2. INTRODUCTION
Anchoring is a technique used to manage emotional states in Neuro -
Linguistic Programming. It involves setting up an association with desired mental
states such as happiness or calm by creating anchor stimuli to that state. Anchoring
is one of various NLP techniques which have applications not only in terms of
managing thinking and feeling but also as classroom activities to support other
learning aims. Anchored instruction is a teaching approach that situates, or
anchors, problems in authentic-like contexts that people can explore to find
plausible solutions. Anchored instruction in education is closely related to
problem-based and case-based learning in other fields, but it differs somewhat
because all the information for solving anchored problems is available whereas it
may not be in actual problem solving situations. Anchors are typically shown in a
short video (8-to-12 minutes), which students search to find information they need
for solving the embedded problems. In a typical classroom using anchored
instruction, students work together to formulate strategies for solving the sub
problems embedded in the anchor. The problems are of high interest, and most
students work for several days to help the main characters in the video solve the
problems.
3. Presenting anchored problems in video format has several advantages. One
important quality of an anchored problem is its ability to directly immerse students
in a rich array of problem contexts, which helps to eliminate the barriers many
students with low achievement in both math and reading confront when attempting
typical text-based problems. Second, the dynamic nature of video enables students
to notice subtleties in the mix of auditory and visual cues, which are missing in
text-based problems. Finally, multimedia scaffolds enable students to access help
stations as they work on generating solutions they think are plausible.
Theoretical underpinnings of anchored instruction are derived from well-known
theorists such as John Dewey (1933) who stressed the importance of viewing
knowledge as tools. When people (students) acquire new knowledge that they
understand can help them solve problems in particular contexts, they view
knowledge more as a tool than as disconnected facts and procedures. The role that
context plays in helping students recognize how and when to use these tools (i.e.,
transfer) is one of the key components of anchored instruction. The importance of
context on cognition has been termed “situated cognition” (e.g., Brown, Collins, &
Duguid, 1989) and “cognitive apprenticeship” (e.g., Collins, Brown, & Newman,
1989). Contextual factors in everyday problem solving have been shown to affect
learning situation-specific practices and their transfer among people across cultures
(e.g., Lave, Smith, & Butler, 1988).
A primary goal of anchored instruction is to engage students in problem-solving
activities that can help reduce the “inert knowledge” problem that Alfred
North White-head (1929) identified decades ago. Knowledge presented as isolated
disconnected facts remains inert and thus fails to transfer. In contrast, when
4. knowledge and skills are contextualized as they are in anchored instruction,
students are more apt to recognize when to appropriately apply them and use their
prior knowledge to solve similar problems they encounter in the future. Research
in educational settings suggests expertise is developed through problem-solving
activities that involve active construction of knowledge results (Branford, Brown,
& Cocking, 2000). Thus, anchored learning environments are generative because
they motivate students to actively search for relevant information, use the
information to plan strategies for solving the problem, and test their solutions.
Most of the educators agree that learning opportunities are most efficiently
employed, when the instructional design relates specifically to the needs of the
learners The relevance of the design must be evident to the learners so it can have
meaningful long-term impact. Unless the what he can do with the knowledge, and
accepts the rationale for doing so, it becomes increasingly likely that, much will be
retained beyond the learning event itself. Now all have agreed upon that slant has
to be towards a visible shift from information based to experience based & from
the traditional instruction domination to newer constructivists’ orientation. Hence
the process of designing effective & efficient instruction for learning is an ongoing
challenge to educators.
Anchored instruction is a technology based learning approach that stresses
the importance of placing learning within a meaningful, problem solving context.
Advance organizers are the primary means of strengthening cognitive structure &
enhancing retention of new information. It took root in Gestalt psychology, which
taught that information is learned by understanding how information fits together,
how it interrelates, & how it is organized. Anchored instruction uses context as a
learning device. The anchoring refers to the bonding of the context within a
realistic & authentic context. One important aspect of anchored instruction is its
5. goal of making the learner not only solves problems Anchored Instruction using
Advanced Organizers.
In anchored instruction the new knowledge is to be linked to a meaningful
context. This context has to be selected as an advance organizer. Here, the teachers
take the role of a lecturer or explainer. He presents information through lecture/
reading/ situations or providing tasks and wants the learner to integrate and imbibe
the new idea, i.e. the advance organizer is understood from the new context
meaningfully by anchoring it to their existing knowledge. When the learner relates
the new material to existing knowledge, a large number of mental activities are
done. The learner must be very active to do these mental operations.s
Anchoring activities
Specified ongoing activities on which students work independently.
Ongoing assignments that students can work on throughout a unit.
Provide a strategy for teachers to deal with “ragged time” when students
complete work at different times.
They allow the teacher to work with individual students or groups.
Provides ongoing activities that to the content of the unit.
Allow the teacher to develop independent group work strategies in order to
incorporate a mini lab of computers in classroom.
To begin the day when students complete an assignment when students are
stuck and waiting for help.
Types of anchoring activities
DEAR Time - Silent Reading, Journal Writing or Learning Logs,
Vocabulary Work. Learning Centre Spelling Practice, Portfolio Management.
6. Anchored Instruction
The anchored instruction approach is an attempt to help students become
more actively engaged in learning by situating or anchoring instruction around an
interesting topic. The learning environments are designed to provoke the kinds of
thoughtful engagement that helps students develop effective thinking skills and
attitudes that contribute to effective problem solving and critical thinking.
Principles of anchored instruction:
Learning and teaching activities should be designed around an "anchor"
which is often a story, adventure, or situation that includes a problem or
issue to be dealt with that is of interest to the students.
Instructional materials should include rich resources students can explore as
they try to decide how to solve a problem.
Anchored instruction emphasizes the need to provide students with
opportunities to think about and work on problems, which is an emphasis of
cognitive constructivists. Anchored instruction also emphasizes group or
collaborative problem solving, which is an emphasis of social constructivists.
Much of the collaborative problem solving that is at the center of the programs is
an example of applied social constructivism.
Various frameworks have been developed by psychologists and educators to
consider formally the concept of how a student learns. The simplest place to begin
is by learning about students’ modality preferences. Chances are that middle and
secondary English students either already know their personal preferences or
simply need prompting to discover them. The prompt may take the form of a
7. formal learning style inventory to discover their modality preferences. Another
framework to consider is Gardner’s multiple intelligence definition and theory that
Helps all learners to identify how they relate to knowledge and knowing. It does
not matter whether teachers who plan to differentiate instruction are formally
cognizant of any or all of the formal frameworks. Rather, to begin to differentiate,
it is most important that teachers acknowledge that individuals do learn differently
and that it is their role and obligation to learn about these differences and also to
help the students discover their own unique learning styles through any of the
suggested strategies.
The maxim that good teachers lead from behind is especially true in a
classroom in which lessons are differentiated. Students may be busy writing,
reading, and talking, but to the casual visitor, it may appear that the teacher is not
really teaching. Direct instruction, only one of many ways to deliver instruction in
a differentiated classroom, May not always be apparent. Because students work at
different paces, the teacher needs to have anchor activities prepared for those who
finish early. Anchor activities, tasks that have been designed for students to work
on independently, are not busywork but tie into the topic and the skills being
studied. In English classes, anchor activities might include silent reading, journal
writing, essay drafting, revising, editing, grammar worksheets, and pre reading
activities. Anchor activities must be announced at the beginning of the unit so that
the students will know how to move to these activities without interrupting the
teacher, who may be working with another student or group. For example, one
activity might be for students to take their writing folders out and revise a paper
they have been drafting. Another anchor activity might be to practice a skill such
as editing by reviewing grammar rules and then applying them in editing a paper.
Practice editing sheets for punctuation and usage may be completed at a student’s
own pace.
8. CONCLUSION
Anchoring effects are among the most robust and ubiquitous psychological
phenomena in judgment and decision making. Given the diversity of paradigms
that have been used to produce “anchoring effects”, it seems unsurprising that a
careful differentiation of different processes that operate in paradigms which
involve clearly different judgmental tasks is called for. Despite this variety of
judgmental paradigms and contributing mechanisms, however, the accumulated
evidence suggests that the selective accessibility mechanism of generating anchor-consistent
target knowledge lies at the core of the anchoring phenomenon. The
various paradigms that have been used to examine anchoring effects, however,
appear to differ with respect to the additional mechanisms they may involve. With
a perspective on psychological processes rather than judgmental effects, we may
well find that what has previously been considered as instantiations of one
judgmental heuristic called “anchoring” is actually a conglomeration of fairly
diverse phenomena whose similarity rests solely on the net outcome they produce.
Anchoring focus awareness, cognitive knowledge and internal State. Anchoring
transfer learning and experiences to the other context.
9. References
Anne, Bruce Patrica (1983);
Effects of advances organizer And Listing comprehension among
learning disabled & non learning disabled Adolescents U.S.A.
Asha J.V (2001) ;
Efficacy of the instructional pedagogy of English based on models for
B.Ed Students, uni. Surat.
Asubel D.P (1968). Educational Psychology ; A cognitive view new
York.
