Definition

Anchored instruction lies within the social constructivist paradigm since small groups work together to understand and solve realistic problems. Anchored instruction is most closely related to the goal-based scenario model. While anchored instruction may also resemble problem-based learning (PBL), it is less open-ended. Most anchored modules are designed for young learners, and thus embed all of the necessary data to solve the problem within the modules themselves. Substantial independent research and data collection are not required in anchored modules, but are required in PBL.

Download annotated Powerpoint slides describing the anchored instruction model (PDF File).

Relevant Examples

If you have created course materials at Virginia Tech that are representative of this teaching model, we would like to showcase your work here. Please contact us with a description of your project so other faculty may learn from your efforts.

Design and Development Tips

Glaser and Prestidge (1995) suggest technologies useful for delivering anchored modules will include affordances for students to segment and chunk data from the presented "stories" or problems. Videodiscs, for example, include various time codes or markers for different video segments. Students can easily write down a time code corresponding to a clue in the story line, then refer back to that information when needed. Since all data required to solve a problem should be embedded within the story line, the ability to refer back to certain data segments is a useful design consideration. Regular videotape would be inefficient for rapid playback and review, while most multimedia formats can be readily replayed by users (e.g., quicktime movies).

Anchored modules can take the form of full-blown multimedia with branching or simple web pages with photos and text. In general, the presentation should be as realistic as possible. Text can be readily displayed on a web page, but the use of audio, video, or graphics should be considered as well to promote realism. Interactive branching could also promote understanding, with a particular "story" changing in response to the students' inputs (i.e., different events are triggered by students choosing option A versus option B versus option C).

Recommended Readings

  • Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (1990). Anchored instruction and its relationship to situated cognition. Educational Researcher, 19 (5), 2-10.
  • Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (1992). Anchored instruction in science and mathematics: Theoretical basis, developmental projects, and initial research findings. In R. A. Duschl & R. J. Hamilton (Eds.), Philosophy of Science, cognitive psychology, and edcuational theory and practice (pp. 244-273). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
  • Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (1992). Anchored instruction in science and mathematics: Theoretical basis, developmental projects, and initial research findings. In R. A. Duschl & R. J. Hamilton (Eds.), Philosophy of Science, cognitive psychology, and edcuational theory and practice (pp. 244-273). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
  • Glaser, C. W., & Prestidge, L. K. (1995). Using Technology to Support Special Education Teachers' Implementation of the Theory of Anchored Instruction. Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association.
  • Kearsley, G. (1999). TIP theory: Anchored instruction.