University. True to my nickname, I have always embraced fresh challenges with genuine enthusiasm.

Since the inception of Taejae University and the Education Innovation Institute(EII), I have been fortunate to be part of a journey filled with valuable insights and discoveries. In this article, I am excited to offer a glimpse into our experiences and reflections in EII.

This series will comprise ten concise posts, delving into the subjects that currently engage our thoughts and discussions, such as faculty and students, technology, learning data, community, and organizational matters. Together, we will navigate the exhilarating terrain of educational innovation, sharing the joys and challenges that come our way.

Article #2 : How can students stand on both feet? 

How many people in this world get the opportunity to enroll in a brand-new university? Being a part of something's inception is both extraordinary and rare, making it intriguing and challenging. It's also venturing into uncharted territory with no precedent, which entails taking risks. The students entering Taejae University are embarking on a new adventure, just as passionate and proud as they are for this fresh challenge, and they're bound to feel a mixture of concern and anxiety, considering they're stepping into an unfamiliar world.

What I would like to share with you today is a concept from education that I hold dear – "scaffolding." Scaffolding refers to a structure, often made of steel beams or other materials, erected on the outside of a building to allow workers to operate at heights when constructing a building layer by layer. In education, it signifies a strategy that provides learners with the appropriate cognitive stimuli and information to go beyond their current level and reach the next stage. As learners progress to the next level, the support is gradually reduced, enabling them to perform independently.

As the first freshman at Taejae University, students who have courageously embarked on a new learning environment and curriculum may find themselves in a state where standing on two feet is as challenging as a newborn fawn. They have to interact with professors and fellow students in real-time in an online environment and adapt to subjects such as Creative Thinking and Diversity that diverge from the conventional framework. For those whose native language is not English, the situation is even more challenging. They might have faced confusion when their previously reliable laptop camera suddenly failed to work or their internet connection was shaky.

It is perfectly natural for students who are just starting to learn to be less proficient in everything. These students use the scaffolding provided by all the professors and staff at Taejae University as a support structure to practice standing on their own two feet. Our role at this point is to observe them closely, judge where and what support structure is needed, and provide the necessary assistance at the right time. This also requires having some trust and patience in our students.

Perhaps the type and amount of assistance required will differ from student to student. Even when learning the same material in the same way, students absorb and internalize it in their unique ways and at their own pace. This is why it's essential to understand the individual characteristics of each student and provide them with delicate and strategic scaffolding.

Taejae University hopes to nurture self-directed leaders who can discover and solve problems on their own. To achieve this, we will gradually help students tackle the challenging aspects one by one and consider reducing the level of assistance as we account for the extent of change. We will support and guide students in a way that enables the newly acquired knowledge to become their own asset, which they can utilize whenever they wish.