Learning Styles vs. Multiple Intelligences

"See, Hear, Do", source: MeetMags; accessed on 3 March 2013

This morning I participated in a couple of surveys – the Felder-Soloman, which was to determine my study preference on scale 1-11 and Multiple Intelligences test based upon Gardner’s theory differentiating one’s numerous abilities into separate categories. 

My results were as follow:

Learning Styles Results, Felder-Soloman; accessed on: 28 February 2013.

According to the Felder-Soloman chart, I have a moderate preference for reflective and intuitive styles, visually strong, while I am fairly well balanced on the two dimensions on the sequential – global scale. “Moderate preference” in this case means adapting easier to teaching environment, which favours one’s profound dimension. Do I agree with the results?

While exploring the study of psychometrics I found that there are various factors, which could affect the given test outcomes. Some of the most commonly occurring ones are those of environmental nature (i.e. uncomfortable room temperature, distracting sounds) or test-taker factors (i.e. poor sleep, stress).

Despite being rather skeptical about learning style inventories, I have found the Felder-Soloman quiz incredibly accurate and helpful in naming favourite study techniques and understanding thoroughly preferred learning areas.

It is worth noting that the test is not meant to assess one’s strengths and weaknesses. Its aim is to define a preferred way of knowledge gaining process and therefore is not indicative of detailed personality types.

"We are all a unique mix of individual preferences, and research suggests we learn best or 'switch on' to learning when our dominant preference is met - at least for part of our learning experience." (The Guardian)

Multiple Intelligences Results, BGFL; accessed on 28 February 2013.

According to the Multiple Intelligences test, I am profoundly intrapersonal (myself smart), linguistic (word smart) and logical (number smart) type. I fully agree with the results. I have always thought of myself as a “lonely learner” with good grasp for languages and numbers. Many would say they do not like to be categorised and find my excitement over above tests ridiculous but really – have these short surveys been created to throw us meaninglessly into random boxes (metaphorically of course)? I think it all depends on how we interpret it. I personally enjoyed the experience of participating in them because I found out more about myself in terms of already existing skills and how I could utilise them across different platforms. These tests have helped me define the areas that I am not comfortable with (i.e. I easily lose interest in classes if lecturers only verbalise their thoughts) and how I can turn them into my strengths (i.e. I could turn words into visual representations by drawing graphs, tables or by simply highlighting chosen parts of written text in different colours). How does it place me as a teacher in class full of multiple intelligences? Well-conducted ICT is meant to serve all learners. But is it possible to satisfy everybody at the same time? Are there any ways of combining visual, auditory and interactive material in order for it to be received at the exact same level of understanding by all students in class? As previously discussed the above tests show level of preference but are not indicative of the exact learning areas and types of abilities that we should stick to. According to Gardner “all of us have these intelligences – they are what makes us human”. I therefore see myself as a multiply intelligent person who can use my ability to perform better in certain areas to learn more about the others. Various technologies support multiple intelligences and therefore make it easier for students to communicate with teachers.  To answer the above questions, as a learning manager I feel my students would hugely benefit from learning with what constitutes a part of their life  – laptops, iPads and any other electronic devices where they can take notes and find a lot of valuable resources.  I believe that teachers are there not only to set lesson plans, motivate but also to help students to distinguish the material they find online from more and less reliable. Here's an example of apps for multiple intelligences: here.  


                                                                                    Know your enemy

<------Original source: Carleton.edu

I believe that one of the very few ways of gaining respect and sense of authority is the ability to “speak” the language of your audience. Teachers are often expected to be the knowledge gurus. Nevertheless, many of them fail in keeping up with the latest technologies and I am not talking about putting on the radio or being able to change TV channels (although there are people out there who struggle with even those, simple to us born into technologically advanced world, activities). In the era of Facebook and Twitter, where nearly every child is a gaming addict, the bar has been set high. Teachers need to work particularly hard to follow and understand the online tools their students use in every day life. A thousand-paged theory-based books seem ancient these days and many students simply do not bother opening them. The 21^st century teachers are there to interpret those hard to read materials and “translate” them into the modern language as well as allow students to use their "computerised brains” as a part of their learning process. Here’s an example of how to achieve this:

References:

• Gardner, H. (2000). Can Technology Exploit Our Many Ways Of Knowing? Retrieved from http://ignite.wikis.birmingham.k12.mi.us/file/view/Can+Technology+Exploit+Our+Many+Ways+of+Knowing.pdf
• Heppell, S. (2008, April 4). LTS: ICT and Learning. Prof. Stephen Heppell [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j5S1XiKw84&list=UU45nYxn7cW3aEtZua-XDH0Q&index=19
• I learn by eye, you learn by ear. (2004, March 9). The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/mar/09/elearning.technology2
• Lustenhouwer, S. (2012, August 21). Apps For Multiple Intelligences. iPadders. Retrieved from http://ipadders.eu/apps-for-multiple-intelligences/