MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

What Is Intelligence?

 

Traditional views of intelligence base human intellect on the results of paper and pencil tests and statistical analysis. If a test is reasonably challenging, some students score better and some worse. Those who perform better than most are said to have a higher amount of something called "intellect," as expressed in a number or "quotient" - hence the term Intelligence Quotient, or "IQ." Traditional views assume that intellect is an intrinsic quality, like height or hair color, something we can measure and that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. Classroom teachers with a traditional view of intelligence believe some students perform tasks better than others due to different intellectual capacities that are fixed and unchangeable.

 

The substance of intelligence will probably always be debated. On a practical level, IQ is defined by the tests employed to measure it. Researchers suggest that intelligence has many components, resulting in one IQ that measures a singular intellect.

 

For more information Visit the Brain Connection Website: http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/mult-intelligence

 

 

 

Web Definitions of Intelligence

• the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience

• Intelligence is a property of mind that encompasses many related mental abilities, such as the capacities to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence&usg=AFQjCNHunZOW9eg_YvCjL198GsZ7iOnEVw">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence

• ability to think and learn: the ability to learn facts and skills and apply them, especially when this ability is highly developed

www.encarta.msn.com

 

Who Is Howard Gardner?

 

Professor, author and champion of multiple intelligence theory. SEE FULL BIOGRAPHY.  SEE BOOKS.

(Howard Gardner 1999: 180-181)

 

I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place. Knowledge is not the same as morality, but we need to understand if we are to avoid past mistakes and move in productive directions. An important part of that understanding is knowing who we are and what we can do... Ultimately, we must synthesize our understandings for ourselves. The performance of understanding that try matters are the ones we carry out as human beings in an imperfect world which we can affect for good or for ill.

 

 

Types of Intelligence

 

In American schools, much of the assessment has been based on the pencil/paper tests referred to earlier. This is fine for those students that are good at analytical or linguistic tasks. It means though, that students with other abilities fail to achieve on these tests.

According to Howard Gardner there are Multiple Intelligences (MI). There are eight different types of intelligence (seven originally) which include:

• Musical Intelligence (music smart)
• Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (body smart)
• Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (number/reasoning smart)
• Spatial Intelligence (picture smart)
• Linguistic Intelligence (word smart)
• Interpersonal Intelligence (people smart)
• Intrapersonal Intelligence (self smart)
• Naturalist Intelligence (nature smart)

A person does not possess a single intelligence. Rather they will have areas in which they are stronger or more inclined. There is a belief that any of these intelligences can be strengthed through practice.

 

Howard Gardner defined the first seven intelligences in Frames of mind (1983) and added the last one in intelligence reframed (1999). He described the historical development of the concept of intelligence in an essay entitled Intelligence in Seven Steps.

 

 

 

LdPride and MIReasearch offer helpful information and signs to what Gardners theory looks likes in the individual and in students.

http://www.ldpride.net

http://www.miresearch.org/mitheory.php

 

Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence: To think in sounds, rhythms, melodies and rhymes.

These musically inclined learners think in sounds, rhythms and patterns. They immediately respond to music either appreciating or criticizing what they hear. Many of these learners are extremely sensitive to environmental sounds (e.g. crickets, bells, dripping taps).

Skills:  singing, whistling, playing musical instruments, recognizing tonal patterns, composing music, remembering melodies, understanding the structure and rhythm of music

Vocal Ability: a good voice for singing in tune and in harmony

Instrumental Skill: skill and experience in playing a musical instrument

Composer: makes up songs or poetry and has tunes on her mind

Appreciation: actively enjoys listening to musicof some kind

Career Interests:  musician, disc jockey, singer, composer

 

 

 

 

Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence: To think in movements and to use the body in skilled and complicated ways for expressive and goal directed activities.

These learners express themselves through movement. They have a good sense of balance and eye-hand co-ordination. (e.g. ball play, balancing beams). Through interacting with the space around them, they are able to remember and process information.

 

Skills: dancing, physical co-ordination, sports, hands on experimentation, using body language, crafts, acting, miming, using their hands to create or build, expressing emotions through the body

Athletics: ability to move the whole body for physical activities such as balancing, coordination and sports

Dexterity: to use the hands with dexterity and skill for detailed activities and expressive moment.

Career Interests:  Athletes, physical education teachers, dancers, actors, firefighters, artisans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: To think of cause and effect connections and to understand relationships among actions, objects or ideas.

These learners think conceptually in logical and numerical patterns making connections between pieces of information. Always curious about the world around them, these learner ask lots of questions and like to do experiments

 

Skills: problem solving, classifying and categorizing information, working with abstract concepts to figure out the relationship of each to the other, handling long chains of reason to make local progressions, doing controlled experiments, questioning and wondering about natural events, performing complex mathematical calculations, working with geometric shapes

Everyday Math: performs well in math at school

School Math: used math effectively in everyday life

Everyday Problem Solving: able to use logical reasoning to solve everyday problems, curiosity

Strategy Games: good at games of skill and strategy.

Career Interests:  Scientists, engineers, computer programmers, researchers, accountants, mathematicians

 

 

 

 

 

Visual/Spatial Intelligence: To think in pictures and to perceive the visual world.

These learners tend to think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information. They enjoy looking at maps, charts, pictures, videos, and movies.

 

Skills: puzzle building, reading, writing, understanding charts and graphs, a good sense of direction, sketching, painting, creating visual metaphors and analogies (perhaps through the visual arts), manipulating images, constructing, fixing, designing practical objects, interpreting visual images.

Space Awareness: to solve problems of spatial orientation and moving objects through space such as driving a car.

Working with Objects: to make, build, fix, or assemble.

Artistic Design: to create artistic designs, drawings, paintings.

Career Interests: navigators, sculptors, visual artists, inventors, architects, interior designers, mechanics, engineers

 

 

 

 

 

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence: To think in words and to use language to express and understand complex meanings.

These learners have highly developed auditory skills and are generally elegant speakers. They think in words rather than pictures.

 

Skills: listening, speaking, writing, story telling, explaining, teaching, using humor, understanding the syntax and meaning of words, remembering information, convincing someone of their point of view, analyzing language usage.

Expressive Sensitivity:skill in the use of words for expressive and practical purposes

Rhetorical Skill: to use language effectively for interpersonal negotiation and persuasion

Written-academic: to use words well in writing reports, letters, stories, verbal memory, reading/writing.

Career Interests: Poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, translator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interpersonal Intelligence: To think about and understand another person.

These learners try to see things from other people's point of view in order to understand how they think and feel. They often have an uncanny ability to sense feelings, intentions and motivations. They are great organizers, although they sometimes resort to manipulation. Generally they try to maintain peace in group settings and encourage co-operation.They use both verbal (e.g. speaking) and non-verbal language (e.g. eye contact, body language)  to open communication channels with others.

 

Skills: seeing things from other perspectives (dual-perspective), listening, using empathy, understanding other people's moods and feelings, counseling, co-operating with groups, noticing people's moods, motivations and intentions, communicating both verbally and non-verbally, building trust, peaceful conflict resolution, establishing positive relations with other people.

Social Sensitivity: :sensitivity to & understanding of other people's moods, feelings & point of view

Social Persuasion: ability for influencing other people

Interpersonal Work: interest and skill for jobs involving working with people.

Career Interests: Counselor, salesperson, politician, business person

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intrapersonal Intelligence:To think about and understand one's self.

These learners try to understand their inner feelings, dreams, relationships with others, and strengths and weaknesses.

 

Skills: Recognizing their own strengths and weaknesses, reflecting and analyzing themselves, awareness of their inner feelings, desires and dreams, evaluating their thinking patterns, reasoning with themselves, understanding their role in relationship to others

Personal Knowledge/Efficacy: awareness of one's own ideas, abilities;able to achieve goals.

Effectiveness: ability to relate oneself well to others and manage personal relationships.

Calculations: meta-cognition "thinking about thinking' involving numerical operations

Spatial Problem Solving:self awareness to problem solve while moving self or objects through space

Career Interests: Researchers, theorists, philosophers

 

 

 

 

Naturalist: To understand the natural world including plants, animals and scientific studies.

To recognize and classify individuals, species and ecological relationships. To interact effectively with living creatures and discern patterns of life and natural forces.

Animal Care: skill for understanding animal behavior, needs, characteristics

Plant Care: ability to work with plants, i.e., gardening, farming and horticulture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find out your score in each category of intelligence!

This form can help you determine which intelligences are strongest for you.  If you're a teacher or tutor, you can also use it to find out which intelligences your learner uses most often.  Follow the link below to a form with 56 questions to find out your scores for all eight intelligences listed above.

http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html

 

 

 

Spiritual Intelligence?

It seems more responsible to carve out that area of spirituality closest 'in spirit' to the other intelligences and then, in the sympathetic manner applied to naturalist intelligence, ascertain how this candidate intelligence fares. In doing so, I think it best to put aside the term spiritual, with its manifest and problematic connotations, and to speak instead of an intelligence that explores the nature of existence in its multifarious guises. Thus, an explicit concern with spiritual or religious matters would be one variety - often the most important variety - of an existential intelligence. HG

 

Existential Intelligence?

Existential intelligence, a concern with 'ultimate issues',is, thus, the next possibility that Howard Gardner considers - and he argues that it 'scores reasonably well on the criteria.' However, empirical evidence is sparse - and although a ninth intelligence might be attractive, Howard Gardner is not disposed to add it to the list. 'I find the phenomenon perplexing enough and the distance from the other intelligences vast enough to dictate prudence - at least for now'

 

 

Smith, Mark K. (2002, 2008) 'Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences', the encyclopedia of informal education, http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm.

 

 

Some caution must be observed before accepting this theory.

 

First the theory was proposed in 1983, there have been no published empirical test of the theory as a whole.   Given that a major goal of science is empirical tests of the theory as a whole.  Given that a major goal of science is empirically to test theories, this fact is something of a disappointment but certainly suggested the need for such testing to occur.  (p427)

 

Even if one accepts Gardner’s criteria for defining intelligence, it is not clear whether the eight or ten intelligences proposed by Gardner are the only ones that would fit.  For example, might there be a sexual intelligence?  And are these intelligences really intelligences, per se, or are some of them better label talents?  Obviously, the answer to this question is definitional, and hence there may be no ultimate answer at all.  (p428)

 

 

 

Sternberg, Robert J. International Handbook of Intelligence Cambridge University Press 2004

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Categorize Information and facts about your topic
• Compare and/or contrast a topic using Graphs
• Create a Venn Diagram Create a Pamphlet of info
• Create and conduct an Experiment
• Create Word Puzzles for your classmates
• Create a Timeline
• Develop a Fact file
• Develop a Game about your topic
• Develop a Memory System based on numbers/patterns
• Interpret data from your topic area
• Keep a Journal on your topic
• Produce a Document in Excel
• Translate data from a variety of sources
• Make a Calendar related to your topic
• Develop and Present a Database
• Use your deductive reasoning skills
• Write a computer program or modify an existing one
• Write a Guided Visual Imagery
• Write a Poem or an Essay
• Write an Editorial Essay

• Build or Construct a Model
• Choreograph a dance to explain something
• Conduct a class demonstration
• Conduct an Experiment
• Create a Board game
• Develop a Memory System based on Movements
• Devise a scavenger hunt on your topic of study
• Develop a television program
• Explain something using only movement
• Invent a floor game for your class
• Perform a Skit - Present your info using sign language
• Role Play an interpretation of your topic

• Change words to an existing song so that it teaches something about your topic
• Create a Musical Game
• Create a Music Collage
• Create a Radio Program
• Find a new use for Music Technology
• Lead a Choral Reading
• Make an Audio Tape
• Sing or Rap a song that explains your topic
• Write a short musical about your topic
• Write song lyrics for your content area

• Create a display/visual with objects from Nature
• Find problems in nature related to you subject
• Find examples of things in Nature related to your topic
• Observe and/or categorize a species of
• Observe and/or categorize the behaviors of
• Plan an Outdoor Classroom
• Teach your classmates about a scientific tool
• Find Global Concerns related to your topic

 

Teaching Strategies:

Using Multiple Intelligences in Teaching History

 

I find it challenging to come up with ideas for teaching history that will engage and motivate students, especially creative learning activities and assessments that will let them exhibit their various intelligences.  This link (http://www.ctn.state.ct.us/civics/gardner.asp ) is a chart that suggests teaching activities, teaching materials and instructional strategies for using MI in teaching social studies.   Although it’s nice to those ideas laid out in a convenient format, I prefer more detailed examples, and ideally I need to talk with other teachers, participate in a workshop or see an amazing presentation in order to really get myself thinking.  The Digital Edge Learning Interchange (part of the Apple Learning Interchange) has a variety of ‘exhibit’ lessons by teachers on a variety of topics and allows me to have a similar experience, but in an online environment.  The site is well laid out and each exhibit is broken down into sections that include the lesson, professional standards, content standards, assessment, student work samples, reflections and resources.  What I find really appealing about this site is that it includes not only written explanation, but also video clips of the teacher’s explanations for rationale and process, the actual lesson that was taught and student reflections.  It appeals to me as a visual learner to have the videos as an option and seeing the students in action makes it real.  Having examples of handouts to students, rubrics and examples of student work also helps me to imagine how I would adopt these ideas for my own teaching. 

 

 

The two exhibits that I viewed in detail were teacher Kim DiBiase’s lessons (http://newali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1000328/Multiple_Intelligences.html) entitled ‘A Presentation to the Sultan’ and ‘Mingling at the Renaissance Ball.’ In video clips, her ideas were clearly presented and she explains how a focus on Multiple Intelligences is integrated into the lessons.  I think her approaches and learning activities would really appeal to my students by giving them variety, choice and the chance to move around!  I found her idea of using an ‘interactive notebook’ particularly interesting and this has me thinking about how I could modify that concept and apply it to a classroom where all students have a laptop and prefer to use digital tools rather than draw/diagram on paper. 

 

 

  

Lesson Ideas

The link below gives a variety of different lesson plans that use Multiple Intelligences based on the work of Howard Gardner.

http://www.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/lessons/MI/miindex.htm

 

Another link that has a variety of MI lesson plans:

[http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/index.html]

 

MI lesson plans for the LD learner.

http://www.ldonline.org/questions/teaching

 

A vast series of charts showing suggested MI activities by subject is here. (These may be standard lists that appear elsewhere.)

 

Having trouble figuring out what a lesson plan would look like that incorporates MI? Check out this simple sample.

 

Also check out the Three Types of Implementation Exercises at http://www.lth3.k12.il.us/rhampton/mi/LessonPlanIdeas.htm#Lesson%20Plan%20Guide. This chart looks at three exercises for "tapping into the multiple intelligences of your students," including learning centers, simulations and presentations.

• For learning centers, types of activities and materials are suggested to apply to many MI strengths, by subject. Such centers (or stations) allow you to present a wide range of mini-activities, appealing to students with different learning styles and MI profiles, around the same theme.
• Simulations allow students to work in a real-world context that is safe, yet allows for repeated and intensive practice. The simulations suggested are role-playing, debating, and simulation software, each of which has its own benefits for differentiating by MI.
• Presentations require the student to "understand the subject matter, the psychology of the planned audience, different presentation strategies, and how to organize the information in the most efficient and effective manner."

 

I've employed several different strategies in order to reach certain groups at various times in my teaching career. These include:

For the linguistically focused - with an emphasis on the verbal:

 

• prompting them with questions that they needed to be asking themselves.
• Having students explain a problem to another student outloud. This system works very well in mathematics, physics and chemistry. A problem written out in mathematical form sounds very different, when properly pronounced, then it might seem on paper to the untrained eye.
• giving them a smiley face on a post it note to talk to. When we discovered they could successfully complete any problem when they spoke about it I provided a "friend" for them to speak with. The only challenge was getting a student to speak quietly enough that they didn't disturb their classmates.

 

For the bodily-kinesthetic - in other words those that need to be moving:

 

• allowing students to fidget. Giving them a worry stone to handle during class, the trick with this is to find something that students can move that won't disrupt class or make much noise. Many of my students become constant pen flippers as well - which works great as long as they don't drop them!
• when there is a problem type which will always require the same steps to be completed I write/print out each step on a single sheet of paper and put those on the floor. I then literally have my students step through a problem, completely each step in the process when they reach that set of directions.
• When talking to students about parabolas and which direction they open, about horizontal or vertical lines, or about lines and what a positive/negative slope means I have them use arm movements to show the directions and shape that the graph would take. (this is sometimes useful for spatial learners as well)
• I ask students that need to moving to help me hand out the scissors, rulers or whatever other resource we are using. This gives them chance to do something constructive with their energy, which is still under my control.

 

For the interpersonal

 

• having students answer each others questions or explain a problem
• a recent idea, which I have yet to try but am excited about, is to have my students work in pairs telling them that they will be graded according to how their pair does. So if Sam and Jane sit together Sam will be marked according to Jane's work and Jane according to Sam's work. This will be a way of making them responsible for the other student's understanding, forcing them to talk together and make sure that they are truly collaborating.

 

For the musically inclined

 

• putting important formulas to a rhythm/song. I've done this so much with certain topics that I now have to sing the song to remember the quadratic formula as well!

   

• giving students a rhythm for each step in a problem. This is based on the number of variables, which side of an equation, the type of operation that is needed. I've found that when these students associate a rhythm with each step they find it much easier to remember all ofthe steps in order.

   

• I have used the Elements Song and the Large Hadron Collider Rap to show them that some science can be put to music in a fun way. For those that enjoy music, it has helped to maintain their interest in the topic.

 

 

 

Multiple Intelligences Lesson in Biology

Use of multimedia resources

 

Biology lends itself well to the integration of multiple intelligences and multimedia.  The use of various types of multimedia in classroom instruction helps in diversifying instruction and appealing to various intelligence types.  In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the accessibility of quality multimedia products.  Many of these applications are free to the general public via the Internet.  Some examples of free multimedia biology-related Internet sites, which give a user the opportunity to utilize many different types of intelligences, are as follows:

In addition to the above sites, there is also Labs On-Line which provides interactive, inquiry based biology simulations and exercises aimed at students in AP Biology.  By incorporating the use of such sites in the classroom, the learning shifts from teacher-centered to student-centered; thereby allowing each student to take control of their own learning.  Integrating lessons with biology-related Internet sites empowers students to explore their interest and also increase motivation and involvement, reduce learning time, and increase content retention over time.  In conclusion, having teachers incorporate various techniques and resources in their lessons to address multiple intelligences diversifies the lessons and makes it more interesting both for the teacher and students. 

http://www.angelfire.com/de2/dalick/researchMI.htm#integration