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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kevork,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I didn't see the SBS documentary as I am currently
attending the Australian Government Summer School for Mathematics Teachers in
Armidale NSW with about 200 other teachers from around the country.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>One of our guest speakers was Professor John
Geake - </FONT><A
href="http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/education/staffinfo/geake.html"><FONT
face=Arial>http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/education/staffinfo/geake.html</FONT></A></FONT></DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>
<DIV><BR>He is involved in UK research on the human brain and had many
interesting things to say about this rapidly changing area of study. He places
multiple intelligences into the category of neuromythology (also loosely
referred to as "crap"). Gardners idea is 30 years old and has not been supported
by the research since then. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>John Geake's summary is that humans do not have multiple intelligences. We
have multiple applications of general intelligence. He seemed to acknowledge
that people may have preferred ways of presenting their knowledge but trying to
affect intelligence by modifying the form of input to a highly interconnected
system like a human brain will just not work.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Regards,<BR>Ian Ross</DIV>
<DIV>Canberra (when he's at home)</DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://ian-ross.blogspot.com/">http://ian-ross.blogspot.com/</A></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=kevork@edulists.com.au href="mailto:kevork@edulists.com.au">Kevork
Krozian</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=yr7-10it@edulists.com.au
href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au">Year 7 - 10 Information Technology
Teachers' Mailing List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, January 13, 2008 10:33
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Yr7-10it] Multiple
intelligences - any evidence ???</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Hi Folks,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2> Nothing like stirring the pot to start a good chin
wag.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Just finished watching "Brain Power" or
similarly titled documentary on SBS ( Sunday 8:30 pm 13/1/08 ) where
several very successful people ( fighter pilot, quantum physicist, artist,
chess grandmaster, music child prodigy etc ) were tested for intelligence.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> <FONT size=2>One comment caught my attention from an expert : "
There is little evidence to support the theory of multiple intelligences
-- (<FONT size=3>1) linguistic intelligence; (2) musical intelligence;
(3) logical- mathematical intelligence; (4) spatial intelligence; (5) bodily-
kinesthetic intelligence; (6) interpersonal intelligence; and (7) intra-
personal intelligence</FONT>) as proposed by Howard Gardner -- after
which I did a quick search on the subject.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I discovered the following link as the first hit basically
supporting this position of lack of evidence of multiple intelligences
which leads me to ask if we are just tinkering with a fad. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><A
href="http://nswagtc.org.au/info/articles/McGuinessMultIntellig.html">http://nswagtc.org.au/info/articles/McGuinessMultIntellig.html</A></FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Questions:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>1.</FONT><FONT size=2>What do people think about the lack of
evidence for multiple intelligences ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>2. The same site claims talent is rewarded much more
highly than intelligence. Wow !! Should we be focussing more
on devloping talent in that case instead of intelligence if we are there to
assist our students with maximising their rewards in society ??</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>3.Do we believe intelligence can indeed be improved which
would mean with enough practice you can eventually qualify for Mensa ??
An exaggeration simply made to highlight a point. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>4. Does learning a set of skills or to apply it to a new
situation promote increasing intelligence ? Are students being "trained" as
per VET type subjects, or are they there to "learn" a body of knowledge/set of
skills ? What exactly is learning in that case ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>5. Does the ability to apply knowledge to a new situation
mean you are more intelligent than someone who is not able to do so
?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>6. Does successful learning and if that is tied to
increasing one's intelligence become redefined as society changes and new
learning tools are introduced ? If so, why are intelligence tests unchanged
over the last 100 years ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>One other conclusion from the documentary was that people
who were given the intelligence test at age 11 and again at age 79 tended to
do better on the whole at age 79 than at 11. What does that mean ? Why
does your intelligence necessarily increase with age ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Another was a brain scan of the highest IQ score holder
amongst the group tested in the documentary. This fellow had an IQ of 162
which I think was 1 in a million yet he had a smaller brain. This was
described as an efficient sports car vs a larger sedan - less bulk needed due
to higher quality engine. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2> Lots of issues here, but would be interested in
people's perspective on the subject(s).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Best Wishes</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Kevork Krozian<BR>Edulists Creator and Administrator<BR><A
href="http://www.edulists.com.au">www.edulists.com.au</A><BR><A
href="mailto:kevork@edulists.com.au">kevork@edulists.com.au</A><BR></FONT></DIV>_______________________________________________
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