Module 4 – Instructional Techniques
Learning Modalities
Multiple Intelligences
What is intelligence? Many adult learners associate academic success with intelligence: “I can't read – I'm stupid.” Since the early 1900s and the development of intelligence tests (based on the work of Alfred Binet), society has typically seen intelligence as a single, measurable capacity to reason and solve problems – commonly known as an IQ. In the 1980s Dr. Howard Gardner challenged this traditional view of intelligence. Based on his work with stroke victims and gifted children, he observed that people have a wide range of abilities and capacities. His Multiple Intelligences Theory posits that everyone is intelligent in different ways and can increase strengths and abilities at any time based on circumstances, opportunity, environment, and personal choices. Educators, such as Dr. Thomas Armstrong, applied this theory to educational practice, not as a set of teaching strategies, but as a way of approaching learning that results in many different educational practices, for both younger and adult learners.
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“[When] I went to school, like I said, I couldn't read or write, but they would show films on a science topic, and I would sit there and watch the films, and then they would ask us to get up and demonstrate. My brain was so full of facts that I heard on the film that I could actually talk about science without ever having to read anything.” |
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“I’ve learned that some students have many talents, and there are many things they can do better than I can. As a result, I’ve learned to ask for their input more.” |
Take a moment to consider the implications multiple intelligence theory can have for adult literacy instruction.
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On your worksheet, record your initial thoughts about the theory of multiple intelligences. |
Dr. Gardner’s theory posits many different types of intelligence. So far, he has identified eight groups of abilities or areas of intelligence. Please take a moment to review these eight intelligences. His theory assumes we all have each of these abilities, to a greater or lesser extent, but that each intelligence area has many facets and changes as we learn, gain new experiences, and develop new interests. While there are no truly valid assessments of these intelligences, one way to obtain a snapshot of your strengths and weaknesses is to take a survey: How Are You Smart? Once you have submitted your survey, be sure to take a moment to review the suggested methods for drawing on your strengths to support your learning. How might this view of intelligence and students’ abilities affect how you approach instruction for adult literacy learners?
Listed below is a real-life adult education scenario. While you are reading, review the needs and concerns of both the learner and the instructor. What can the instructor do to address the strengths of the learners in her class?
Real-Life Scenario – Wanda’s Class:
Wanda was frustrated. Amelio wanted to study for his GED, but just didn’t seem to be focused. He laughed and joked with others, often seemed to forget what he learned from day to day, and interrupted whole-class instruction. Wanda asked him to complete a multiple intelligences survey. She was not surprised to find that his survey results listed interpersonal skills as a strength, but was startled to see several very strong spatial traits listed, as well as bodily-kinesthetic. Wanda talked with Amelio about this. He stated, “I always remember better when I can see a picture in my head. An’ I do lots of thinking while I’m out running with my dog.” Several other students in class had similar strengths. Wanda decided to try to integrate more peer group work into class activities to utilize interpersonal strengths and graphs, charts, color, pictures, and mind maps to engage learners with spatial intelligence. But she wasn’t sure how to hook into the bodily-kinesthetic strengths. She mused, “I can’t have them leave class to go jogging!”
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On your worksheet, record your thoughts on the needs and strengths of the learners, as well as the concerns of the instructor. |
Click the + sign in the box to the right to see ideas from other Adult Education Instructors. | [?] |
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Everyone gets a MI [Multiple Intelligences] survey when they walk into [my] class. We then talk about their strengths, and how they can be used to address weak areas. When I first worked with the multiple intelligences, I liked this web site: – “Engaging the Intelligences”. It had short easy ways I could try to expand my instruction to include all the forms of intelligences.
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When I first learned about multiple intelligences, I tried to appeal to every [kind of] intelligence in every lesson. Now I see it is about offering variety and options. I give students several ways to approach a topic or idea in the lesson. I challenge myself to include the non-traditional abilities, such as musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, and naturalist into these options.
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I find that students strong in the bodily kinesthetic intelligence really get into role-plays of situations or acting out events in a reading. Concrete objects, such as manipulatives, provide similar assistance in understanding math concepts.
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For many students, learning occurs when it is active, not passive - meaning when the activity encourages action, challenges, and interaction with others. For example, Newton's Laws of Motion are more easily understood by active participation in a series of team experiments with balloons, straws and fishing line to simulate rockets and adding paperclips for varying weights.
In reviewing these ideas, did you find any similar to your own? Did any of them strike you as particularly interesting? Did they provide any new insights for your instruction of adult literacy learners?
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On your worksheet, make note of any tips, insights, or new ideas you gained from the instructors’ suggestions. |
In Summary:
- Society values many skills that are not measured on tests or taught in schools.
- The theory of multiple intelligences proposes that everyone has learning strengths and weaknesses in each of eight intelligence areas. These intelligence areas represent skills valued in all areas of a person’s life.
- Adult literacy instructors are encouraged to use students’ learning strengths to assist them in improving weak areas.
- Howard Gardner’s theory assists instructors in planning for more hands-on, participatory class instruction, which, in turn, fosters the development of the critical-thinking and communication skills most needed on the GED and in the workplace.
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On your worksheet, record any final notes or thoughts, specific ideas you want to remember, plans for further study, etc. |
Click "Next" below or a specific topic on the outline to the left to continue.
