The Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt created the Jasper Project in the 1980s in an ongoing effort to produce learning materials that involve younger learners in natural learning environments. This project has incorporated specific learning theories to cross over from classroom learning environments to natural learning environments. Current information on the Jasper Woodbury Adventures references the Learning Technology Center at Vanderbilt. The end result has been a series of video discs and support material that can be used to teach math concepts in an engaging way.

Natural learning environments refers to the idea that cognitive development and learning are social experiences that occur without an overt structure. An example presented in an introduction to the Jasper Woodbury Adventures is the development of language. In this environment a parent and child work together to develop an understanding of how to respond and elicit responses from one another. The parent and child share a natural context. This is contrasted to the classroom environment where the student and teacher do not share a natural context and the established teaching paradigm does not foster this.

The videodiscs feature a character named Jasper Woodbury. A series of discs are designed to teach the following concepts: Complex Trip Planning, Statistics and Business Plans, Geometry and Algebra. The videodiscs tell a believable and interesting story that is filled with the contextual clues that the students will need to solve a challenge at the end of the video. To successfully complete the challenge, students will have to use problem-solving skills, mathematical skills and the clues presented in video.

In designing this series, the developers thought that putting the clues in the story was an important feature. They refer to this "embedded data design" The challenge presented at the end of the story is not merely a word problem either. Students have to solve a set of subproblems to get to the answer to the overall problem. By designing a product like this, they are able to help students learn concepts by putting them to use before actually teaching them. The concepts will be more readily retained because the students create the learning (providing there is feedback provided to help the students realize what they have done) and there is an increase in transfer because the challenges relate to real world problems.

One of the unique features of this program is that it is a real world solution to a problem in education. Students often times don't retain what they have been taught or they cannot transfer what they know to a context other than that in which it was learned. The Jasper Woodbury adventures use what might be categorized as a constructivist approach to learning where the learners are allowed to build their own understanding by solving an open-ended problem and the teacher performs the function of facilitator rather than information giver.

Another unique approach used by this program is that students should be encouraged to make use of other props to arrive at their conclusions. In the traditional math class, using a calculator is frowned upon and using a computer and the powerful software it can run is unheard of. According to the creators of the Jasper Woodbury Adventures:

The Jasper materials are consistent with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards (1989). The NCTM's suggestions for changes in classroom mathematics activities include more emphasis on complex, open-ended problem solving, communications and reasoning; more connections from mathematics to other subjects and to the outside world; and more use of calculators and powerful computer-based tools, such as spreadsheets and graphing programs, for exploring relationships.

In the case of the Jasper Woodbury adventures, the videodisc is an integral part of this addition of technology. The students can manipulate the videodisc to retrieve information or replay certain sections of the story. It is unclear, however, how other technologies are incorporated into the learning experience.

The Jasper Project has evolved with the production of the Jasper Woodbury Adventures. This is a useful product that incorporates current research on learning theory and cognitive development in an attempt to address the deficiencies of current math education. Further information can be obtained by visiting the following websites.

http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/projects/funded/jasper/Jasperhome.html http://www.erlbaum.com/2517.htm