Formative Scaffolding: how to alter the level and strength of self-efficacy and foster self-regulation in a mathematics test situation

The aim of the present study is to advocate the use of a participatory action research programme, the Formative Scaffolding Programme (FSP), in mathematics. The FSP’s main structure is presented as well as an implementation of a class intervention, with the aim of exploring the FSP test cycle’s virtues in a social science class in a Swedish upper-secondary school. The motivations for the FSP’s development were to enhance students’ awareness of their mathematical proficiency, alter the level and strength of their self-efficacy, foster self-regulated learning (SRL), reduce and prevent mathematics-related anxiety, and visualise the learning process in mathematics. The primary findings of the study were there was a resemblance between the FSP setting and SRL phases, and that participation in the test cycle altered the level and strength of students’ self-efficacy and fostered self-regulation in a mathematics test situation. The benefits of working in a formative scaffolding manner indicate that it is worth implementing the FSP on a larger scale. The study is an example of how students can engage in transforming classroom practice and be radical agents of change.