The Jasper Project consists of "twelve videodisc-based adventures designed to improve the mathematical thinking of students from grades five and up. This problem solving series also improves students' overall academic thought processes by applying the lessons learned in Jasper to their other subjects, such as science, history, and social studies." The project is a on-going study of over seven years of work from the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt University.

Several places to find more info are:
http://www.erlbaum.com/2517.htm
http://143.105.24.3/educatio/shapiro/ed586/larry/critique.htm http://www.fse.ulaval.ca/fac/ten/cours/html/Consleen.html http://pride.soe.uaa.alaska.edu/www/SOE/ed626readings/SRI/chap2c.html http://www.education.mcgill.ca/fedwww/cils/Telelearning/Planning.html

Jasper is a teaching method associated with constructivist learning theories. These theories posit that cognition is enhanced when learners are engaged in constructing their own meaning. Often lessons in this vein have problem solving as the key, and as with Jasper, are narrative, or story, based.

Specifically, some of its main features of Jasper (as listed on a website) are:

i) Present realistic problems set in realistic situations. This principle is realized primarily through the use of video media (either tape or disk) which presents live-action characters (e.g., Jasper Woodbury) tackling specific problems such as whether they have enough fuel to rescue a rare and endangered bird at a remote location. The principle realizes a number of outcomes: First, it promotes student interest and identification, primarily through the use of a narrative format that presents a problem in which students (at least vicariously) can see themselves participating. Second, through the use of what is essentially a multimedia format that combines verbal and visual information, more complex problems can be presented in an understandable way to students. Third, the detailed and realistic background information that is presented as an integral part of a video can serve as the starting point for problems in content areas other than mathematics.

ii) Embed all required data in the presentation. This principle insures that the presentation contains information sufficient to solve the problem, and basically realizes the integrity of the presentation for the students in the sense that they come to know that working with the content of the video can lead to a realistic solution.

iii) Present complex problems. Each situation involves a problem of multiple steps and usually allows more than one solution. This principle promotes student mastery of complex problems which are more closely related to problems they will encounter outside the classroom, and thus authenticates the computational knowledge and skills learned.

iv) Structure problems to realize a generative format. Although the presented information is sufficient, problems are structured so that students must generate intermediate steps for a solution. This principle promotes student engagement with the problem, and emphasizes the importance of planning and inquiry skills for understanding and solving realistic problems.

v) Provide linkages across subject areas. The complexity of the problems is structured so that solutions require the use of different types of knowledge and skill, typically language comprehension, planning, statistics, geometry, and even geography, as well as arithmetic computation. The principle thus supports the integration of student knowledge and skills.

vi) Structure presentations to promote transfer across situations. This principle is realized through the development of pairs of adventures around the same mathematical themes (e.g., problems of speed, distance, and fuel consumption). The pairs of adventures support student application of the knowledge and skill they have abstracted in an appropriate manner to new but related situations.

The materials used by Jasper facilitate the learning of complex concepts by imbedding all the needed foundational material in the video. Students watch the video and then are presented with a problem to solve. They must then rewatch the video in order to find all of the clues or needed information that will let them solve the problem. Learning is enhanced by several means with this method. One way is that the lesson implies work to be done in groups. The rational for students working in groups are many, but two basics ones are that students are more motivated and actively involved in learning when working in groups, and there is more of a chance that a few students will catch all of the clues, whereas a single student might miss one or two and thus be stymied in the problem solving.

Another way the lesson is learned and remembered is that the story involves other areas of learning. This allows students to use information they have previously learned, and then be able to transfer additional learning back to the other field. For example, perhaps a learning situation has been created to understand elevation. The core of the material may be mathematical, but perhaps the story involves some mountain climbers. The context is then ideal for the teach of some geography, some geology, and maybe even some general safety issues.

Another useful aspect of Jasper is that is has the potential to take into account many learning styles. Because the primary method of presentation is video tape or CD disc, the learning visual learning style is most accented. Because a large part of the story is narrative, the main learning style used in primary and secondary teaching, audio, is also very much present. But two other methods of learning, kinetic and exploratory are present as well in Jasper. The kinetic aspect is not as physically hands on as the ideal kinetic learning, but it is present mentally. Learners have to mentally build their solutions, often by imaging physical models. The whole foundation of Jasper, as generative, exploits the exploratory model. Again critics will say that it is only remotely exploratory because of its static nature and because it relies so heavily upon the visual and audio components. This is true and is one reason to use Jasper as an auxiliary method of teaching. For example it would be fabulous if a teacher could show a scene from a Jasper module and have the kids go through that learning. Then the teacher would present a similar problem with actual physical props. The students would have already had the occasion to internalize the theory and methods taught by Jasper. Then working with the physical models would allow them to see a direct hands-on application of their learning. A follow-up exercise where the students then wrote out the method for solving the problem with the physical objects would just about synthesize every phase of learning the most robust idealist could imagine.