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= Multiple Intelligences (MI) = = Dr. Howard Gardner = = Group 3 Members: =

**An Introduction to MI and Gardner**
Dr. Howard Gardner of Harvard University developed the Theory of Multiple Intelligences in 1983. The theory challenged conventional beliefs in the areas of education and cognitive science. He believed that people are born with consistent cognitive capacity, which can easily be determined by short-answer tests. The Multiple Intelligences Theory redefines the older educational practices offers an alternative.

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Gardner saw intelligence as being more than a person's IQ but a multi-facited element of life. He found seven original intelligences and added one at a later date to make eight in total. Each person has a little of each, but with strengths in a smaller number of intelligences. His intelligences are:======

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~Linguistic  - The ability to use language to understand others and to express what is on your mind. ======

~Logical-Mathematical - The capacity to comprehend the fundamental principles of some kind of connecting system.
~Spatial - The ability to characterize the spatial world within your mind. ~Bodily-Kinesthetic - The capacity to use your entire body (or parts of your body) to solve an issue, make something, or perform something. ~Musical - The ability to think in music; to hear, recognize and manipulate patterns. ~Interpersonal - The ability to understand others. ~Intrapersonal - Having an understanding of who you are, your abilities, how you react to things, what things you should stay away from and what things to gravitate towards. ~Naturalist (added in 1996) - The ability to differentiate between living things and have a sensitivity to all of Earth's features. Currently, he viewed, our education system is heavily focused on the Linguistic and Logical-Mathematical intelligences. Those with interests beyond these are often labeled as learning disabled or ADHD. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences provides eight paths of learning for each individual to follow as they see best. Information for this section came from: [|http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm]http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/ed_mi_overview.html

Strengths and Weaknesses
As with any theory, MI has some strengths and weaknesses associated with it.

Strengths:
~individualized for each student ~accepts that all people are different and have different strengths ~tries to explain differences between people ~developed in clinical case studies and educational evidence ~flexible, can be adapted to many teaching styles ~a balanced curriculum works well for these students

Weaknesses:
~hard to teach to all intelligences ~when teaching to one type, those of other types may be turned off ~difference between intelligence and ability ~does not explain why some are more intelligent than others ~these 'intelligences' are not all essential for successful adaptation (which is one of the common definitions of intelligence) ~not much solid scientific evidence

Some information for this section came from: [] & http://www.funderstanding.com/content/multiple-intelligences

Direct Instruction or Constructivism
Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences can lend itself to either Direct Instruction of Constructivism classrooms, this is part of its flexibility. Here it is associated with Direct Instruction: Direct Instruction is about getting students the information quickly and efficiently. The teacher is used to connect with the students in order to control their learning. MI provides Direct Instruction classrooms a way to set up the information so all students will understand. The teacher can manipulate the standard lesson to suit the intelligences present in the classroom. This way the class is still controlled by the teacher but the students receive the information in the most integrated way for them so it is easiest for the to understand.

Integration of Technology into MI
A classroom that utilizes Mulitple Intelligences would present all information in many ways. For a high school class learning the quadratic formula they could do the following for each intelligence: ~Spatial- visually seeing the equation written out, connecting equation to graphs on calculator ~Bodily/Kinesthetic- writing the formula in pencil, in different textures (paint in a ziploc bag, shaving cream, using play dough to sculpt it, etc) ~Musical- learning the song of it (tune "Pop Goes the Weasel") and making the song into a CD or mp3 for the students ~Interpersonal- working with others to practice reciting it however they feel comfortable ~Intrapersonal- taking time to think through it and understand how it works from within ~Linguistic- seeing an explanation in words either in a book or online ~Logical/Mathematical- practice problems to see how it works ~Naturalist- connect formula to graphs to see the natural form of the equation In this case, technology from paper and pencil to calculators, CDs/mp3s, the internet, and more can be used in one lesson to assist each intelligence area in understanding the quadratic formula.