ENGLISH ARTICLES

Multiple Intelligences

The theory of multiple intelligences, developed by Howard Gardner in 1983, challenges the unitary view of intelligence that is based on the IQ test. Gardner’s theory claims that there is not one underlying mental capacity but rather a variety of intelligences. He defines intelligence as the “ability to solve problems or fashion products that are of consequence in a particular cultural setting or community” (Gardner 1993, 15). Gardner’s theory provides a guide for teachers and instructors at all levels to reach more types of students by exploring alternative teaching and assessment strategies that consider multiple intelligences.

Educational technologies provide a variety of means to expand the horizons of traditional teaching and learning tools and to help teachers address multiple intelligences in instruction. According to Gardner, there are eight intelligences: (1) linguistic; (2) logical-mathematical; (3) visual-spatial; (4) bodily-kinesthetic; (5) musical; (6) interpersonal; (7) intrapersonal; and (8) naturalist.

Linguistic
Linguistic intelligence relates to a strong ability to read, write, and communicate with words and includes proficiency with phonics (speech sounds), syntax (grammar), semantics (meaning), and pragmatics (appropriate use of language in a variety of settings). Linguistic intelligence is highly valued in traditional school contexts. Those with strong proficiency in linguistic intelligence include poets, comedians, journalists, orators, and lawyers. Educational technologies provide avenues to help those with linguistic difficulties. For example, students without the motor skills necessary to write or type can record their thoughts through the use of a speech synthesizer. Likewise, students who find the writing process laborious can more easily edit their work through the use of word processors. Other educational technologies such as multimedia development tools enable students to communicate in a variety of forms. For example, students can enhance a traditional report or presentation with images, charts, sound, and movies. These technologies expand communicative abilities and allow for the nonlinear presentation of thoughts and ideas.

Logical-Mathematical
This intelligence relates to a strong ability to reason and calculate, to think in a logical manner, and to understand abstract relationships. Logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligences are the most valued intelligences in traditional school contexts. Those with strong proficiency in logical-mathematical intelligence include computer
programmers, financial analysts, engineers, accountants, and detectives. Educational technologies such as spreadsheets and graphing calculators enable students to focus on concepts and to see mathematical relationships in graphical and numerical format. Computer programming, including Logo for young children, supports the development of logical thinking.

Visual-Spatial
Visual-spatial intelligence relates to a strong ability to perceive, transform, and modify visual and spatial information. It is often referred to as the ability to think with pictures. Those with strong proficiency in visual-spatial intelligence include architects, photographers, strategic planners, and sailors.

Three-dimensional models of structures, including buildings and molecules, help students with this intelligence understand complex concepts previously presented only in onedimensional diagrams in textbooks. Such three-dimensional models also enable those with this intelligence to manipulate and build their own models. Likewise, higher-level multimedia development tools enable the creation of animated maps that show events like the paths of
Civil War infantries or worldwide weather patterns. Oftentimes, these maps are located on the Internet, enabling teachers to bring them into the classroom as supplements to traditional text-based, lecture-based instruction.

Bodily-Kinesthetic
This intelligence relates to a strong ability to use the body to solve problems and to coordinate neural, muscular, and perceptual systems. Those with strong proficiency in bodilykinesthetic intelligence include athletes, dancers, choreographers, surgeons, and builders. Simulations, particularly virtual reality simulations, can be used to address this intelligence by providing a safe environment for practicing skills such as surgeries, frog dissections, and airplane flights. Other technologies such as digital video technologies can be used to help athletes, dancers, and others with bodily-kinesthetic intelligence perfect their skills by carefully analyzing each component from a variety of angles and in a variety of speeds.

Musical
Musical intelligence relates to a strong ability to communicate, create, and understand meaning from sound. It involves the ability to recognize pitch, keep rhythm, and recognize timbre, or sound quality. Those with strong proficiency in musical intelligence include musicians and composers. Educational technologies, including sound synthesizers and MIDI devices, provide more capacity to create musical pieces than ever before. Likewise, the availability of music on the Internet enables teachers to bring in historical elements through music. For example, there is an entire website devoted to songs of the Civil War that teachers can easily integrate into a lesson.

Interpersonal
Interpersonal intelligence is often referred to as social intelligence and relates to a strong ability to work effectively with others, recognize and make distinctions among others’ feelings, and display empathy and understanding. Those with strong proficiency in interpersonal intelligence include facilitators, therapists, counselors, and religious leaders.
Educational technologies such as newsgroups, listservs, discussion boards, and chat rooms enable students to communicate with a more diverse population and possibly enhance their interpersonal intelligence. Likewise, the creation of webpages enables students to share themselves and learn about others. Some simulation software programs also address this intelligence by focusing on ways to resolve conflicts among individuals and groups.

Intrapersonal
Intrapersonal intelligence relates to a strong ability to be self-reflective, distinguish among one’s own feelings, assess one’s accomplishments, and review one’s behavior. Those with strong proficiency in intrapersonal intelligence include philosophers and novelists. The Internet is full of journals and diaries of historic figures, political leaders, and ordinary people that students may study. Participation in some types of Internet-based discussions may also enable students to develop more intrapersonal intelligence.

Naturalist
This intelligence was later added to Gardner’s original list of seven intelligences and relates to a strong ability to recognize flora and fauna, make distinctions among natural things, and make productive and useful decisions regarding natural processes and events. Those with strong proficiency in naturalistic intelligence include botanists, biologists, environmentalists, and farmers.

Internet-based resources provide a means for those with naturalistic intelligence to do extensive research, communicate with others in different geographical locations about common events, and share their findings on a large scale. It is important to emphasize that these intelligences typically work in combination. For example, a dancer needs to have both bodily-kinesthetic and musical intelligence to be successful. Some may also need interpersonal skills if they dance in teams and intrapersonal skills if they interpret characters. The theory was designed to recognize multiple intelligences, not to suggest each intelligence is mutually exclusive from the others.