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Multiple Intelligences Action Research

Introduction


American schools have traditionally favored those students who excel in the linguistic and analytical arenas because these skills are highly valued in our culture. Unfortunately, this traditional approach leaves certain students behind to stumble blindly through an educational system that ignores their unique abilities. This action research study seeks to show that instructional activities that incorporate the multiple intelligences can improve students' attitudes toward learning and students' academic achievement in English class.

by Michele R. Acosta

Research on the Multiple Intelligences

Several researchers have devised methods for measuring students' profiles of intelligence (Teele, 1996; Moll, n.d.). Since Gardner (1983) has expressed caution when "labeling" students, it is advisable to consider one's reasons for employing a profile. Teele argues that "learning must become personalized for all students" (p. 75). One method of personalizing learning is to allow students an opportunity to understand how they think. Teele has developed a profile called the Teele Inventory of Multiple Intelligence (TIMI) which is a forced choice pictorial inventory containing 56 numbered panda bears representing each of the original seven intelligences. Students are provided with 28 opportunities to make their selections between two choices (Teele). After analyzing more than 6000 answer sheets, Teele discovered that the intelligences fluctuate with age. For example, students at the primary level demonstrated a much higher preference for the verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences than middle and high school students who demonstrated strengths in the interpersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, and musical intelligences. MI profiles help students become aware of their intelligences-both the strengths and the weaknesses-so that their learning becomes personal. According to Teele: "Intrinsic motivation, positive self-image, and a sense of responsibility develop within students as they become stakeholders in the educational process and accept responsibility for their own actions" (p. 72). Students who realize that they have intelligences in which they excel-even if they are not the traditional intelligences-will develop a more positive attitude toward school.
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Many educators have argued that MI improves students' attitudes (Campbell, 1997; Campbell, Campbell, & Dickinson, 1992; Smagorinsky, 1991, 1995a, 1995b, & 1996), but they have not supported their arguments with research. For example, Campbell et al. say that some of the by-products of MI include better attitudes, fewer behavior problems, improved self-concept, development of cooperation and leadership skills, and development of a love of learning. According to these educators, MI has an impact on the whole person (Campbell et al.). If the whole student is considered, other areas, including attitude and academics, also improve (Campbell et al.). According to Smerechansky-Metzger (1995), MI ultimately becomes a motivational tool which supplies the self confidence required to achieve academic success.

A number of educators argue that MI helps students build positive attitudes toward learning in English class. For example, Emig (1997) says: "Students who are using their areas of strength to learn feel more competent and confident and enjoy the challenge of acquiring new information. They participate more freely and retain more information because they can more easily see connections" (p. 4). Smagorinsky (1995b) maintains that his low achieving students were the most enthusiastic participants and that they became highly engaged in the projects that they worked on. He says: "Students who were loath to turn in simple homework assignments would spend all weekend producing elaborate video productions dramatizing their interpretations of literary relationships" (Smagorinsky, 1995b, p. 19).

Eilers et al. (1998) studied the loss of commitment to schoolwork exhibited by middle level students and the effect of a variety of strategies on students' learning and on students' attitudes toward themselves as learners. Eilers et al. used activities based on the multiple intelligences as one of their "intervention" strategies. They found a modest increase in student achievement, as well as increased confidence and self-image, as a result of MI activities and other strategies (Eilers et al.).

Most research linking MI instruction with students' achievement has been done on a small scale with only a few students studied at a time. A study by Smagorinsky and Coppock (1994) analyzed the composing process of students by conducting stimulated recall interviews following one student's creation of an artistic text that represented his interpretation of the relationship between two central characters in a short story. The findings suggested that non-linguistic texts aid in the construction of meaning (Smagorinsky & Coppock).

Smagorinsky (1995b) described another study conducted with Coppock in which they again examined the composing processes involved in non-written literature interpretation. Students were videotaped as they read a short story, decided with whom they would work (or if they would work alone), discussed methods for interpretation, gave meaning to the story, and worked out an interpretive "text." Two of the girls who participated in the above study choreographed a dance in response to the literature (Smagorinsky & Coppock, 1995). Their dance demonstrated the relationship between two characters in the short story they had read. At the end of this process students watched the video tape of themselves composing their texts (Smagorinsky, 1995b). Stimulated recall interviews were conducted in order to collect data (Smagorinsky & Coppock, 1995) about what students were thinking when they read and responded to the story (Smagorinsky, 1995b). The results showed that students used a number of processes which are considered valuable in writing. For example, students drew from their personal experience, added personal meaning, used symbolic representations of understanding, referred to previously read texts, presented historical information for interpretation, and viewed their work as a part of a larger composing process (Smagorinsky, 1995b). Results from the interview with the two girls who choreographed the dance showed that the students empathized with the characters while composing the text and represented the characters' relationship using spatial images and arrangements (Smagorinsky & Coppock). They used dance as a psychological tool to demonstrate and to develop their thoughts about the story (Smagorinsky & Coppock). According to Smagorinsky, many of the students changed their interpretations as they created their own "texts" because they developed a deeper understanding of the literature as they composed (1995b). Smagorinsky (1995b) said of the results: "Students' thoughts both shaped and were shaped by the texts they composed" (p. 22). In short, the use of MI based instruction enabled these students to make sophisticated interpretations of literature.
The author is a writer, a former English teacher, and the mother of three boys. She spends her time writing and teaching others to write. Visit articles.TheWritingTutor.biz for more articles or TheWritingTutor.biz for other writing and educational resources for young authors, teachers, and parents. Visit writing_editing_service.TheWritingTutor.biz for a description of writing and editing services provided by the author.

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