Landmatics Blueprint: Guided Discovery
Joel Galbraith & Min Jeong Lee
Theory Author:
Lev Landa
Content Area:
Audience:
Art, Visual Literacy & Communication
6th grade art students
Overview:
This theory seeks to teach general methods, processes and strategies of higher order thinking
and is deemed appropriate for all types of content. (Landa , p.344)
Overall Objective:
Students will be able to identify the illusion pictures by applying perceptual principles, and
fluidly alternate “seeing” either image or perspective.
A number of instructional objectives are involved with guided discovery in Landamatics
(Landa, 350):
1) The student’s independent discovery of types of visual illusions
2) Framing the concept’s logically correct definition
3) The independent discovery of a system of mental operations for applying the concept
4) Learning through practicing how to apply the method.
5) Formulation of discovered method
6) Learning through practice how to apply the method
7) Internalization of method’s instructions
8) Automatization of method’s operations (mastery)
Step 1: Guide the students to discover a system of mental operations underlying a general
method of thinking.
Pedagogical Actions:
Give the students a problem and have them solve/perform it:
Show examples of optical illusions with which they may be familiar,
and ask students what they need to consciously do and know in order
to recognize the illusion based on the factual, and principle knowledge
of visual system.
(Do you see a cube missing a corner, or a box in the corner of a room?)
(What do you see, An Eskimo or an Indian chief?)
Step 2: Help the student to become aware of what they did in their minds when performing
the task and then to formulate a method that corresponds to it.
Pedagogical Actions:
Ask the students to formulate a detailed set of instructions and write them down on the paper.
If they have difficulty formulating the instructions, explain how to formulate the instruction.
If not, move onto the next step.
Step 3: Help the student to apply the discovered method.
Pedagogical Actions:
Have the students practice applying the instructions which they
formulated the illusion to new optical illusion.
Explain that students should use the instruction in a step-by-step
manner.
(Can you easily identify and rotate seeing three faces?)
Step 4: Help the students to internalize the method.
Pedagogical Actions:
Give the students another problem (Show them another
illusion image), and let them practice using self-instructions
without looking at instructions.
(Which center circle is larger?)
Step 5: Help the students to automatize the method.
Pedagogical Actions:
Give the students another problem (Show them another illusion
image), and let them solve the problem (identify the illusion) very
quickly without using even self-instruction.
(Which are bumps and impressions? Force them inside out?)
Step 6: Increase the degree of generality.
Pedagogical Actions:
Give the students a problem within
different context (3D illusion): Why
one will have difficulty seeing 3D
illusion images correctly. Ask
students to solve the problem based
on the former formulated method.
Ask the students to actively think
what they have done in their head to
solve the problem, and have them
formulate the more general algorithm
of solving problem.
Have them solve the problem
according to the method. (Repeat steps 3-5)
(Can this be built?)
Source:
Landa, L. N. (1999). Teaching general methods of thinking. Ch15 in Instructional Design Theories and Models:
A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, Volume II, (pp 397-424) C. M Reigeluth (ed.) Mahwah NJ.
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.