After a week of readings and discussions it was generally agreed that the ideas and principles behind the Jasper Series were in line with where many of us would like to take education. The series, while outdated visually, was working to re-connect learners with the concepts of mathematics and science in authentic environments and situations. The philosophy was constructivist and had connections to discovery learning, and Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (particularly when coupled with additional learning programs like Adventure Player and Adventure Maker). With the use of authentic problems the learning became learner centered and there opportunities for collaboration, deeper reasoning, higher thinking, and perhaps most importantly student reflection on what was learned and how they were learning.
While the Jasper Series has essentially been collecting dust for a number of years (1992 was the last update), many of us could see ways to immediately update the ideas and apply them in our own classrooms. Moving a series to a digital web-based model, would mean significantly increased access and would be in line with what today’s learners are familiar with. A great idea was to have videos of students solving some of the problems and explaining their thought processes as they moved through different problems in order to model for other, newer learners; providing peer development/learning opportunities.
A question did arise about whether it was the video series that had promoted the change in learning attitudes and perspectives of the students or more importantly if it was the idea and philosophy behind them. I’d agree that the philosophy and design behind the series is the most important aspect and that actual field trips would facilitate ideal learning situations. However, these require that teachers have the time and resources to design, organize, and fund the lessons and trips. As a compromise between the two, I’d suggest using a digital video model, especially for building initially skills and familiarity, in conjunction with actual trips so that learners had the most well rounded exposure.
References:
Biswas, G. Schwartz, D. Bransford, J. & The Teachable Agent Group at Vanderbilt (TAG-V) (2001). Technology Support for Complex Problem Solving: From SAD Environments to AI. In K.D. Forbus and P.J. Feltovich (Eds.)Smart Machines in Education: The Coming Revolution in Education Technology. AAAI/MIT Press, Menlo, Park, CA.
Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (1992a). The Jasper experiment: An exploration of issues in learning and instructional design. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 40(1), 65-80.