On page 9 of The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences, Sawyer states that the learning sciences have convincingly demonstrated that when children actively participate in constructing their own knowledge, they gain a deeper understanding, more generalizable knowledge and greater motivation. Learning sciences research has resulted in very specific findings about what support the learning environment must provide for learners to effectively construct their own knowledge. To describe the support that promotes deep learning, learning scientists use the term scaffolding .

Scaffolding is the help given to a learner that is tailored to that learner’s needs in achieving his or her goals of the moment (see Reiser & Tabak, Chapter 3 , this volume). The best scaffolding provides this help in a way that contributes to learning.

Effective learning environments scaffold students’ active construction of knowledge in ways similar to the way that scaffolding supports the construction of a building. When construction workers need to reach higher, additional scaffolding is added, and when the building is complete, the scaffolding can be removed. In effective learning environments, scaffolding is gradually added, modified, and removed according to the needs of the learner, and eventually the scaffolding fades away entirely.

The Little Kids Rock learning environment and curriculum are designed with specific scaffolding structures to support and build music mastery skills. With videos, music tracks, paper and pencil lessons, peer collaboration and instructor support, scaffolding structures enable students to build strong musical foundations.