The Jasper Series was written by the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt and tested in classrooms in the 1990-91 school year. It is a series of short (15-20 minute) videos produced in laserdisk format that detail situations in which students must solve complex mathematical problems. The series follows a character named Jasper Woodbury as he encounters several life situations such as buying a boat and hiking into a meadow where he must rescue a wounded eagle. At the end of each video, students are presented with a challenge involving several mathematical calculations, and they must solve the challenge before they view the remainder of the video that shows solutions.
My Impressions of the Series
My impression of the series is a positive one. I believe that students will become more interested in math by knowing how math fits into everyday life. The Jasper character and his friends seem like ordinary people, yet the developers of the series found ways to "sneak" the math in without having it overpower the story line. I asked my 10-year-old what he thought of the idea of viewing the Jasper Series and then doing math challenges based on the video, and he thought that it was a good idea. In his words, "Math is boring, because you just learn one thing and do the questions, learn one thing and do the questions..." Although the Jasper Series wouldn't be able to compete with many of the shows children are watching these days, the whole concept sounds much more exciting than doing page after page in a textbook.
Questions as an instructor