Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl
the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects,
then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and
observations.
Today's article features superheroes, and one professor's ideas on how they can be used to teach science in the classroom. Hawkeye, the master archer hero from the movie The Avengers, is the article's example for how to teach science relating to the human (and avian) eye, DNA, genetic engineering techniques, and transgenetics. How?
Well... the super hero Hawkeye is so named because he has superhuman reaction speeds and superhuman eyesight, roughly on par with that of many birds of prey. You can take that information and lead right into a discussion of the anatomy of an eyeball, human versus eagle or hawk eyeballs, what a human sees in a picture versus what a hawk would see, or even start a discussion on how one would give a human similar vision to Hawkeye's using genetic modifications.
Such a discussion could also lead to superhero themed homework, suggests the article, with students calculating the limitations of his vision and how he might defeat supervillains under specific circumstances.
If this all sounds strange to you, then perhaps you're not familiar with teaching for special interests. Some autistic individuals develop hobbies and dedicate themselves to those hobbies, to the point where they aren't interested in other activities. This presents a challenge in schooling, because not everything they teach in school is useless. (But I was definitely told I wouldn't have a calculator everywhere I went. Hello from my tablet, which I carry everywhere and which definitely has a calculator!)
So while efforts should be made to allow autistic children to develop these hobbies, efforts also should be made to tie those hobbies to daily living skills, and academic subjects. This can be challenging at first, but with practice and creativity, it becomes much easier.
How far can Hawkeye see if it's dusk and his vision is roughly that of a hawk's? (biology, research) If Hawkeye needs to shoot down a bad guy from 100 feet away, how much force does he need to put behind his arrow? (physics, math) Can you create a short story about Hawkeye defeating his former mentor, Swordsman, in 2 double-spaced pages? (literature, writing)
This doesn't have to be strictly the teacher's area, either. Parents can take this technique and use it with mainstream homework. Math problems can be reflavored to be Hawkeye-related, using the same essential numbers in the stories. All the child's short stories for English class can be stories about Hawkeye. Biology projects can be on hawks. Physics projects can be on archery.
In all honesty, when I was growing up, I, like most students, found the basic math problems and logic problems in textbooks atrociously boring. Adding in facets of pop culture, like superheroes, would probably have helped my attitude towards learning, and perhaps even the attitudes of my peers. People in general prefer information that seems relevant to their lives, after all. And in some senses, autistic people are just normal people, only moreso.
Today's article features superheroes, and one professor's ideas on how they can be used to teach science in the classroom. Hawkeye, the master archer hero from the movie The Avengers, is the article's example for how to teach science relating to the human (and avian) eye, DNA, genetic engineering techniques, and transgenetics. How?
Well... the super hero Hawkeye is so named because he has superhuman reaction speeds and superhuman eyesight, roughly on par with that of many birds of prey. You can take that information and lead right into a discussion of the anatomy of an eyeball, human versus eagle or hawk eyeballs, what a human sees in a picture versus what a hawk would see, or even start a discussion on how one would give a human similar vision to Hawkeye's using genetic modifications.
Such a discussion could also lead to superhero themed homework, suggests the article, with students calculating the limitations of his vision and how he might defeat supervillains under specific circumstances.
If this all sounds strange to you, then perhaps you're not familiar with teaching for special interests. Some autistic individuals develop hobbies and dedicate themselves to those hobbies, to the point where they aren't interested in other activities. This presents a challenge in schooling, because not everything they teach in school is useless. (But I was definitely told I wouldn't have a calculator everywhere I went. Hello from my tablet, which I carry everywhere and which definitely has a calculator!)
So while efforts should be made to allow autistic children to develop these hobbies, efforts also should be made to tie those hobbies to daily living skills, and academic subjects. This can be challenging at first, but with practice and creativity, it becomes much easier.
How far can Hawkeye see if it's dusk and his vision is roughly that of a hawk's? (biology, research) If Hawkeye needs to shoot down a bad guy from 100 feet away, how much force does he need to put behind his arrow? (physics, math) Can you create a short story about Hawkeye defeating his former mentor, Swordsman, in 2 double-spaced pages? (literature, writing)
This doesn't have to be strictly the teacher's area, either. Parents can take this technique and use it with mainstream homework. Math problems can be reflavored to be Hawkeye-related, using the same essential numbers in the stories. All the child's short stories for English class can be stories about Hawkeye. Biology projects can be on hawks. Physics projects can be on archery.
In all honesty, when I was growing up, I, like most students, found the basic math problems and logic problems in textbooks atrociously boring. Adding in facets of pop culture, like superheroes, would probably have helped my attitude towards learning, and perhaps even the attitudes of my peers. People in general prefer information that seems relevant to their lives, after all. And in some senses, autistic people are just normal people, only moreso.
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