The Jasper series responded to the assumption that students were simply developing their mathematical and scientific skills conceptually and in preparation for testing, without applying skills more deeply. The framework focuses on the idea of developing independent thinkers who can apply skills in the context of meaningful problem-solving situations. Of high importance is the idea that students should not simply respond to ideas that have been posed to them but instead, they must learn to identify the issues and problem on their own (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbelt, 1992).
I agree that students learning competent skills but lacking the ability to apply them in a new, real life situation remains a relevant issue, still 25 years after the Jasper series was developed. Further, I believe that current examination and testing techniques is a significant contributor to this. In the UK, the students in my class have to take an exam to identify which secondary school they will attend. I find myself teaching mathematical topics in depth at the beginning of the year, trying to relate it to real life and really encouraging problem solving. However, by the time the exam comes around, I have been guilty of just teaching the children the quickest method, even if they don’t understand why and I know that they will not be able to apply the concept in a new or more in depth problem solving situation. This is because I feel pressure from parents and admin to achieve certain results. It’s not a great cycle and something I’m trying to find a balance with in my classroom.
Hsin-Yih Cindy Shyu’s (2000) work on using situated learning in Taiwan really interested me. The article describes the high value that both parents and students place on education in Taiwan even claiming that “education is the ladder to success” (p. 59). The idea that many students rely on mastery made me think that perhaps the Encore’s Vacation –a resource with many similarities to the Jasper Project – would be out of place in a culture that uses rote memorization. The study demonstrated a positive change in the students’ attitudes towards mathematics. Further, the study demonstrated that “…anchored instruction obviously contributes to the students’ problem solving abilities” (p. 67). This made me think about my own assumptions of examination pressures and learning.
The Jasper series addresses the above problems by creating instructional videos which are situated in realistic setting with multi-dimensional problems for the students to identify and solve. It uses a cross-curricular approach and has extension activities to further challenge learners. As far as I know, I haven’t discovered any videos similar to the Jasper series. I have used the Khan academy videos for reinforcement and to help bridge the gap for students who had some conceptual holes in certain areas but they do not encourage students to identify and solve the problem in a real life situation.
Has anyone found any video resources, similar to the Jasper Project, that they have used to encourage problem solving in math or science at the elementary level? I’m interested to know what’s out there!
References
Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt. (1992). The Jasper experiment: An exploration of issues in learning and instructional design. Educational Technology Research and Development, 40(1), 65-80.
Hickey, D.T., Moore, A. L. & Pellegrin, J.W. (2001). The motivational and academic consequences of elementary mathematics environments: Do constructivist innovations and reforms make a difference? American Educational Research Journal, 38(3), 611-652
Shyu, H. (2000). Using video-based anchored instruction to enhance learning: Taiwan’s experience. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 31(1), 57-69.
Kathryn,
I feel your pain when it comes to striking a balance between authenticity and test results. It is said over and over again that when teaching authentically, the test results will naturally follow, as it teaching them deeper situated knowledge in engaging ways. However, the piece that many forget is that the speed is never mentioned. When learning in ways that are not simply “drill and repeat,” students are engaged on a deeper level, but not necessarily at a faster pace.
I find this same struggle in my Language Arts classroom. I can inspire them to write more or to take risks by choosing topics that are engaging, but to get them then to progress with specific skills, the speed is slower as I wait for them to naturally come up. However, if reverted to drill and practice, their engagement is gone and they are left disempowered and disinterested in the lesson.
At my school, we use Big Brainz (https://bigbrainz.com/web/) to help reinforce mathematical learning, but as far as I have seen, it is more of review and doing facts in a more friendly, exciting environment, not necessarily engaging deeper level though. However, in our science classrooms, the curriculum has switched to STEMScopes which is a curriculum all built around exploration and hands-on experiments. Students seem to be very interested in this format, yet distinct gaps in their scientific knowledge are being highlighted. Mystery Science (https://mysteryscience.com/r1) seems to be another platform that helps to guide students in more authentic ways through scientific learning.
Yet, with all of these, the test results questions remain. With the pendulum of curriculum and theories constantly swinging, it’s hard to know what is the main factor and if one program really works, as a student would have to be followed from young on. Yet, by that time, technology has changed and new curricula has been adopted. What a cycle we find ourselves in…
-Jonathan-
Hi Jonathan,
You’ve made a really great point about speed. When students are engaging at a deeper level, this can often take longer but really, the semester or time in school always remains constant. Thank you for the website recommendations. I’ve been recommended the Mystery Science website previously but will have a look through bigbraiz. And I couldn’t have said it better myself, we are in a cycle and who knows where it will take us in the next decades!
Kathryn
It is certainly difficult when administration looks for marks over learning. My teachers are quite fortunate as they are challenged to evaluate students equally on knowledge, thinking, communication, and application. I know that the Critical Thinking Consortium has been helpful in guiding my teachers to seamlessly incorporate critical thinking/problem solving into their planning without sacrificing “instruction time.” You may want to check out their website at https://tc2.ca/.
Cheers,
Gordon
Hi Gordon,
Your teachers do indeed seem quite fortunate! It’s a balance I am constantly chasing. Thank you for the website – the websites overarching aims seem to be exactly what I’m looking for!
Kathryn
Hi Kathryn, having taught in the UK I know exactly how you feel. At my school, by “exam season” teachers were holding extra-help sessions for struggling students that focused specifically on just getting students through GCSEs. Encouraging deep connections with the content was pretty much out the window, much less making meaningful connections with the real world. Parent-teacher night was essentially an endless line of parents asking me how “I” was going to increase their students’ grades. Sigh.
Question: What are some things you’ve done to try and swing the balance back toward problem solving? Do you think there’s even any chance of meaningful learning taking precedence over marks when UK schools are so assessment- and data-obsessed?
Speaking of which, that reminds me of a Michael Rosen tweet I saw today: https://twitter.com/michaelrosenyes/status/961524271418834946
For those who can’t view that I’ll transcribe it here:
“First they said they needed data about the children to find out what they’re learning. Then they said they needed data about the children to make sure they are learning. Then the children only learnt what could be turned into data. Then the children became data.”
-Michael Rosen
One more question: What did you mean when you said Encore’s Vacation would be out of place in a culture that uses rote memorization? Living and working in the Middle East, a culture that, traditionally, has used rote memorization at its primary method of “learning”, I’m very curious!
As for your question, I have found video resources that are in a similar vein as the Jasper Project: Twig World – https://www.twig-world.com/
They aren’t quite as open-ended but the videos are amazing! Unfortunately it’s subscription-based 🙁
I have also been considering Edpuzzle as a potential tool for trying to hack together some Jasper-like videos. One could take a YouTube video of a real-life problem, let it play for a while to set the scene, then cut at key points of the video to interject probing questions and exploration activities. I think it could work!
Thanks for getting me thinking and sorry for all the questions. Please, just choose 1 to answer haha 😀
Scott
Hi Scott,
Thank you for your thoughtful post – you’ve given me A LOT to think about! I really empathize with your UK teaching experience, they certainty are assessment and data driven over here.
In response to your first question about shifting back to problem solving – one small thing I do is that I work hard to ALWAYS have mathematical challenges up around the classroom. I have several problems of varying difficultly up and the students know that they can go back to them over the week. This is usually when they are finished the task, which is something I am trying to get away from as I’d like to incorporate these types of activities within the lesson. We also have lots of problem solving sessions in math, working collaboratively. I often use https://nrich.maths.org/ as I find the problems are open-ended and not just finding one answer right away and trying to get students to apply their skills in a new method. Unfortunately, I think it is more difficult to do this consistently in a very regimented system like in the UK. Difficult, but not impossible. I think teachers’ really have to believe in what they are doing as they may have to defend it at points.
To answer your next question, I had thought that educational systems that focused on rote memorization would not be interested in developing deeper problem-solving and thinking skills through video’s like Encore’s Vacation or the Jasper Series but I think this was just my pre-conceived ideas.
Also, I think you’re ideas of taking YouTube videos of real life problems and creating your own Jasper-series type videos.
Thank you again for your post!
Kathryn