Dear class,
I am enjoying reading the posts and several extended conversations thus far analyzing the Anchored Instruction, Math Education, and Learning Disabilities literature. Anchored instruction continues to be used today not just in math but a number of different domains, including reading and special education. As you have already noted, it is an approach to teaching math that considers anchoring mathematics in situational problem-solving as key, and is yet different from other traditional and some contemporary resources and strategies available to us.
In response to the questions, a number of posts have been enhanced with analyses of anchored instruction, incorporating excerpts of problem-solving scenarios from the articles, findings from empirical research, and observations on video and digital technology included in the questions. Several of your posts thus far also have discussed the implications of teaching children or adults with or without learning issues (be they (mis)conceptions, learning disabilities, foundations in math, scaffolding learning, guidance and group processes, cognitive apprenticeship by older students, heuristics, visualization of a problem, “thinking out loud” to name a few) and cited the literature in some depth in this regard. Indeed, all of our teaching settings have students who require additional help. There have also been several posts that have made connections to previous posts and a personal framing issues assignment.
Grounding anchored instruction with teaching examples from math (either specific to one of the Jasper videos from the situational video series) or particular math concepts or skills from your own context (eg. noting patterns, statistics, mathematical reasoning) has also been helpful in providing rich detail and begins to orient our discussions from PK towards PCK. I look forward to reading more of your thoughtful responses as the forum continues.
Thank you for all of your informed ideas on teaching math,
Samia