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Effects of Multiple Intelligences on Instruction
Taking Center Stage, California Department of Education, 2001, pp. 140-145.
Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences during the past two decades is significant. He defines intelligence as “the ability to solve problems or fashion products that are valued in at least one culture.” Conventional intelligence tests, he emphasizes, are unable to estimate a product’s value or an individual’s ability to produce a product. His theory appears to be particularly true outside one’s own cultural experience and may help to explain why multicultural classrooms often challenge teachers and students as they seek to assign values to one another’s unique contributions.
Gardner has identified seven intelligences: verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical/rhythmic, visual/spatial, body/kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Everyone, he contends, has these intelligences in varying degrees. He and his colleagues continue to engage in significant research designed to confirm the theoretical basis of their work and, more important, develop practical ways to use their findings to improve teaching and learning. Teachers who use multiple-intelligence theories seek to present subject matter in ways that respond to the multiple intelligences of their students. Language, numbers, environment, sound, physical movement, and social skills, for example, are used to carry out various instructional approaches.1
(See also “Multiple Intelligences Contribute to the Learning Potential of all Students,” at the end of this section.)
Effects of Learning Styles on Instruction
Attempts to define learning styles are intended to reveal how students differ in the ways they learn. Although all students can learn, they process and absorb new information differently. Twenty-one learning-style elements affect students’ motivation and achievement. Students may perform poorly in a given subject not because they cannot learn but because the strategy used to teach them was inconsistent with their learning styles. And teachers and students alike often confuse mismatches in styles of teaching and learning with lack of ability. If underachievers are taught in ways that complement their strengths, research has found, they can increase their scores on standardized tests significantly. For example, students who are hearing oriented learn and recall information when they hear it. And students with more developed kinesthetic abilities may need to experience physically what they are to learn through such strategies as role playing and the use of manipulatives.2
Some ways to adapt the environment to accommodate the learning styles of students are listed as follows:
- Noise. Students who prefer a quiet, relaxed work environment for independent study are provided with individual desks or carrels and are allowed to listen to soft music. Those students who wish total quiet are provided headphones without cords.
- Light. Many students prefer to work with less light, particularly to avoid the glare of fluorescent lighting. Separate switches control several banks of lights in the classroom. Some banks have had all but one fluorescent tube removed. For those concerned about the effects of reduced lighting on students’ eyes, current research reveals that even when the light is reduced markedly, the eyes will not be injured.
- Temperature. Mental work is done most effectively in a cool environment. Thermostats are set to 65 degrees. Students who prefer a warmer classroom are urged to wear sweaters, and those who prefer a cooler classroom are urged to wear layered clothing.
- Design. The aesthetics of the learning environment can affect students’ perceptions about learning negatively or positively. A neat, clean, graffiti-free classroom is essential. The walls are painted in pleasing pastel colors, and wall decorations show the work of serious students. Evidence of work related to the content and performance standards is displayed prominently.
- Sociological stimuli. Students are engaged in learning activities emphasizing independent work. They work in pairs and in small groups. Those who need special supervision by the teacher (e.g., vision-impaired, hearing-impaired, and emotionally troubled students) are seated near the front of the room or near the teacher’s desk.
- Perception centers. Instruction within the classroom or the instructional media center provides for auditory and tactile-kinesthetic learning modes, including access to listening centers and computers.
- Intake (high metabolic rates). Provision is made for a limited number of snack times during scheduled classes. Only healthful foods are provided in school vending machines.
Other learning styles are also worth considering. Sensitivity to the various learning styles of students on the part of teachers and principals is consistent with the attention paid by employers to the work environment of their employees.
Students need to be aware of their schools’ efforts to respond to at least some aspects of their learning styles. The flexibility provided in a classroom adapted to differences in learning styles carries significant personal responsibilities for students. They should discuss the concept of learning styles with their teachers and should be urged to suggest improvements in their classrooms to enhance their learning. Those who identify the kind of learning environment in which they are the most productive should be asked to share that information with their parents, who then should be urged to create appropriate settings for study at home.
There are no good or bad learning styles—just differences in learning that frequently continue into adult life. Teachers and principals are aware of the kinds of work environments in which they experience the greatest sense of their own productivity. Helping students identify their learning styles and providing them with opportunities to capitalize on them are worthy goals. That process should be repeated with every new class at the beginning of the school year and with individual students who transfer in during the year.
It may take three to five years to develop learning environments responsive to the factors that influence effective learning. To do so is a sound educational investment. Providing for differences in individual learning styles benefits a whole range of students, including those identified as being learning disabled or experiencing attention deficit disorders.
Multiple Intelligences Contribute to the Learning
Potential of All Students
Harvard professor Howard Gardner has identified, through his extensive research, “seven intelligences” present to some extent in every individual. These intelligences, in combination, influence thinking and learning. The categories identified for each type of intelligence suggest useful instructional emphases for developing the learning potential of all students.
How We
Verbal/Linguistic
- Reading
- Vocabulary
- Formal speech
- Journal/diary keeping
- Creative writing
- Poetry
- Verbal debate
- Impromptu speaking
- Humor/jokes
- Storytelling
Body/Kinesthetic
- Folk/creative dancing
- Role playing
- Physical gestures
- Drama
- Martial arts
- Body language
- Physical exercise
- Mime
- Invention
- Sports games
Intrapersonal
- Silent reflection methods
- Metacognition techniques
- Thinking strategies
- Emotional processing
- “Know-thyself” procedures
- Practice of mindfulness
- Focusing/concentration skills
- Higher-order reasoning
- Complex guided imagery
- Centering practices
Interpersonal
- Giving feedback
- Intuiting others’ feelings
- Using cooperative learning strategies
- Communicating person to person
- Practicing empathy
- Dividing work
- Developing collaboration skills
- Receiving feedback
- Sensing others’ motives
- Participating in group projects
Musical/Rhythmic
- Rhythmic patterns
- Vocal sounds/tones
- Musical composition/creation
- Percussion vibrations
- Humming
- Environmental sounds
- Singing
- Tonal patterns
- Musical performance
Visual/Spatial
- Guided imagery
- Active imagination
- Color schemes
- Patterns/designs
- Painting/drawing
- Mind mapping
- Pretending
- Sculpture
- Pictures
Logical/Mathematical
- Abstract symbols and formulas
- Outlining
- Graphic organizers
- Number sequences
- Calculation
- Deciphering of codes
- Forcing of relationships
- Syllogisms
- Problem solving
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