{"id":1374,"date":"2017-02-07T00:30:34","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T07:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/?p=1374"},"modified":"2017-02-07T00:34:46","modified_gmt":"2017-02-07T07:34:46","slug":"my-love-hate-relationship-with-the-jasper-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/2017\/02\/07\/my-love-hate-relationship-with-the-jasper-series\/","title":{"rendered":"My Love-Hate Relationship with the Jasper Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the onset, what\u2019s not to love?\u00a0 Two of the readings that I chose, concluded that students self-reported to enjoying math more, and having less anxiety (CTGV, 1992b; Shyu, 2000). Only one reading reported that students\u2019 problem solving skills improved, but I would speculate that the one study that did not report an increase in this area, did so because the students only participated in one<\/em> Jasper Series problem. Had the students in the Shyu study have a series of weeks immersed in Jasper, I suspect that their problem solving skills would increase in time.<\/p>\n

The main issue that the folks at Jasper are attempting to address is that many students are unable to apply microcontext (\u201cend of the chapter\u201d) questions, to macrocontext (\u201creal life\u201d\/situated\/anchored) problems.\u00a0 The literature that I read, convinced me of one thing\u2014group work, when orchestrated well, is beneficial to most students.\u00a0 In \u201cComplex Mathematical Problem Solving by Individuals and Dyads\u201d, the younger, Grade 5 dyads, performed much better than their older (and more mathematically talented) Grade 6 soloists (Vye, 1997). Two lesser-able heads and better than one more-abled, it seems. How great is that???<\/p>\n

I am not convinced that diving head first into Jasper methodologies is wise, however.\u00a0 The entire premise favours a \u201ctop to bottom\u201d skills approach, where the focus is on higher level thinking, and to scaffold if and when needed.\u00a0 In my experience, this is a disastrous methodology to follow to the tee when teaching mathematics.\u00a0 In order for these higher level problems to be attacked, a base knowledge needs to exist. Otherwise, in the group work, one or two \u201chot shots\u201d will take the lead, the students who don\u2019t understand a stich, get pulled along, everyone advances to the next level, and sure\u2026 Everyone feels good, because the low level students had life jackets on the entire time\u2014of course, they enjoy this approach!<\/p>\n

Borrowing a thought from John-Steiner and Mahn\u2019s 1996-piece, \u201cSociocultural Approaches to Learning and Development: A Vygtoskian Framework\u201d, the authors emphasise the importance of when looking at Vygotskian Theory, to refrain from abstracting portions<\/em> of the theory, which can consequently lead to \u201cdistorted understandings and applications\u201d (p. 204).\u00a0 To me, the Jasper folks have abstracted portions<\/em> of constructivist learning strategies, conducted studies using the best math students or studies where groups can make the struggling kids float, and declared, \u201cHey, we\u2019ve made math fun and relevant!\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of us agree that Piaget and Vygotsky had a lot of things right in their constructivist theories.\u00a0 Both theorists agreed that the material world aids development due to environmental experience (Glassman, 1994). These environmental experiences are often transpiring amongst peer groups, in a social context. Can we not replicate these transformative experiences in our classrooms?<\/p>\n

When students possess self-generated motivation to accomplish a task (due to being adequately challenged), constructivist approaches to learning can flourish (vonGlasersfeld, 1983). But here\u2019s the thing\u2026 according to Vygotsky, the development of thought requires spontaneous (self-generative) concepts to occur in opposition of non-spontaneous concepts (Glassman, 1994).\u00a0 Non-spontaneous concepts can occur through peer interactions, however, they can also occur through instruction, from adult MKOs (more knowledgeable others). Vygotsky himself was privately taught by a mathematician who followed the Socratic method. He learned an incredible amount from his parents and his tutor; his own children were brought up in a similar Socratic environment living in a single room house with 11 other people (please refer to the Vygotsky timeline: http:\/\/vygotsky2016.weebly.com\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Ultimately, I would urge educators to digest methodologies like Jasper in small quantities.\u00a0 These approaches are not the magic pill that will solve all of our problems. I believe that rote learning still has its place in mathematics. (Yup. I said it.) If it is the only approach that one adopts, I would ask that person to get with the program, however. We don\u2019t want to kill the beauty of mathematics for our students, yet students moving onto academic levels of math, need to have the skill set, the automated skill set, in order to succeed and actually understand what the heck they are doing.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still looking for that magic pill— it\u2019s a quest worth pursuing, indeed! I suspect that if someone ever DOES find it though, that it will not consist of just one<\/strong> approach.<\/p>\n

References:<\/p>\n

Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (1992b). The Jasper series as an example of anchored instruction: Theory, program, description, and assessment data.\u00a0Educational Psychologist, 27<\/em>(3), 291-315.<\/p>\n

Glassman, M. (1994). All things being equal: The two roads of Piaget and Vygotsky.\u00a0<\/em>Developmental Review,\u00a014<\/em>(2), 186-214. doi:10.1006\/drev.1994.1008<\/p>\n

John-Steiner, V., & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural approaches to learning and development: A Vygotskian framework.\u00a0<\/em>Educational Psychologist,\u00a031<\/em>(3), 191.<\/p>\n

Shyu, H. Y. C. (2000). Using video\u2010based anchored instruction to enhance learning: Taiwan’s experience.\u00a0British Journal of Educational Technology, 31<\/em>(1), 57-69.<\/p>\n

Von Glasersfeld, E. (2008). Learning as a constructive activity.\u00a0AntiMatters, 2<\/em>(3),\u00a033-49.
\nAvailable online:\u00a0http:\/\/anti-matters.org\/articles\/73\/public\/73-66-1-PB.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Vye, N. et al. (1997). Complex mathematical problem solving by individuals and dyads.\u00a0Cognition and Instruction, 15<\/em>(4), 435-450.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the onset, what\u2019s not to love?\u00a0 Two of the readings that I chose, concluded that students self-reported to enjoying math more, and having less anxiety (CTGV, 1992b; Shyu, 2000). Only one reading reported that students\u2019 problem solving skills improved, but I would speculate that the one study that did not report an increase in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38898,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1669389],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-b-anchored-instruction-symposium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38898"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1374"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1382,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374\/revisions\/1382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}