It culminates in an informal classroom debate where groups present their arguments about how far light goes and respond to questions from other students. This is a very common idea for students to come into the classroom believing. Understanding this theory involved the coordination of a lot of different ideas about light.
Students come into the classroom with a great deal of first-hand experience with light.
Students often do not have a concept of light as a form of energy traveling through space. Many students do not understand that vision involves light entering the eyes. They often speak of the eyes as playing a more active role than just light detection. Similarly, students have a range of ideas about light-related equipment such as telescopes and binoculars. In the KIE approach to instruction, we encourage the students to express their scientific ideas about phenomena, reflect upon those ideas individually, and discuss them with others.