Sportscasting in Physical Education (Lee, 2011) is a class activity that students simulate sports broadcasting (e.g., students report, analyze, and comment on game play). It encourages problem solving (PS) learning for students. Scaffolding is the support with the intention of helping the student achieves his/her learning goals and contributes to problem solving. However, limited studies have examined if sportscasting with scaffolding is effective instructional strategies for PS. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of sportscasting with scaffolding on PS abilities, and on academic achievement. Participants were 46 college students. The static-group comparison design was used: an experiment group (N=26) with supportive scaffoldings (e.g., conceptual explanation, terminology dictionary, visual materials) and a control group (N=20) with reflective scaffoldings (e.g., organizing the environment, using appropriate cues to guide behaviors, and modeling). The results revealed that students in reflective scaffoldings had higher PS abilities than students in supportive scaffoldings. However, two groups were not statistically different in academic achievement. Sportscasting with instructional scaffolding promote a deeper level of cognitive skills and male students performed better than female students. The effective scaffolding types (Lewis, 2010) for sportscasting were discussed to help students to foster PS skills.
