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Multiple Intelligences Action Research
Summary, Conclusions, &
Recommendations
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
Conclusions
All students should
have the opportunity to not only further develop
their dominant intelligences, but should also have the opportunity to
develop their weaker intelligences. Since a majority of the students in
this study were weak in the verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical
intelligences, they will certainly be at a disadvantage in a culture
which places so much emphasis on traditional intelligences. Despite
their weaknesses, given the opportunity to succeed using an
intelligence in which they could excel, these students demonstrated
that they were capable of developing their verbal-linguistic and
logical-mathematical intelligences.
Because MI
based instruction is
designed to reach a combination of
intelligences, the MI classroom is perceived by students as a place
where all students can do something well, instead of as a place where
some students are "smart" and others are not. MI focuses on students'
strengths and uses those strengths to build up weaker areas. According
to Jie-Qi Chen & Gardner (1997), MI can bridge the gap from an area
of success to an area of difficulty because "the sense of success in
one area may make the student more likely to engage in areas where they
feel less comfortable" (p. 35). Since students are not made to feel as
though they are stupid because they do not know something, a change in
attitude takes place which effectively removes the "block" which once
prevented learning.
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MI based instruction is
effective
because it allows students to think in ways that are comfortable for
them. It also helps them develop thought processes that they do not
normally use by providing them with a positive environment in which
they can experiment without feeling that they are not "intelligent."
Students who are strong in nontraditional intelligences often are made
to feel that they don't measure up to the rest of their classmates. MI
based instruction provides all students with the opportunities they
need to succeed. Students who have been successful are better equipped
to attempt more challenging work. For many high school aged students,
literary analysis, which requires the verbal-linguistic and
logical-mathematical intelligences, is just that challenge. In a short
six week period, the students in this study made that first step from
literal to inferential analysis because they were given the chance to
succeed in several different ways using several different
intelligences; therefore, the results of this study suggest that
teachers in this school and probably other similar school should
incorporate more MI based instruction into their English curriculum.
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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