Analysis of Multiple Intelligences Theory by Howard Gardner - Term Paper Example

Running Head Multiple Intelligences Multiple Intelligences The theory developed by Gardner in 1993 involves seven intelligences which influence thinking, logic, reason and practice. In 1997, he added three intelligences: emotional, naturalist, and existential. Research results prove that, using in different settings, multiple intelligences help educators to maximize and improve learning outcomes and practical skills. Creating a learning environment that honors and nurtures multiple intelligences in all aspects of communication (educational structures) is a key to a significant return on investment in learning. SmartBoards is one of the best tools which can be easily fit among different intelligences and help teachers to enhance learning process. Multiple Intelligences Multiple intelligences developed by Howard Gardner have a great impact on education process explaining the ways of thinking, problem-solving and logic. Typically these skills cross the disciplines and include such things as communication, collaboration, information management, and higher-order thinking skills such as problem solving. These types of outcomes cannot be measured by written tests; they require performance measurement. Educators who assess by performance believe that being able "to do" is parallel to saying that a student has really learned something, rather than simply memorized it. Literature Review The impact and role of intelligences in education was widely discussed in the literature during 1980s. The first attempts to define and explain this process made by Alfred Binet (1900) who tried to create a measure to predict which youngsters would do well in the primary grades of Parisian schools (Kagan and Kagan 1998). In the mid-1980s, Howard Gardner challenged the belief that IQ was fixed with his work at Harvard University, which was explained in his book Frames of the Mind (1985). He hoped to see society move from testing people to growing people, by focusing on the diverse ways people develop skills important to their lives. He redefined intelligence as the ability to solve problems and fashion products that are valued in a culture or community. His research showed intelligence as more complex, more diverse, and less fixed than originally thought. Garner (1985, 1997) and Sternberg (1985) have argued for specific, multiple domains of intelligence. Today, intelligence is being more broadly conceptualized and defined (Kagan and Kagan 1998). At the beginning of the 21st century, researchers applied Gardner's Theory to instructional technology and distance-based education, to different learning strategies and learning environments. For instance, Milheim and Osciak (2001) examine advantages and benefits of multiple intelligences within online learning environment and come to conclusion that it "can provide multiple avenues for learning based on an individual's preferred style regardless of the discipline or the geographic dispersion of the intended learners" (4). Another layer of literature examines practical application of multiple intelligences in different fields including leadership and employees training, physical education and gifted children. For instance, Kernodle and Mitchell (2004) analyze the benefits of multiple intelligences in teaching tennis at the secondary level or in a college. They find that "offering a variety of activities that enhance different intelligences also helps students who are weak in certain intelligences by giving them the opportunity to improve themselves in those areas" (32). Some researchers examine the role of multiple intelligences in development of gifted and talented children (Fasko 2001); identify sex difference in learning process and perception in children (Furnham and Ward 2001). They find that the role of the teacher is acknowledged in this perspective but only in the context of co-constructing meaning for content and skills. Thus, Kagan and Kagan (1998) admit that this is still the realm of procedural thinking. The interconnection of teacher and student as human beings is not considered. Gardner's Theory Gardner summarized the results into a list of seven intelligences. Gardner believes that all of the intelligences have equal importance. No one is more important than any other. He believes that most people are strong in three or four of the initial seven intelligences. This means people have three or four that can be improved. These are the original seven intelligences: interpersonal, logical and mathematical, spatial and visual, musical, linguistic and verbal, intrapersonal, bodily and kinesthetic (Gardner, 1993). Interpersonal intelligence is an aptitude for understanding other people and processing through interaction with them. Characteristics include empathy, understanding of human nature, and awareness of the goals and intentions of others. Humor and influence may also be strong. Interpersonal intelligence is how people understand each other; it influences how they communicate. Our relationships with others are managed through this intelligence. Logical/mathematical intelligence is an aptitude for processing analytically. It includes being able to calculate, quantify, consider theorems, and carry out complex mathematical steps. Any market-driven culture that values counting money (like the United States) esteems this ability. Spatial/visual intelligence is an aptitude for forming a mental model of the world and being able to play with and change this model in your mind (Gardner 1993). Strongly visual people can think three dimensionally, picturing how to get to places or easily designing products in their mind. The spatial/visual intelligence is composed of seeing, imagining, and creating. Spatial/visual learners need the environment to be aesthetically pleasing. Flickering, harsh, or broken bulbs will deter from their learning, as will clutter. They like sitting where they can see everybody-in a circle or at round tables, for example. Lots of color is inviting, including posters, flowers, pencils, markers, and paper. Visual people like overhead projectors and flipcharts. Musical intelligence is sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone. This aptitude can be found in both performers and listeners. It is the earliest form of human giftedness to emerge in child prodigies, according to Gardner's research. Internal music is a typical phenomenon in people with a strong musical intelligence. Linguistic/verbal intelligence is 'the ability to express thoughts clearly through the spoken or written word. People strong in this aptitude think in words and depend on the spoken word to nurture relationships" (Kagan and Kagan 1998, p. 56). Intrapersonal intelligence is an aptitude for thinking by way of quiet. Consider it a need to be alone. Through self-knowledge created during reflection time, these people make personal choices. Goal orientation, independence, perseverance, and compassion can also characterize intrapersonal strength. Many corporate settings, with rising time constraints, have lost effectiveness in their people because there is little or no intrapersonal time. There is a tremendous need in business to make it safe enough to learn through reflection. Intrapersonal and interpersonal are not mutually exclusive aptitudes. Bodily/kinesthetic intelligence is an aptitude for physical movement. Bodily/kinesthetic is sometimes broken into two types: tactile and kinesthetic. Tactile learners learn through touch and manipulation of objects. Kinesthetic learners involve their whole bodies; they may process by jumping or dancing (Gardner 1993). Linguistic/verbal and logical/mathematical are the only two of the initial seven measured by Binet-like IQ tests (including college admission tests). These accelerated learning practitioners have seen firsthand the power of multiple intelligence as a part of accelerated learning. The core idea is that people have different aptitudes and ways of processing information internally (Kernodle and Mitchell 2004). Following Brualdi (1996): Neurobiological research indicates that learning is an outcome of the modifications in the synaptic connections between cells. Primary elements of different types of learning are found in particular areas of the brain where corresponding transformations have occurred (Brualdi 1996). When the variety of internal processing aptitudes and multiple intelligences is considered, in addition to the plurality of intake styles, it is clear that there is even more possibility of a disconnect. Being measurable was a necessary condition for Gardner because that's the world of research. In a sense, there must be some observable change, which proves or disproves the questions being asked (Fasko 2001). In 1997, Gardner published a white paper evaluating five additional intelligences, thus he proposed to add three new intelligence to the original seven: emotional, naturalist, and existential (Kagan and Kagan 1998). Notice that many of the techniques that work well for intrapersonal intelligence also work well for emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence can make use of the ability to process intrapersonally, to go inside to examine feelings and determine the action that makes sense. The naturalist intelligence may partner with some ability to be alone and process intrapersonally. In addition, many people with a naturalist aptitude also have a bodily /kinesthetic strength, for example, hikers or members of ski patrols. After considering and rejecting a religious aptitude, which he saw as difficult to measure (what with all the cultural influences on initial criteria), Gardner nominated this aptitude. He defined it as an aptitude for knowing why you are here. The existential intelligence also may make use of some ability to process intrapersonally (Kagan and Kagan 1998). People with a passionate existential aptitude can be quite interpersonal as well, for example, evangelists and marketers. One of the challenges that come with the diversity inherent in a multiple-intelligence approach to learning is that measuring success is more complicated. According to Milheim and Osciak (2001): "exposure to person-to-person interaction and engaging and analyzing reactions to thoughts and opinions are the fundamentals of interpersonal intelligence" (p. 355). For example, giving a written test to someone who may not be strongly linguistic/verbal or spatial/visual is not a valid measurement. With standard IQ tests, you measured, you got a number, and you were done. With multiple intelligences, it's more complex (Furnham and Ward 2001). A Technological Component used in Classroom SmartBoard is one of the possible tools used in classroom which helps to enhance instructions and learning. "A smart board is a powerful classroom tool because it enables teachers to use a broad range of teaching strategies supporting multiple individual learning styles among students" (Technology Report 2007). A fundamental shift in what's worth knowing is the shift from the acquisition of factual information that can be demonstrated by pencil-and-paper tests to skills that the student will need to be a productive citizen of the future. This perspective is usually identified with constructivism. The student is no longer considered to be an empty vessel passively receiving knowledge. Smarboard can help to i construct new meaning within the context of what a learner already knows. This is a developmental process where meaning is constructed through transactions between teacher and student. The tremendous potential of this approach is that it can dramatically change the way a teacher teaches (Technology Report 2007). Providing experiences that lead toward a demonstration can be very different than the traditional delivery of curriculum through textbook and worksheets. A real life context now becomes a prime consideration as teachers try to make both the instructional experiences and the performance assessment authentic. A real-life context moves the teacher into integrating the curriculum. SmartBoard demands that there be a wide variety of instructional activities and that not only linguistic and mathematical intelligences be valued. The move toward performance assessment has also included several ongoing measures such as portfolios, journals, interviews, and learning logs. The assumption underlying these is that learning is ongoing and can be optimized by ongoing feedback. This feedback tends to be qualitative in nature and not designed to rank or compare other students. Kernodle and Mitchell (2004) underline that: "When using guidance techniques, the instructor should (1) gradually withdraw the use of the guidance so the learner will not become dependent, and (2) make sure the guidance does not interfere with the integrity of the movement" (p. 30). In the classroom, a SmartBoard tool can encourage learners to minimize their development in intelligences. For instance, SmartBoard helps teachers to create educational materials that involve interpersonal, logical and mathematical, spatial and visual, linguistic and intrapersonal intelligences. A lesson devoted to Shakespeare's plays or Milton can incorporate this tool and develop intelligences mentioned above (Kagan and Kagan 1998). The more intelligences used by the teachers, the more learning, and the better the student is able to compete. The benefit of SmartBoards is that learners are not only strong in three or four intelligences; they have a need, even a hunger, to use all three or four of their strengths. For example, a strongly musical person may be drawn to listen to music, a highly visual person may feel the need to draw, and a highly intrapersonal person will crave being alone. Reflecting on cravings may help a student identify his stronger intelligences. In addition, when designing learning events, and in the classroom, multiple intelligences should be used as a test to ensure that the needs of every learner are met as much as possible (Smith 2002). Conclusion In sum, multiple intelligences propose great opportunities for education and teachers to develop thinking and problem-solving skills. This obvious point speaks to the importance of this approach not just to learning events but to education as a whole. In education, it is important, but not enough, to integrate multiple intelligences into the occurrence of a single lesson or learning event (lesson types). It is challenging to offer new information and format every new exercise in ways that honor all ten of the multiple intelligences, but it is very possible. The difficulty is well rewarded with learning results. Computer-generated projection may be too fancy, and it may interfere with their learning by distracting them with the glamour of the media. Peripheral learning (which means putting learning points on posters around the room before and after the material is covered in class) works well for visual/spatial learners. References 1. Brualdi, A. C. (1996). Multiple Intelligences: Gardner's Theory. ERIC Digest. Retrieved July 11, 2007, from http://www.ericdigests.org/1998-1/multiple.htm 2. Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Basic Books. 3. Fasko, D. (2001). An Analysis of Multiple Intelligences Theory and Its Use with the Gifted and Talented. Roeper Review, 23 (3), 126. 4. Furnham, A., Ward, C. (2001). Sex Differences, Test Experience and the Self-Estimation of Multiple Intelligences. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 30 (2), 52-54. 5. Kagan, S., Kagan, E. (1998). Multiple Intelligences: The Complete Mi Book. Kagan Cooperative Learning. 6. Milheim, W. D., Osciak, S.Y. (2001). Multiple Intelligence and the Design of Web-Based Instruction. International Journal of Instructional Media, 28 (4), 355-361. 7. Technology Report (2007). Retrieved July 11, 2007, from http://www.eastmeadow.k12.ny.us/board/reports/technology_2007_05.pdf 8. Kernodle, M., Mitchell, M. (2004). Using Multiple Intelligences to Teach Tennis: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Has Wide Application, but Few Articles Have Discussed How to Use It to Improve the Teaching of a Specific Unit in Physical Education. JOPERD, 75 (8), 27-32. 9. Smith, M.K. (2002). Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences and Education Retrieved July 11, 2007, from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm Read More