The day I walked into the sixth grade classroom at County Elementary, for my very first job of Substitute Teaching, I was nervous and wondered to myself, “How am I going to teach this group of kids?” Rows of desks all facing the front was the only thing that seemed familiar to me. So with a deep breath, lesson plans in hand, I pressed on. The day consisted of me lecturing and the students infrequently responding. For years the prevailing thoughts on classroom setup have been what I call a teacher centered approach to learning. This involves the teacher at the front of a classroom giving a lecture, and expecting the student to regurgitate it later on a test. Sound familiar? Teacher centered classrooms were the norm for many of us. The problem with this approach to learning is not all students learn in a lecture focused setup. Many people need to have the material presented in different ways; this allows them time to processes, and really understand the material. I am going to show you how taking into account multiple intelligences, and using different teaching approaches, other than the traditional teacher centered approach, will help the student to gain a better understanding of the material as a whole. In addition, I will give examples of how this looks within a classroom setting. Howard Gardner has done much research on multiple intelligences. Many teachers have taken his idea and extended it to the classroom in the form of something called learning styles. Although Gardner himself does not ascribe to the learning style extension of multiple intelligences, many teach... ... middle of paper ... ... Gardner, Howard. Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons. 1993. New York: Basic Books, 2008. Print. Kazu, Ibrahim Yasar. “The Effect of learning styles on education and the teaching process.” Journal of Social Sciences (Apr. 2009): 85. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 July 2011. Lamarche-Bisson, Diane. “Learning Styles - What Are They? How Can They Help?” World and I Sept. 2002: 268. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 July 2011. Lemlech, Johanna K. Curriculum and Instructional Methods for the Elementary and Middle School. Ed. Debra A. Stollenwerk. 4th ed. 1994. Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1998. Print. McClanaghan, Mary Ellen, et al. Master In The Art Of Teaching. Illus. Bob Winberry. Santa Monica: Canter Educational Productions, 1996. Print. Nolen, Jennifer L. “Multiple Intelligences In the Classroom.” Education (Fall 2003): 115. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 July 2011.
Howard Gardner’s theory contains eight main multiple intelligence. As the years have progressed there have taken one out and is left with the main seven. These seven are: Linguistic, Mathematical, Spatial, bodily, Musical, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. These are found in everyone; however, each person will excel in one or two. Once teachers can determine what intelligence the students will exceed on and teach to their strengths the student will learn much more.
Learning is defined as a permanent change in attitude or behaviour that occurs as a result of repeated experience (Sims & Sims, 1995). Understanding one’s learning style has many advantages as it can help one to identify the learning method or activities that can help to optimise the learning experience. It has been suggested that the importance of one’s learning style has been identified through studies and research on how one can maximise the potential for success and further learning development (Honey & Mumford, 2006). Learning styles are unique to each individual and are developed in childhood (Chase, 2001). We all have different personalities; therefore we all have preferred learning styles that suit us best. The way one learns depends on preference. Some learn by observing, listening and imitating others and draw conclusions from their experience. There are several factors that affect our learning style; for example, background, culture, religion and environment can have a major influence on one’s learning.
Other Sources: Armstrong, Thomas. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1994.
Some educational systems have already begun to make use of learning styles, yet there is surprisingly little research on the benefits for it. While there is a significant amount of research on theories about learning styles, studies which have actual measurable data are few and far between. Even the conclusions of the existing research are "equivocal at best and deeply contradictory at best". [cite]
Gardner believes that all people excel in at least one category of intelligence. However, he cautions teachers using the multiple intelligence approach in the classroom: “Do not label kids as ‘spatial, but not linguistic’ or, for that...
Gardner’s theory of MI offers an alternative view of intelligence which has measured intelligence based on the results that would predict success in the current educational system. Furham (2009) sums up Gardner’s definition as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings”. This definition suggests that human intelligence is comprised of more than the predictable success in a western school system. Gardner argues that traditional definitions of intelligence and intelligence testing are too narrow and marginalize people who do not fit traditional education system that focuses on visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, and logical–mathematical intelligences. He supports this with unique cases of idiots savant, who are people with low IQs but excel in skills in areas not measured through tradition IQ tests (Arnett, 2013). MI theory proposes that individual’s intelligence can be differentiated on eight different modalities:
In closing, implementing only one theory of learning can be limiting to the success of students in a classroom setting. A more effective approach would be “draw from two or more theoretical perspectives… to better capture the complex nature of human thinking and learning” (Ormrod, 2012). According to Howard Gardner, there are multiple intelligences in human individuals that are based on biological and cultural elements (Brualdi, 1996). Since each of the intelligences work independently of each other, but also complement each other individuals learn, teachers should teach accordingly (Brualdi, 1996).
Campbell, Linda, Bruce Campbell, and Dee Dickinson. Teaching and Learning through Multiple Intelligence. 3rd ed. Arlington, Boston: Pearson, 2004. Print.
Hine, Connie. “Developing Multiple Intelligences in Young Learners.” Earlychildhood NEWS. Excelligence Learning Corporation, 2008. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
In this essay I will be describing various types of learning styles and stating the advantages and disadvantages of these learning styles. I will also inform you of the most commonly used method of finding out your own learning style, and I will inform you of the man who made this method. Finally, I will write about my own preferred learning styles and the strengths and weaknesses of the different learning styles.
The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are:
Studies show this style is usually a pupils linguistic and logico-mathematic approach, which may place students with different intelligences at a disadvantage1. Research suggests educational systems should utilize the multiple intelligence approach in order to teach in a more effective manner1. In cases where the multiple intelligence approach has been implemented in a school setting, the results have revealed an increase in not only the amount, but depth of knowledge2. For an educational system to teach in the most effective manner they should have their teachers teach in a variety of styles that involve all intelligences of all the
Manner, Barbara M. (2001). Learning Styles and Multiple intelligences in students. Journal of College Science Teaching. 30(6) p 390-93. retrieved April 7, 2003 from Eric/Ebsco database.
Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard, introduced his theory of multiple intelligences in 1983. Multiple intelligence’s is a theory about the brain that says human beings are born with single intelligence that cannot be changed, and is measurable by a psychologist. Gardner believes that there are eight different intelligences in humans. The eight are verbal linguistic, visual spatial, bodily kinesthetic, mathematical logic, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist. Understanding these intelligence’s will help us to design our classroom and curriculum in a way that will appeal to all of our students. We might also be able to curve discipline problems by reaching a student in a different way. One that will make more sense to them and more enjoyable. We can include all of the intelligences in lessons to accommodate all of the students’ different learning styles at once. By reaching each students intelligence we can assume that a student will perform better which, could mean students retaining more important information. A students learning style can also help lead them into a more appropriate career direction. As a teacher you can also learn your own personal learning style or intelligence to help improve the way you learn and teach.
Classrooms in the past never really took into consideration that all students learned differently, so one method of teaching was used. This method being, oral lectures that students were expected to take notes on, followed by long winded exams. It wasn’t until later down the line that educators realized that not all students are capable of learning and understanding lessons in this way, and researched different ways to improve teaching. For example, Howard Gardner came to the conclusion that each person is one of seven intelligences. : If a student enjoys reading or writing stories and doing puzzles, then they have the intelligence of Linguistic. Students who are drawn to more strategy type games and logic kind of games are said to be of the Logical-Mathematical Intelligence. Students who are very active whether it be in a sport or art activity, such as dance, are said to be of the Body-Kinesthic Intelligence. Spatial students learn with pictures, they need to see things to understand, they are drawn toward drawing and building with blocks. Musical Intelligences are students who are drawn to music, they have the ability to learn by listening and can many times hear things that others are not able to. Students who thrive at being the leader and being in charge of their peers have the Intelligence of Interpersonal, these types o...