Motivation is key

After reading the articles on anchored instruction and watching the videos, I feel like anchored instruction is deeply rooted in designing a learning experience that motivates students to apply curriculum in a meaningful way to real life problem solving situations that they can related to.  In the Jasper project, the videos were able to provide students with a visualization of a problem to grab their attention and pull them into the problem.  The videos are able to provide students with an opportunity to explore a topic without ever feeling like they were just doing math or science. Gravaso et al (2011) describes how important it is for students to develop an ability to analyze data and develop statistical reasoning skills.  Their study further shows that teacher-centred learning is not always the best approach or a necessary approach to students learning.  Students in the study by Gravaso et al (2011) demonstrated that they were able to solve problems with little teacher intervention.  I’m wondering how anchored instruction is able to adapt to the diversity of learners in the classroom.  I have a class with some students who are super weak in mathematics and some that are quite advanced. In an assignment like the Jasper project, it seems like different videos would have to be given to the same grouping of students. I wonder if a mathematical model to follow for problems solving should be presented prior to commencing anchored instruction. Some student may be motivated to figure out the problem, but some may not even know where to start.

Prado, M. M., & Gravoso, R. S. (2011). Improving high school students’ statistical reasoning skills: A case of applying anchored instruction. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher (De La Salle University Manila), 20(1)