Anchored Instruction

April 4, 2010
 Yesterday’s News
First Reports…. Revised reports….
 Today’s Readings
Bransford et al Kumar (2010)
 Definition
• Anchored Instruction-
– A technique of situating instruction in a variety
of real-life settings (often simulated) to aid
reflection, transfer, and higher level problem
solving.
 A “Brief” History
• Anchored Instruction was developed by the
Cognition and Technology Group at
Vanderbilt (CTGV) under the leadership of
John Bransford.
• CTGV authored many articles from 1990-
present.
 Related Words and Concepts
• Cognitive Apprenticeship- enculturating
students into authentic practice through
activity and social interaction- similar to
craft apprenticeship
• Collaborative Learning- Collective problem
solving
 Principles of Anchored
Instruction
• Learning and Teaching activities should be
designed around an “anchor” which should
be some sort of case-study or problem
situation.
• Curriculum materials should allow
exploration by the learner (e.g., random
access, CD-ROM, DVD, etc…)
 Major Goal of Anchored
Instruction
• To overcome the problem of inert
knowledge. To create environments that
permit sustained exploration by students
and teachers, enable them to understand the
kinds of problems and opportunities that
experts in various areas encounter and the
knowledge that these experts use as tolls.
 Stages of Anchored Instruction
• Phase 1- Introduce the anchor
• Phase II- Develop shared experience around the
anchor
• Phase III- Expand the anchor
• Phase IV- Use knowledge as tools for problem-
solving
• Phase V- Work on Projects related to Anchor
• Phase VI- Share what is learned
 Advantages of Anchored
Instruction
• Everyone involved with a common
background around the subject matter
• Visual hands-on aspects allow poor readers
to participate in class discussion and
problem solving
• Facilitates communication between students
• Students are free to discover new issues
about the subject
 Challenges of Anchored
Instruction
• Teacher must change roles from “provider of
information” to “conductor” or fellow learner.
• Lesson plans are not fully scripted.
• How to help students w/o being totally directive
• How to fit Anchored Instruction into existing
curriculum and make sure it meets needs
regarding mandated testing.
 Anchored Instruction and
UTeach
• Used in Project Based Instruction
• http://www.edb.utexas.edu:16080/anchorvi
deo/
theory.php
• http://www.edb.utexas.edu/anchorvideo/ho
wto.php