Multiple Intelligences in Communication

Faculty of Teacher Training - English Department

Course Title: Applied Communication Skills (Elective)

Instructor: Dr. Rod

Multiple Intelligences in Communication

Preparation: Go to the following web site and complete the assignment there. Print out YOUR individual Multiple Intelligence chart and bring to class: http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/questions/questions.cfm

Above is the chart for Dr. Rod. What does it tell you about how he learns?

Note: This is an interactive worksheet which produces a Multiple Intelligences wheel based upon Gardner's eight multiple intelligences. With thanks to Jean Maund from whom this idea originated and colleagues in the University of the First Age who helped develop the questionnaire.

To start the activity, sign in and fill in a little bit of information about yourself. You can then begin to answer the questions. When you have finished, click on the submit button. If you have not filled in all the questions you will get a warning sign telling you what questions need answering. You can print the intelligences wheel and the unique number printed on the sheet will allow you to re-visit your wheel at any time.

Now try this one:

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

Again, here are the results from Dr Rod.

Dr Rod’s top three intelligences:

Intelligence	Score (5.0 is highest)	Description
	4.86	Social: You like to develop ideas and learn from other people. You like to talk. You have good social skills. Effective techniques of enhancing your learning using your social intelligence include taking part in group discussions or discussing a topic one-to-one with another person. Find ways to build reading and writing exercises into your group activities, such as: Reading a dialogue or a play with other people Doing team learning/investigating projects Setting up interview questions and interviewing your family, and writing down the interview Writing notes to another instead of talking.
	4	Self: You have a very good sense of self. You like to spend time by yourself and think things over. You will often take in information from another person, mull it over by yourself, and come back to that person later to discuss it. You like working on projects on your own. You often prefer to learn by trial and error. Effective techniques to enhance your learning include keeping a journal and giving yourself time to reflect on new ideas and information. More ideas: Go on "guided imagery" tours. Set aside time to reflect on new ideas and information. Encourage journal writing. Work on the computer. Practice breathing for relaxation. Use brainstorming methods before reading. Listen to and read "how to" tapes and books. Read cookbooks.
	3.43	Language: You enjoy enjoy saying, hearing, and seeing words. You like telling stories. You are motivated by books, records, dramas, opportunities for writing. Effective techniques of enhancing your learning using your language intelligence include reading aloud, especially plays and poetry. Another idea is to write down reflections on what you've read. You may also enjoy exploring and developing your love of words, i.e., meanings of words, origin of words and idioms, names. Use different kinds of dictionaries. Other ideas: Keep a journal Use a tape recorder to tape stories and write them down Read together, i.e., choral reading Read a section, then explain what you've read Read a piece with different emotional tones or viewpoints — one angry, one happy, etc. Trade tall tales, attend story-telling events and workshops Research your name

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The scores for your other five intelligences:

3.29	3.14	3.14	2.86	1.57

Just because these five are not in your top three doesn’t mean you’re not strong in them. If your average score for any intelligence is above three, you’re probably using that intelligence quite often to help you learn.

OK, So now you know how I learn from two different online assessments. What are your strengths and weaknesses. For the next session you need to have completed the above two tests and print for me the results.

Look at the results and see if you have the same strengths on both charts, if not how would you explain the differences? (DO NOT retake the tests to manipulate your scores.)

Example 2: Alex (15 yrs Old)

Alex top three intelligences:

Intelligence	Score (5.0 is highest)	Description
	4.71	Body Movement: You like to move, dance, wiggle, walk, and swim. You are likely good at sports, and you have good fine motor skills. You may enjoy taking things apart and putting them back together. Incorporating body movement into your learning will help you process and retain information better. Here are some ideas. Trace letters and words on each other's back. Use magnetic letters, letter blocks, or letters on index cards to spell words. Take a walk while discussing a story or gathering ideas for a story. Make pipe cleaner letters. Form letters out of bread dough. After you shape your letters, bake them and eat them! Use your whole arm (extend without bending your elbow) to write letters and words in the air. Change the place where you write and use different kinds of tools to write, ie., typewriter, computer, blackboard, or large pieces of paper. Write on a mirror with lipstick or soap. Take a walk and read all the words you find during the walk. Handle a Koosh ball or a worry stone during a study session. Take a break and do a cross-lateral walk.
	4.43	Spatial: You remember things visually, including exact sizes and shapes of objects. You like posters, charts, and graphics. You like any kind of visual clues. You enjoy drawing. Effective techniques of enhancing your learning using your spatial intelligence include creating and/or using pictures, maps, diagrams, and graphs as you learn things. Other suggestions: Write a language experience story and then illustrate it. Color code words so each syllable is a different color. Write a word on the blackboard with a wet finger. Visualize the word as it disappears. See if you can spell it afterwards. Take a survey. Put the information in a chart. Write words vertically. Cut out words from a magazine and use them in a letter. Visualize spelling words. Use colorful newspapers like USA Today. Use crossword puzzles.
	4.29	Social: You like to develop ideas and learn from other people. You like to talk. You have good social skills. Effective techniques of enhancing your learning using your social intelligence include taking part in group discussions or discussing a topic one-to-one with another person. Find ways to build reading and writing exercises into your group activities, such as: Reading a dialogue or a play with other people Doing team learning/investigating projects Setting up interview questions and interviewing your family, and writing down the interview Writing notes to another instead of talking.

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The scores for your other five intelligences:

4	3.57	3.43	3.29	3.14

Question:

How would you describe the differences between Alex and Dr Rod?

What would be the best learning environment for Alex?

How would you express that in a language arts situation?

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Introduction to the multiple intelligences

According to multiple intelligence theory, there are seven basic types of intelligence.

• Visual-spatial
• Verbal-linguistic
• Logical-mathematical
• Bodily-kinesthetic
• Musical-rhythmic
• Interpersonal
• Intrapersonal

Visual-spatial

This area deals with the ability to visualize with the mind's eye, so to speak and spatial judgement. Careers which is suit those with this intelligence include, architects.

Verbal-linguistic

This area has to do with words, spoken or written. People with high verbal-linguistic intelligence display a facility with words and languages. They are typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorizing words along with dates. They tend to learn best by reading, taking notes, listening to lectures, and discussion and debate. They are also frequently skilled at explaining, teaching and oration or persuasive speaking. Those with verbal-linguistic intelligence learn foreign languages very easily as they have high verbal memory and recall, and an ability to understand and manipulate syntax and structure.

Careers that suit those with this intelligence include writers, lawyers, philosophers, journalists, politicians, poets, and teachers.

Logical-mathematical

This area has to do with logic, abstractions, reasoning, and numbers. While it is often assumed that those with this intelligence naturally excel in mathematics, chess, computer programming and other logical or numerical activities, a more accurate definition places less emphasis on traditional mathematical ability and more reasoning capabilities, abstract patterns of recognition, scientific thinking and investigation, and the ability to perform complex calculations. It correlates strongly with traditional concepts of "intelligence" or IQ.

Careers which suit those with this intelligence include scientists, mathematicians, engineers, doctors and economists.

Bodily-kinesthetic

In theory, people who have bodily-kinesthetic intelligence should learn better by involving muscular movement (e.g. getting up and moving around into the learning experience), and are generally good at physical activities such as sports or dance. They may enjoy acting or performing, and in general they are good at building and making things. They often learn best by doing something physically, rather than [by] reading or hearing about it. Those with strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligence seem to use what might be termed muscle memory - they remember things through their body such as verbal memory or images.

Careers that suit those with this intelligence include: athletes, dancers, musicians, actors, surgeons, doctors, builders, police officers, and soldiers. Although these careers can be duplicated through virtual simulation, they will not produce the actual physical learning that is needed in this intelligence

Musical-rhythmic

This area has to do with rhythm, music, and hearing. Those who have a high level of musical-rhythmic intelligence display greater sensitivity to sounds, rhythms, tones, and music. They normally have good pitch and may even have absolute pitch, and are able to sing, play musical instruments, and compose music. Since there is a strong auditory component to this intelligence, those who are strongest in it may learn best via lecture. Language skills are typically highly developed in those whose base intelligence is musical. In addition, they will sometimes use songs or rhythms to learn and memorize information.

Careers that suit those with this intelligence include instrumentalists, singers, conductors, disc-jockeys, orators, writers and composers.

Interpersonal

This area has to do with interaction with others. In theory, people who have a high interpersonal intelligence tend to be extroverts, characterized by their sensitivity to others' moods, feelings, temperaments and motivations, and their ability to cooperate in order to work as part of a group. They communicate effectively and empathize easily with others, and may be either leaders or followers. They typically learn best by working with others and often enjoy discussion and debate.

Careers that suit those with this intelligence include sales, politicians, managers, teachers and social workers.

Intrapersonal

This area has to do with introspective and self-reflective capacities. People with intrapersonal intelligence are intuitive and typically introverted. They are skillful at deciphering their own feelings and motivations. This refers to having a deep understanding of the self; what are your strengths/ weaknesses, what makes you unique, can you predict your own reactions/ emotions.

Careers which suit those with this intelligence include philosophers, psychologists, theologians, lawyers, and writers. People with intrapersonal intelligence also prefer to work alone.

Naturalistic

This area has to do with nature, nurturing and relating information to one’s natural surroundings. They learn best by collecting and analyzing.

Careers which suit those with this intelligence include naturalists, farmers, and gardeners.

Existential

This area has do to with philosophical issues of life. The learn best by thinking analytical questions.

Careers which suit those with this intelligence include readers, religious speakers.

Use in education

Traditionally, schools have emphasized the development of logical intelligence and linguistic intelligence (mainly reading and writing). In fact, IQ tests (given to about 1,000,000 students each year) focus mostly on logical and linguistic intelligence. While many students function well in this environment, there are those who do not. Gardner's theory argues that students will be better served by a broader vision of education, wherein teachers use different methodologies, exercises and activities to reach all students, not just those who excel at linguistic and logical intelligence.

Many teachers see the theory as simple common sense. Some say that it validates what they already know: that students learn in different ways. On the other hand, James Traub’s article in The New Republic notes that Gardner's system has not been accepted by most academics in intelligence or teaching.

George Miller, the esteemed psychologist credited with discovering the mechanisms by which short term memory operates, wrote in The New York Times Book Review that Gardner's argument boiled down to "hunch and opinion" (p. 20). Gardner's subsequent work has done very little to shift the balance of opinion. A recent issue of Psychology, Public Policy, and Law devoted to the study of intelligence contained virtually no reference to Gardner's work. Most people who study intelligence view M.I. theory as rhetoric rather than science, and they're divided on the virtues of the rhetoric.

The application of the theory of multiple intelligences varies widely. It runs the gamut from a teacher who, when confronted with a student having difficulties, uses a different approach to teach the material, to an entire school using MI as a framework. In general, those who subscribe to the theory strive to provide opportunities for their students to use and develop all the different intelligences, not just the few at which they naturally excel.

A Harvard-led study of 41 schools using the theory came to the conclusion that in these schools there was "a culture of hard work, respect, and caring; a faculty that collaborated and learned from each other; classrooms that engaged students through constrained but meaningful choices, and a sharp focus on enabling students to produce high-quality work.”

Of the schools implementing Gardner's theory, the most well-known is “New City School”, in St. Louis, Missouri, which has been using the theory since 1988. The school's teachers have produced two books for teachers, Celebrating Multiple Intelligences and Succeeding With Multiple Intelligences and the principal, Thomas Hoerr, has written Becoming a Multiple Intelligences School as well as many articles on the practical applications of the theory. The school has also hosted four conferences, each attracting over 200 educators from around the world and remains a valuable resource for teachers interested in implementing the theory in their own classrooms.

See also http://www.miinstitute.info/ Multiple Intelligence Institute. - The Multiple Intelligences (MI) Institute is committed to the understanding and application of Multiple Intelligences Theory in educational settings, from pre-school through adult education. Through our online course and support channels, face to face professional development, consulting services, and curriculum and resource development offerings, we support programs and educators seeking to tap into Multiple Intelligences and pedagogical framework to create and provide learner-centered, goal-driven applications of Multiple Intelligences Theory in any learning context.

Sources: http://www.miinstitute.info/ Multiple Intelligence Institute

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences Wikipedia - Theory of Multiple Intelligence

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/questions/questions.cfm Birmingham Grid for Learning.

http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html - Literacy Works