Online Assignment

Anchoring

Rijithapal J S Candidate Code: 165/13376018 Ne w B.Ed. College, Nellimoodu

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.