Title: Using GK12 Fellow for Enrichment period to motivate single student to achieve higher academic standards

Submitted by: Virginia Young and Robert Turetsky

Short description: We have a student who is far too advanced to remain in remedial classes, however due to social pressures, he refuses to move to a more challenging environment.

Duration of lesson(s): 1 semester, one period (50 minutes) per week

Grade level(s) and/or target group(s): 8^th grade.

Subject(s): Science, specifically paying attention to student’s interests, in this case, optical illusions and the science of human vision.

Technologies used: Academic textbooks, Microsoft Excel, internet resources (E.g. google)

Objectives: We would like to encourage student to increase his science literacy, specifically to learn that science is well within his grasp, and fits into his perspective of “cool” by encouraging him to pursue his personal interests in a setting that minimizes social pressure.  By studying optical illusions in a one-on-one setting, the student can ask questions about natural phenomenon, biology, systems and anatomy.  Now he can identify a problem (e.g. why we see Kanisza’s Triangle, see figure below), design an experiment (under what conditions do we see the triangle), and evaluate the accuracy of the experiment (see if results hold for a number of individuals, including children and adults).  The data is collected by the student individually and with supervision, and shared with the community during the science fair.

Key Questions/Driving Questions: The key question is how we can learn about human vision, the human mind, and how it represents the outside world using simple experiments with optical and auditory illusions.  This is all done with the intention of demonstrating that individual attention can help to motivate students who would otherwise have slipped through the cracks of remedial education. 

Prerequisites and Sequence of Lessons in Unit:  It took teachers attention to identify the aptitude of this special case.  The option to place the student in a more advanced class was given, however the student and his family thought it would create too much pressure from his peers by making him  “different”.  After the student was identified, GK12 fellow was placed with him for one period a week for one-on-one instruction.  The fellow met with him in order to assess his interests, background and knowledge of scientific method. 

Subsequently, we began to explore the specific topic of optical illusions using internet, library and encyclopedia searches.  The student was familiar with the anatomy of the eye, and therefore we went on to discuss how the brain transduces and analyzes visual stimuli.  We also discussed Gestalt grouping principles (without getting into detail of the psychophysics) such as good continuity and closure, in order to motivate how we interpret shapes, lines and colors in order to form the most likely image of the world.  From there, we looked at a large number of illusions, because optical illusions arise from when that world image can be interpreted in a number of ways.  There is an emphasis on vocabulary words, especially the different types of perception cues used by the eye.  Words such as “grouping” have specific scientific meaning in the context of perception, and therefore their understanding should not be taken for granted.

The next phase is to specify an experiment.  Here we look at Kanisza’s triangle and determine how close together the elements need to be placed in order to see the illusory surface.  We experiment by printing out triangles of different sizes and with features across different distances, and asking students if they see a shape or not.

Finally, we are going to use Microsoft Excel to plot various statistics, such as the number of students who see the illusion at a given distance, or how close together the features need to be in order to see the illusory contour. 

Evaluation/Assessments:  This study of optical illusions is standard in the field of psychophysics, with a standard procedure and method.  The criteria that we use is how well the student met these standards.  Since this is an individual and continuous assessment, we have the flexibility to mold and shape the lesson plan as time progresses.  The main aim is to see more excitement about science and academics in general.