Lora Haasl, Supervisor of Instructional Innovation & Technology Lab, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, put together a variety of optical illusions and graphics in PowerPoint to get discussion going as participants first enter the room. “Most of these are set to run continuously and to loop until you stop the slideshow,” Haasl explained. “I play music in the background.”

You’ll see two of her chosen illusions here. One is a chalk drawing—to make this truly an opener, ask how this artist has challenged perspective, or what it means to create something larger than one’s self. Or perhaps ask how one can truly interact with one’s work or be truly involved in the process.

From a distance, the second illusion looks like a side view of a grizzled, bearded man. But is it? Using this illusion, one can challenge assumptions or look past the obvious solution to a second, and perhaps better, answer to a problem.

The third illusion appears to be a simple face with stark contrast against the jet-black background. But this illusion can be a starting point for discussions on saying what we mean or dealing with issues before they get out of hand.

Other illusions can be found at Google by clicking on the Images tab and entering Optical Illusions.