Chapter Five Focus Paper: Technologies and Media
Tiffany Chiu-Jung Chen
EMC 598
Arizona State University
Summer 1998
In 1989, the Jasper Project commenced when "John Bransford and his colleagues at the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt University asked two groups of students to read various passages of technical information" (Viadero, 1996).Students were divided into two groups"facts oriented group" and "problem oriented group"; the former was asked to remember as much as they could from the passages they had read, whereas the latter were asked to read the text as though they were planning a trip down the Amazon River. The posttest indicated that the problem oriented group recalled a wealth of information, such as the kinds of food they might take and the weight of the water they would carry while the other group gave only vague answers without any specifics " (Viadero, 1996).

The experiment then developed into a seven-year effort through which twelve videodisc-based adventures about Jasper Woodbury and his friends were 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 (Erlbaum, 1998).

The uniqueness of this approach to learning and instruction is attributable to a theoretical background in Constructivism. Research findings show that people store and retrieve knowledge better when the information is presented in the context of a realistic problem; thus the seeds of Anchored Instruction was planted. As an application of Anchored Instruction, The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury, a set of interactive videodisc programs, anchor mathematical concepts in a succession of fictional adventures. Students view a video prompt and then from the prompt solve the proposed problem.

In this problem based learning approach, teachers no longer plays the traditional role of a knowledge disseminator; rather, they serve as cognitive coaches to assist students in the process of problem solving and knowledge construction.

For example, each Jasper episode begins with a short video story (17 to 20 minutes) in which Jasper or his friends confront a problem to be solved. The video, which can be reviewed and studied to pick out relevant facts, provide natural contexts for learning mathematics as well as geography, history, and science as well as information needed to solve the problem. Each video ends with a challenge, rather than a resolution. Students then work in small groups to re-explore the video to define sub-problems and find the information needed to solve them. Finally, students present their solutions to their classmates and discuss the effectiveness of different approaches.

During this process, students are never told what to do. Teachers are there to facilitate the learning activities rather than transmitting knowledge. Students, working in groups, construct their own knowledge through the process of problem solving. This learning format is generative; the stories in the Jasper series must be completed with a resolution provided by the students. Generating this resolution requires solving a complex mathematics problem. This approach is motivating and allows students to participate actively in the learning process.

To further improve effectiveness of the project, the Jasper videos are being designed to be available through a variety of media: videotape, videodisc, and in conjunction with hypermedia. In the hypermedia version, students can engage in basic skills practice, change parameters of the original problem to generate an analogous problem (new locations, goals, etc.), and explore related mini-adventures. The materials are being tried out and evaluated in 52 classrooms in nine states.

References
Online

The New Adventures of Jasper Woodbury: Make Mathematics Meaningful, "Blueprint for Success" 1996. [Video LaserDisc]. Mahwah, NJ: Learning, Inc. Anchored Instruction. http://www.gwu.edu/~tip/anchor.html (July 10, 1998)

Burger, S. & Lepic, B. (1998). Jasper: Blueprint for success. Teachers using technologiy in mathematics project. http://www.uiowa.edu/~tutimp/modules/geometry/jasper.htm (July 10, 1998). This web site provides a module for using the Jasper adventure series to teach geometry. It can be useful for those who are interested in the anchored instruction approach.

Erlbaum, L. (1998). The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury. http://www.erlbaum.com/jasper.htm (July 10, 1998)

Singer, J. (1998). Teacher Manual for Jasper Woodbury Series. http://tiger.coe.missouri.edu/~perfsppt/Jasper.html (July 10, 1998) This site contains a critique of the effectiveness of the Teacher Manual for Jasper Woodbury Series. Two aspects of teacher support were considered: visual and modeling support. Using Gery's list of "attributes" of performance-centered EPSS, the Jasper teacher support material fares pretty well. The teacher support materials meets many of Gery's 19 attributes. he author reviews

Viadero, D. (1996). Who is Jasper Woodbury? Teacher Magazine, 7 (6). http://www.edweek.com/tm/vol-07/06jasper.h07 (July 10, 1998)